CPU Cooling

[bigjohnson]

I am installing a T-Bird 1400 266. I plan to overclock it. I had many questions and they were answered elsewhere.
What is the Temperature range of this chip. I wanna know how high the temp can go and still be safe.

[Super]

The lower the possible of course, but many people will say try to keep it under 50'C. I personally would try to get it somewhere below 46'C at load.

[Wa11y]

Super's got it. AMD says those chips can hit 90*C safely. Naturally, when you OC, you want it much lower than that. A good safe margin is 40-50*c under full load. 50*C is the absolute top end. Better anal-retentive than sorry.

[mrpcman]

Yup, although i would say 60C would be tops. No higher though because the probe is inaccurate and you can't trust it so it could be 80c for all your know.

[bigjohnson]

Thank you!

[Wa11y]

Originally posted by mrpcman
Yup, although i would say 60C would be tops. No higher though because the probe is inaccurate and you can't trust it so it could be 80c for all your know.

Some of us have a digital doc probe pressed right up against our CPU die. So we get pretty accurate temps. And some of us like to take things to the extreme. Just ask my roommates about my triple deltas and Swifty MCX462. Pound and a half of pure cooling beef!

Well the question's been answered but I figured some real world examples might help so....

My Duron, which heat wise isn't too different from an Athalon, has locked up on me 3 times when I ran it with the sink on but the fan unplugged. The 3 lock up temps were 57c, 59c and 65c.

[JayJay]

I am installing a T-Bird 1400 266. I plan to overclock it. I had many questions and they were answered elsewhere.
What is the Temperature range of this chip. I wanna know how high the temp can go and still be safe.

My CPU is a 1.33@1472 (11x133) 1.85v. ROCK STABLE.

Planning to get a better PSU....my ENERMAX sucks when its under load.

Anyways my,

Idle temps are arnd 42-44
Under load temps are 45-48

But remember that I live in a tropical country so ambient temps are pretty high over here.........

Be sure to get the AMD RECOMMENDED spec case too. If you get the wrong case, temps will surely rise.....trust me on this one.

And may I just say that Swiftech is the BEST cooler.....period!!!! Well worth the arm and the leg if u plan to overclock.

[bigjohnson]

Ok. It appears that Swiftech will be the choice. Is there that big of a real world performance difference between the MCX370 and MCX462. The price difference between them is considerable. The 370 can be had for about $32 and the 462 for nearly $70.

[mrpcman]

Originally posted by Wa11y


Some of us have a digital doc probe pressed right up against our CPU die. So we get pretty accurate temps. And some of us like to take things to the extreme. Just ask my roommates about my triple deltas and Swifty MCX462. Pound and a half of pure cooling beef!

yeah, but the "average" overclocker doesn't have direct die temp probes do they?

[Super]

Originally posted by bigjohnson
Ok. It appears that Swiftech will be the choice. Is there that big of a real world performance difference between the MCX370 and MCX462. The price difference between them is considerable. The 370 can be had for about $32 and the 462 for nearly $70.

I never owned a Swiftech, but why not ask our own Swiftech Tech here

[cloasters]

Yes, the Swiftech ***370's and ***462's are in different classes. You might consider the Alpha PAL-8045. ~93% of the performance of an ***462, at roughly 50% of the cost.

There's a brand new entry from Thermalright, the AX-7. According to an early review, it outdoes both the Swiftech MCX-462 and the Alpha PAL 8045. And it's cheaper than the Alpha!

Its drawback is that it uses the Socket A's lugs(albeit all three of them) and the SK7 clip that comes with it is said to be a bit of a beatch.

[Wa11y]

Originally posted by mrpcman
yeah, but the "average" overclocker doesn't have direct die temp probes do they?

The average overclocker can go spend $50 for a Digital Doc and get TWO direct die temp probes. I have on my video card, and one on my processor. Kinda tough to get them to stay in place.

[Wa11y]

Originally posted by bigjohnson
Ok. It appears that Swiftech will be the choice. Is there that big of a real world performance difference between the MCX370 and MCX462. The price difference between them is considerable. The 370 can be had for about $32 and the 462 for nearly $70.

If you look here, you can see what the difference between the two is.

[bigjohnson]

I have ordered the Thermalright AX7 with the Delta 80mm fan. This I hope will be a good one. I did like the Swiftech though but cash made the choice.
When I get done learning on this system I'll reconsider.
Right now I am using a stock kind of fan that is rated for the chip I am running. I will for sure need this better cooler as the chip runs hot. While not under a load and reading from the bios I have a temp of a little of 50c under normal cpu settings. It is stable though.
The case may need to be changed.
I think this chip can take a great deal of heat before I have to worry. It is rated by AMD up to 90c. Though I don't intend to go anywhere near there. Am I correct?

[Lloyd Price]

I am probably too late but I wanted to tell you that I went to watercooling a month ago, Man I LOVE it !. I am not even OC'd yet. Temps are low and the box is quiet. Anyway, just thought I would offer an alternative, you might be looking for the money for a setup soon after you get tired of hearing that damn delta screem at you.
:-D

[bigjohnson]

You are probably right about the water cooling.
Can a user trust those systems? What about leaks?
I can see a water cooler in my future.

[Wa11y]

Originally posted by bigjohnson
You are probably right about the water cooling.
Can a user trust those systems? What about leaks?
I can see a water cooler in my future.

I haven't started watercooling yet, but I have looked into it. When you setup your watercooling rig, you want to run it OUTSIDE your computer for a day or two, to make sure it's all sealed down, and not leaking. And when you put your rig together, you want to run it without power to the computer, again to make sure there are no leaks. As long as there's no power to your system, nothing will short. And if it leaks, you can just let your computer dry, and it SHOULD work just fine.

[Lloyd Price]

I think you are about to get all of those questions answered, lol

I will give you my opinions, other's might say something too i hope. But as with ALL information on the net, don't get a second opinion, get TEN !.

In my case I bought the Kit from Innovatech from www.highspeedpc.com and I am very happy with it, not one leak, it's quiet and my temps are never over 40c at load. I think you could save some money by buying the components individually but I didn't want to fool around with missing something, then haveing to wait for it.

I think you should also do some real studying up first. You see, there are some differing views on one very important aspect of watercooling, Flow Rate ( How much water do you need to move through the waterblock in order to cool it effectivly ? ).

You will find pumps that range everywhere from 79 GPH (like my Ehiem 1046) to 250+ GPH units ( like the Danner Mag Drives). The size of the tubing comes into play as well as the fittings. I know there is a limit to how much water you can force through a waterline if even one of the components has a smaller fitting. In other words, my setup is 3/8" OD all the way through and my pump is a low output pump. But it cools very well, ( I will not claim it's the best ). But it is also quiet and their is very little pressure inside the waterline making the pump work harder or inducing leaks. That said, If you go to a 1/2" kit and a high output pump then I think you should be very carefull to make sure that EveryThing is 1/2" all the way through, not just with an adapter either. If you don't then you will certainly have a bottleneck in the waterline that will force the pump to work harder then it should, pressure will build up and increase the risk of leaks, and it will probably be noisy. Also I think that there is probably a "Sweet Spot" for every water Block design as far as flow rates are concerned. A perfect flow rate that isn't too slow or too fast, because either condition will limit cooling. So you should study up first.

There are some reviews being done by Sverre right here on this site. He does a very good job and he has already covered 2 of the kits available, the Innovatech and Swiftech kits. They both are well manufactured designs. I would wait for his review of the Danger Den kits at least, and then really look at his charts and compare performance/price/and concider what I have written above. There is a lot that goes into it, but it isn't rocket science, just Hydro Science, lol.

Luck, and don't forget the other 9 opinions.

[bigjohnson]

To get around 40c, It seems to me that water cooling is necessary. I hope to get near that with the new cooler that is due to arrive in a couple of days. Not likely though as it is aircooled.