CPU Cooling

[TRU]

hey all,

as most of you know from my last post i was upgrading my cpu. finally did and it works wonderfully.

Specs:
HP Pavilion a6120n
Windows XP Professional 32-bit Service Pack 3
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 4400 @ 2.00GHz 800 MHz fsb ---> Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz 1066 MHz fsb
2046MB RAM
DirectX 9.0c
NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT 1024.0 MB
Version: 6.14.0011.9038 (English)

my new question i play games alot so my cpu is usually @ a constant 40 - 70% load. my cpu temp hovers around 53 - 58ºc with a high of around 61ºc but ithats @ 100% load if im correct, which seems a lil warm to me. when i ordered my cpu it came with a hs/f but it wouldn fit cuz its circular and the housing is square, so im stuck using the old stock hs/f for the 4400. i wanted to know if those temps are acceptable + is there a way to get a new cooler that will fit the housing or am i stuck with the stock cooler?

P.S. heres a pic of the temps recorded with SpeedFan and CoreTemp. Its during an avg load. (No clue why CoreTemp is only reading one core. I did read somewhere aobut needing to reinstall xp?)

Temps seem high to anyone else or is this about avg?

[old_geekster]

TRU, have you checked Intel's website for a chart on the temps for your CPU?  This is a good way to find out the maximums.  Truthfully, they don't seem terribly out of line, however.  As an overclocker, I try to keep my CPU temps no more than 50C.  

[TRU]

This is what i found. (Taken from a pdf @ Intel's Website)

If i read this correctly it's saying that the max Temp is just over 60ºc? and my high is 58ºc so im to close for comfort imo.

Which brings me back to my predicament, is there a hs/f that fits in the a6120n's motherboard which is a P5LP-LE (Leonite2)

besides the stock one? If so where can i find one? im searching newegg.com and other sites now.

Message Edited by TRU on 11-09-2009 04:52 PM

[lmann]

Hi tru.  I don't know the answer about an acceptablee temperature range i didn't look it up on the intel site but I have a couple of questions about your cpu installation.  Did you carefully clean all of the old thermal compound off of the hp heat sink?  And did you use the stuff that intel sticks on the cpu as the thermal compound for your new installation or did you clean that off and apply something else like Arctic Silver 5?  Might make a difference if you use a higher quality thermal compound than that strip intel put on there.  There's a lot of hype out there about different products but the important thing I think is to make sure to clean off the old stuff and make sure you use some kind of thermal paste between the cpu and the heat sink.  Good luck.

[TRU]

ty for the reply Imann. i use nothing but artic silver 5 in my rigs. i use the thermal material mover and the thermal surface purifier both by artic to clean and prepare both the cpu and the heatsink for the compund. which ghives me an idea. does artic silver 5 have a shelf life? cause i just remebered that i used what was left in the tube from a previous install from wow more than 2 - 3 yrs? that just might be my problem lol

[TRU]

WOW! funny thing happened. my brother gave me an old gateway t3103 that he was going to toss and i got an aircan to clean the dust out of it before i put it up for sale. so i figured well my comp has been running warm so lemme @ least clean it out again since all i could do last time was wipe areas since i didn have an air can. so i cleaned all fans and thouroughly on and around the cpu heat sink. after about 8hrs of uptime w about 4 - 5 of those over 60% load heres my new temps.

is that crazy or what? Looks like vid card is running warm but it doesnt have a fan, just a heatsink. Least everything else is running ok. Amazing what a good cleaning could do isnt it? im still going to redo the thermal paste since the current coating came from an old tube.

i do still want a new cpu hs/f. J I C so if anyone knows where to get one for my model. HP a6120n please let me know. Thanks!

[TRU]

i just got an email back from hp cause i had also written to them. It's very... hmmm... hard to digest or unacceptable? i want to post it (with appropriate censorship to the names involved of course) am i allowed to do that?

[old_geekster · Accepted solution]

TRU, I guess from now on I will suggest cleaning the inside of the computer before making any other suggestions.  Hopefully, you learned how important it is to keep it clean, also.

Good job. 

[TRU]

i highly agree.