Pentium D 820 temperatures

[GerryNick2]

Having read about the problem of Pentium dual processors running hot on numerous forum sites, I thought I would share how I resolved the issue.

Have just built two systems based on Pentium D 830 CPU's, one in an Antec P180 case, the other in an Acousticase. Like many I experienced tremendous overheating problems in both systems with the stock heat sink. The temperatures in the Acousticase for CPU were idle 57C and under load 70C+ which resulted in throttling back, interestingly Bios showed temperature 81C which was frightening. The Antec P180 case setup faired slightly better idle 52C under load 65C, Bios showed CPU temperature as 71C.

Tried replacing the stock heatsink with a Sharkoon Copper Twister (cheap option!), made absolutely no difference so chucked it in the dustbin.

After considerable research on the subject I installed a Zalman CNPS95000 LED ultra quite CPU cooler which interestingly comes recommended for all dual core CPU's. It also claims to better some bottom end water coolers! Bingo problem solved.

Acousticase setup CPU temperatures now idle 40C, under load 51C, Antec P180 idle 36C under load 48C.

Both cases have Zalman noiseless 120mm fans installed. The Acousticase has one front intake and one rear exhaust. The P180 case benefits fom an additional exhaust fan at the top and the benefit of the PSU at the base of the case which is what I put the improved performance down to over the Acousticase which has the PSU in close proximity to the CPU.

Both systems run on Intels own MB's the Acousticase setup has the D945PSV and the P180 case has the D955XBK. Temperature measurements were taken from Intel Desktop Control Centre which is available as a download for both these boards.

Used a very thin layer of Artic Silver5 themal compound between CPU and heatsink. This was without a doubt superior to that supplied by Antec and Zalman. In terms of how much to use I applied a small blob to the centre of the CPU about the size of a piece of long grained rice. I then spread it over entire surface of CPU with a thin piece of plastic. I am told that it takes 200hrs of normal operating for the Artic Silver to bed in, this being the case I may see a further small temperature drop in time.


In conclusion it would seem to me that the problems being experience with dual core processors are in the majority of instances down to inferior heatsinks and insufficient air flow through the CPU zone.

Hope this is of help to others.

 

[Faikius]

This is NOT meant as a flame, but with all the information posted on the forums here and elsewhere, why are people still buying the 800 series?

The D920 is incredibly cheap now (~267), runs much cooler, and can be overclocked with the stock HS/fan combo quite a ways past the 800's.

I'm running my 920 at 4.0Ghz stock voltage and it sits under 40c idle and 48c both cores full load (On water of coarse).

 

[Xonoahbin]

Idling at 55 C isn't that terrible. Idling at 66 C is that terrible. Fear the power of my Duron!

 

[Throwmeabone]

In my P180 I have the rear fan as exhaust and the top fan as intake with a Scythe Ninja. At 100% full load with two instances of Prime95 and rthdribl running, I get 55 degrees and my 7800GT is at 61 degrees.

Edit: The temperature in the room is 25 degrees

 

[hans007]

i had an 820 for a while in a btx case.

i used an intel btx cooler. idle was like 53C i think so that isnt too far off.

i swapped it out for a 920 and its down to 40C. so yeah big difference idle. i think the 820 did about 65C at load, the 920 does like 56C by comparison.

 

[Paradox999]

Well..... this is my dilemma.
Do I buy a cheap but hot running D805 or do I spring for the 'cooler' but comparativly expensive D920.

stevty2889,
I have a Scythe Ninja+120mm fan on my 2.4C@3.2. Runs 30C idle 47C full load in an open case. The Scythe has a Silenex fan on it too and damn quiet.

What air cooling if any do you have on your D805? I would like to overclock and logically the D920 should give me a better overclock if only for it's newer die and that it runs cooler, no?

BTW, I bought the Asus P5P800SE so I only need the CPU now.

If only Anandtech would publish the promised D805 overclocking review!!!

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: Paradox999
Well..... this is my dilemma.
Do I buy a cheap but hot running D805 or do I spring for the 'cooler' but comparativly expensive D920.

stevty2889,
I have a Scythe Ninja+120mm fan on my 2.4C@3.2. Runs 30C idle 47C full load in an open case. The Scythe has a Silenex fan on it too and damn quiet.

What air cooling if any do you have on your D805? I would like to overclock and logically the D920 should give me a better overclock if only for it's newer die and that it runs cooler, no?

BTW, I bought the Asus P5P800SE so I only need the CPU now.

If only Anandtech would publish the promised D805 overclocking review!!!

I will offer you some of my wisdom and advice.

The Pentium D Smithfields run hotter than any processor I have ever used, except for maybe a Palomino Athlon XP or Thunderbird Athlon.

I do not suggest getting a Smithfield based Pentium D if you are not prepared to cool it correctly(As in, do not run it in a case with no vents or case fans). As long as you have proper case flow, then you should be fine though. For example, in the system in my signature, I have two 120mm fans, two 80mm fans, a 120mm fan in the power supply, and then the fans on the gpu and cpu cooler. My cpu runs hot when compared to my Athlon 64 standards, however, it is well within acceptable ranges.

I use the stock cooler for my Pentium D 820. I have cleaned off the thermal pad and put on an appropriate amount of Arctic Silver 5. There are then two ways you can run this setup. You can let the fan run based on a temperature control, or you can let it run full blast all the time. I have found that the temperature control mode is where problems can occur. It seems to run at a silent speed level(maybe 65% of top speed), even if the cpu is in the low 70s temperature wise. I currently run the fan at full speed all the time. While plenty of people say it is loud, I do not. It is by no means silent, but it is nothing that is distracting, or interrupting. The sound is of a tone that is not bothersome, but rather calm. With the fan running at full speed, my cpu idles in the mid forties, and runs full load around the mid to high fifties speaking in terms of Celcius, which is more than acceptable in my opinion.

I have NO problem at all recommending the Pentium D 805. It has outstanding performance for its price(as you can clearly see in the Anandtech review), and MANY people have had amazing results with their cpu.

You wanted information on the Pentium D 805 overclocking capabilities? The following link should enlighten you as to the overclocking potential of the 805.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=445167

 

[imported_Questar]

You wanted information on the Pentium D 805 overclocking capabilities? The following link should enlighten you as to the overclocking potential of the 805.

Man, 3.8Ghz stable on stock air, and somebody got up to 4.8 on dry ice.

All from a $110 cpu, that's nuts.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Questar

You wanted information on the Pentium D 805 overclocking capabilities? The following link should enlighten you as to the overclocking potential of the 805.

Man, 3.8Ghz stable on stock air, and somebody got up to 4.8 on dry ice.

All from a $110 cpu, that's nuts.

That may be, but I am sure its throttling, and throttlewatch won;t show it. I have an 820, and the 805 is simply a lower clocked 820, and I just don;t believe that.

 

[imported_Questar]

Did you see the benches? They're equaling opty 165's.

And why wouldn't tw show it?

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: Questar
Did you see the benches? They're equaling opty 165's.

And why wouldn't tw show it?

I can verify that, throttle watch wasn't working with my 830 when it was throttling. It is possible for the 805 to make it to 3.8ghz on air and not throttle however, it's a B0 revision, so it runs slightly cooler than the A0 revision 8xx series, but still not as cool as Presler. I'm hitting 57c on water @3.7ghz, and typicaly I get 5-7C higher with good air cooling over my water cooling.

 

[Paradox999]

This is an INSANE deal !!!!!
:shocked:
Count me in, I'm ordering one !
(I'm just so hung up on it's low FSB but I guess I'll get over it)

 

[Paradox999]

stevty2889,

I have some small individual copper heatsinks for memory chips that I can cut up. Would you recomend I put them on the mosfets of my P5P800SE?

How do I identify the ones that deal with CPU/Memory power regulation?

Cheers!

 

[alex123]

I was having some troubles trying to reduce my PD 820 temps... Not anymore.

OCZ's thermal compaund happen to be the most effective factor... Here is the story.

I have 2 servers both running PD 820 on ASUS MBs (P5LD2 and P5LD2-VM) for about 6 months now. I built the servers myself, so I used retail versions of CPUs, stock heatsink, stock thermal compound. The CPUs were extremelly hot right from the beginning - 68-69 C idle (!) and 74-75 C under load. They started to throttle around 72-73 and I was losing up to 50% performance because of the throttling.

I managed to get rid from throttling - drilled the side hole and installed a self-made CPU duct directing the room air right into the CPU fan. That helped a bit - temps dropped about 4 degrees. I also reduced VCore from default 1.4 V down to 1.3 V (another 1-2 degrees drop)

As I said, I got rid from throttling, but it was still running hot - 65 C idle and 70-71 C under load.

Then I tried "OCZ Ultra 5+". This is a thermal compaund similar to Arctic Silver. However, my local shop did not have Arctil Silver, so I bought OCZ. They both use silver as their main component.

After removing the heatsink, I was shocked how thick was a layer of Intel's compound that I had on the CPU. I cleaned it off, and then used a bit of gasoline to wipe the CPU and heatsink. I left the CPU inside the motherboard though.

Now, with OCZ's compound, my tems have dropped 10 degrees !!! Now I have 54-55 idle and about 60 under load! And it is not "cured" yet! It may be even lover after a few days!

I saw a lot of people having similar problems in this thread. If you have not tried it yet, get rid of Intel's compound, and just use the one from OCZ or Arctic Silver.

Wow, now I feel ready for the summer.

 

[hans007]

it is weird, i actually swapped the thermal compound from some random generic stuff, to artic silver ceramique.

difference in idle temp was like 11C . crazy.