Ok, so while im at work being productive I've been doing some reading and im starting to think that its possible that maybe my heatsink is not installed properly and thats what is causing my system to overheat. I felt confident that it was done right but it is my first experience with installing a heatsink and maybe I just dont realize if it isnt installed properly. It seems to lock in fine and run but maybe im messing up with the thermal compound? Im gonna try and reapply it again tonight, but can you guys give me some pointers on how much to put, what it should look like if its making good contact, etc.?
That's fine. You only ever need put a very small amount of thermal paste on a CPU (smaller than a grain of shortgrain rice) and when you remove the old stuff, make sure the surface is shiny smooth and clear from any remnants of the old material (That goes for the CPU and the heatsink) Which heatsink do you use?
Lol honestly, thats a good question. I threw out the box and the fan itself has practically no identification. Its a thermaltake brand that I got from radioshack that fits my the socket for my cpu. Now I'm not gonna lie, it is very possible that I bought a heatsink that was not made for my cpu; I just went by dimensions and bought one that fit. It locks in perfectly so i thought it was fine, but is it possible that just because it fits doesnt mean it wont cool down my processor?
If it fits, it's for the right socket, so that's a start. As to whether it's sufficient depends on what CPU you run and what CPU it was for. A Celeron heatsink for example will not cool a Pentium D, but both use the same socket (LGA775).
Hmmm. Well the two heatsinks they sell are for a LGA 755 and a AMD K8. Like I said I only paid attention to the dimensions, but from hearing that I think that maybe I picked the AMD K8 since it fits my cpu socket. I guess Im just gonna go buy some more thermal compound, take off whats on the sink and cpu now, reapply, and hope for the best.
Yeah, I'd recommend that. Do you use an Athlon64 X2? If so, you might have a Sempron heatsink. If after re-applying your PC shuts off I'd recommend buying a better heatsink.
Naw, its just an Athlon 64. I'll reapply it tonight and let you all know how it goes. Thanks again for all the feedback.
I havent gotten a chance to reattach the heatsink yet, but ive been doing some reading on how to install it and I came across that some come with a thermal pad that has to be removed before applying compound and attaching. My heatsink came with a small square of some sort of white substance in a square on the contact. I DID NOT remove it before installing it. Could that be the problem?
Yup, that's exactly the problem. Whilst those things last pretty much forever, as soon as you remove the heatsink, they become useless and need to be removed.
Well I removed all the gunk on the heatsink and cpu, applied a thin coat over the cpu of new thermal compound, and it lasted longer, but still overheating. When i tried installing some drivers(which i have yet to get a chance to do on the computer) it got up to about 75 degrees Celcius and then shut off. I think reapplying the heatsink certainly helped, but still not a functional computer.
you are still overheating so either the heatsink is not seated properly so have a partial air gap or the heatsink is too small for the cpu.
ok then. So I guess its time for a new heatsink. Can you guys recommend one for me, cause at this point im so frustrated I no longer trust my instincts. My processor is a AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 2.80GHz Socket AM2 OEM Processor. If we can keep it under 100 that would be cool, but at this point I just want to get something that will get my computer functional.
not to split hairs here but some clip in heatsinks will fit other sockets, a 478 will fit a 754/939 socket, but anyway. when you fitted the heatsink did you remove the plastic cover off the thermal pad before putting it on your cpu? only this might explain your heat issues because as crummy as a thermal pad is it should do better than you are describing. i would say the tuniq tower 120 and thermalright ultra 120 extreme are about the best air collers you can get but the ultra 120 does not come with a fan so you would need to buy one of those too. both go for around £35 but im not 100% on where you live so... only thing with both of these coolers is that they are big and you may not have enough room in your case to fit them.
Aha, now we know why it's overheating! A cheapo thermaltake heatsink is definitely not sufficient to cool an FX-62. If you have a reasonable sized case, you can go with a Thermalright Ultra 120 with a Scythe S-Flex case fan, very cool and very quiet! If you don't want to spend so much, you can get A Zalman CNPS9700 or cheaper still, an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro (I think they're AM2 compatible, I'll have to check)
Alrighty guys, ill give it a try. Thanks soo much for the help. I'll order a new heatsink today and hopefully FINALLY get this thing going next week.
Best of luck, keep us posted. Actually no, it is an X2, it's the best one, so good in fact it has the FX badge in place of X2. It's the equivalent to the current 5600+.
Well I got my Thermalright Ultra 120 and attached it with a Scythe S-Flex case fan. I had to remove the motherboard to install the pad that came with it under my cpu, then plugged everything back in, applied a thin coat of thermal compound to the surface the cpu, installed the heatsink aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand.....now it stays on for about a second and shuts down. All my fans are spinning. I hate my life.
