New Computer Overheating!

hey all,
i just built my 1.3 Ghz computer and i am sad to report it is overheating. I have 2 80 mm fans blowing right on the cpu and the cpu fan is mounted properly and works. I have an ECS Elitegroup K7S5A mobo with a t-bird amd 1.3 ghz cpu. The computer will freeze after about 20 minutes of activity and when I reset I get no beeps, no video, no nothing, unless I let the computer sit for about 10 minutes. I am sure this is an overheating problem. I tried applying more thermal compound which didn't help. Is their an issue with this mobo cause I don't want to have to return the cpu and/or the mobo. Any help would be great. Thank you.
-Kaelon

[quote]Originally posted by Kaelon:
<strong>...I have 2 80 mm fans blowing right on the cpu...</strong><hr></blockquote>

Just because fans are blowing room temp air on the CPU, does not necessarily mean that it will run cooler. You've got to suck the warm air out of the CPU, which is why a great heatsink is so important. The heatsink sucks out the warm air, and the fan on top of it disperses that warm air into the atmosphere. So you might want to try repositioning the fans.

[quote]Originally posted by WebHead:
<strong>

Just because fans are blowing room temp air on the CPU, does not necessarily mean that it will run cooler. You've got to suck the warm air out of the CPU, which is why a great heatsink is so important. The heatsink sucks out the warm air, and the fan on top of it disperses that warm air into the atmosphere. So you might want to try repositioning the fans.</strong><hr></blockquote>

That is so true. when I built a 1.4 ghz system a few months ago, I had two case fans (1 at bottom front pulling in and 1 at top back pushing out). Temps stayed pretty good. I had always heard people talking about using the fans in the pull-push thing and I wondered how much of a difference it made if they were turned around, so I turned around the fan in the back that pushed the air out and had both of them pulling air in...the temps shot up like nothing else. It's pretty amazing what airflow will do to temps.

It may be your power supply. Check the BIOS readings. If any voltage goes +/- .5V, the pc will shutdown. Any readings beyond .35V may have problems in games when the vid card and cpu are at heavily loaded

I noticed you said you added MORE thermal compound. DON'T. Make it a nice thin layer. It's made to fill the small gaps between the HSF and the processor, not work as a thick thermal conductor. It's not efficient at that. Check your airflow, and make sure you are using an approved heatsink mounted correctly, with the right amount of pressure. If it's not slightly difficult to put the clips on(the clip shouldn't just slide on), something is wrong, and I'd recommend replacing the clip and/or heatsink unit. Hope you get it working right... and that you haven't damaged the chip with that. I'd recommend setting the thermal protection on in the BIOS, as well as getting Motherboard monitor or something similar.

<a href="http://www.startech.com/ststore/itemdetail.cfm?product_id=FANCASE" target="_blank">http://www.startech.com/ststore/itemdetail.cfm?product_id=FANCASE</a>

I have a similar one in my case and the temps are abour 5-6c less than without it

Every one knows AMD runs way hotter than P3,4's.+
and that they way out perform them. Thats why when I recently built my system with the AMD Athlon XP 1700 I put in a server case. Why? cause I can install seven fans baby! Not to mention the oversized heat sink fan. Easy accessable and lots of room to expand. It is a overclockers dream and I am running it almost 24/7 at a cool 30-35 degrees celcius.
Does it sound like a 747 taking off?? Heck ya!!! but you get used to it. :cool:

You guys are great! They all sound like great tips and I will be doing them all. I'll get back to you with the results. :D
-Kaelon

In your original post you said that your two 80mm fans were blowing right on the processor/HSF. I hope you meant they were drawing air away from the processor as in blowing air out of the case. If they are blowing air onto it, they are just pushing the heat right back onto the processor. I run a 1GHz processor with the side of the case off and the HSF is pulling the heat off the processor not blowing down onto it. As for the myth that the AMD processor creates more heat than the Intel processor does, I can see that most of you have watched the Tom's Hardware video. Ask yourself why Intel was showing that video at a conference two weeks after the video debuted. Perhaps Intel commissioned Tom's Hardware to make the video. After all, they can't show it unless they paid for the rights to show it. The facts are that even the new Intel processors create just as much heat as the new AMD processors. Why else do you think Intel ships their retail boxed P4s with a HSF that is 4 times the size of the processor. Doing average everyday tasks, both processors have to disperse about 60 Watts of heat. AMD Zone had their own video that was showing the P4 locking up and crashing after the HSF was taken off. The old saying "Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear" seems to fit fairly well for the Tom's video. Besides, why would the P4 slow to a crawl if the temp was only 84 degrees F.

Sorry. Didn't mean for last post to sound like a rant. rant-mode now disabled. Also the heatsink compound being used excessively is a no-no. One of the posters mentioned this already. The reasoning is too much will actually trap the heat instead of transfer it.

[quote]Originally posted by Hippie_Tech:
<strong>In your original post you said that your two 80mm fans were blowing right on the processor/HSF. I hope you meant they were drawing air away from the processor as in blowing air out of the case. If they are blowing air onto it, they are just pushing the heat right back onto the processor. I run a 1GHz processor with the side of the case off and the HSF is pulling the heat off the processor not blowing down onto it. As for the myth that the AMD processor creates more heat than the Intel processor does, I can see that most of you have watched the Tom's Hardware video. Ask yourself why Intel was showing that video at a conference two weeks after the video debuted. Perhaps Intel commissioned Tom's Hardware to make the video. After all, they can't show it unless they paid for the rights to show it. The facts are that even the new Intel processors create just as much heat as the new AMD processors. Why else do you think Intel ships their retail boxed P4s with a HSF that is 4 times the size of the processor. Doing average everyday tasks, both processors have to disperse about 60 Watts of heat. AMD Zone had their own video that was showing the P4 locking up and crashing after the HSF was taken off. The old saying "Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear" seems to fit fairly well for the Tom's video. Besides, why would the P4 slow to a crawl if the temp was only 84 degrees F.</strong><hr></blockquote>


There are a few reasons. I may not always agree with Tom's opinion, but I don't think he "sold out" to Intel past licensing his video to them. It was about the thermal protection on the chips, not the actual temperature that they reached. Yes, they both get hot. The t-birds do get hotter than the p4's and the p3's, if you go by pure wattage/BTU's. But the XP's are changing that.

Ok. My objective for today is to switch the position of the two 80mm fans in the back to blow air out of the case. If that helps I might add a 120mm fan to the front of my case blowing air in. Good idea? Eventually I'm gonna need a backup generator to run my computer. hehe :) I'll get back to you guys with the details.
-Kaelon

Do NOT turn this into an AMD vs Intel debate or the topic will be closed.

I switched the position of the fans to blow out the case and it didn't work. :( So the next thing I will try is replacing the heatsink because I didn't notice that this heatsink can come off the processor with hardly any force. I'll post the details in a few.
-Kaelon