P4 Prescott heat problem

I recently bought a new cpu for my Pc.I had a 2.4 Celeron and upgraded to a P4 3GHz 1024Mb L2 cache with 800FSB Prescott CPU with HT. My problem is that the prescott runs at 55 to 60°C when idling in win xp.When I burn dvds or play games thats heavy on the cpu it heats up to 75°C. Is this normal?? Every one I ask here in SA at the pc shops tells me something different.

I am starting to get worried that the CPU might fry or something.

My Systems specs are:

Intel P4 3.02 GHz 1024Mb L2 cache 800FSB socket 478 Prescott Cpu with HT
MSI 661FM Motherboard
2x256Mb DDR333 Mem chips
1x80Gb 7200 rpm Hdd
1x20Gb 5400 rpm Hdd
Nvidia Geforce fx5700 256Mb 3D Card
Standard Intel Heatsink & Fan
extra 80mm cooling fan sucking air from case(under my power supply)

Is this a normal temp for a Prescott? What can I do to cool down the cpu?

 

that's actually kinda normal with a prescott chip, although it would certainly help if you had better cooling. here's a checklist:

A: better heatsink; anything's better than a retail intel heatsink
B: arctic silver; this will dramatically lower your temps, even with the retail sink. just make sure it's only arctic silver and the TIM that's already between your cpu/heatsink is gone
C: good airflow; a fan blowing outside air into your cpu fan would help dramatically. this is probably harder to do since drilling a hole into your case could be necessary

for heatsinks, there are many options you can use. just make sure that if you get a heatpipe one, only get them from thermalright; the other heatpipe heatsinks aren't all that great for some reason, and are a huge waste of money because of it.
both thermalright and zalman are great companies.

 

i believe i read somewhere this is becuase they soldier them and instead of using thermal paste

 

Actually, P4 Prescotts 3.0 Ghz and over need a special cooling design in your case, compliant with TAC regulations. (Thermally Advantage Cooling).

http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/emea/eng/53211.htm

I just found this out after i bought a sweet case with all hardware, now i got the heating problems and not sure what to do, buy a new TAC case or modify my existing case to TAC. It's possible, but some drilling required.

My CPU is under 55 idle i believe, but runs up sometimes to 70+ when very busy.

I'll be looking at new heatsink/CPUFan solutions to try reduce the heat, Zalman and Thermaltake sounds good.

Also i think a bigger 120mm fan at the back would be good for sucking air out.

At the moment, the whole thing is making too much noise, i think its because all fans are in overdrive trying to cool that prescott down. I got 4 case fans in total, but only 80mm ones.

Why do Prescott CPU's get so hot any way?

 

What CPU Cooling mechanism can anyone recommend from this page: http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/home.php?cat=674 for P4 Prescott 3.0 ??

 

I agree with Strogg!

Another big factor is Room Temp, dont put your tower near any heat source.

I have several pc's one is Gigabyte mobo with Prescott P4 3.0E cpu, Yep, they run hot.
( I think the E stands for Extra Heat LOL)
Any ATX case is fine , that can provide good air circulation.
Mine run's AVG upper 30's low 40's, if I do some dvd burning/video Editing, on occasion get's low 50's c.
I'm running stock heat sink & stock thermal pad, but I have several fan's & great airflow in my case.
I almost always run the stock heak sink for a couple months before I go aftermarket.

 

I had that too, now it is 42 and 53C maximum,

how? good paste (arctic silver), a good airflow and a zalman chipset...

case is 35C

cheers

 

CPU Air Duct Question.

I bought an airduct (maplins) and connected it to a 80mm fan, that blows air in through the 3.5 inch disk drives bay, which has enough free space to suck cool air in from the outside as only 1 disk drive is installed.

However, my heavy load CPU temps are actually running higher than before!!!

(When i am convinced the air duct lowers my CPU temp, both when idle and under heavy load, i will drill a hole in my casing and install a proper vent.)

However, i think building a proper duct takes more than just installing the duct channel.

Since my CPU fan goes up to 4000 rpm when things are getting hot, how the hell can a normal intake fan (on the other side of the duct) keep up with this airflow?

Question 1: can i connect 2 FANS on the same CPU fan connector on the motherboard, so they both run at the same RPM?

Also, i have an intel motherboard (D865GBF) with ASIC, and have both intake and exhaust case fan attached to these. With these, the motherboard controls the RPM and, more importantly, i can monitor the RPM of both fans individually in Windows.

The intake fan (front) runs REALLY silent, even under heavy load it doesn't even go higher than 1400 RPM...

The exhaust fan (back) also runs silent, but slightly higher than the intake fan (max. 1800-1900 RPM)

Question 2: Any idea why these are running at this low speed, and how could i possibly get them to run higher at heavy load temperatures?

Thnx for all help and advise..

PC Details:
Antec Case - http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=80637

P4 3.0Ghz Prescott
Intel Desktop Board D865GBF
Gigabyte 6800GT (with heatpipe design)
1Gb DDR400
WD Raptor 10K Rpm HD 36.6Gb
Maxtor Fireball 140Gb HD

 

Hey Dr evil,
You should start your own thread!

Dont connect 2 fans to your CPU fan connector, you can burn out your Fan Header! (then fry time for mobo)
Your second question. your fans running slow is probably due too Lack of voltage, if they are connected to the other mobo fan headers, the fan headers are limited on the amount of power they can provide.
Lack of power = slooower fan speeds, and risk of frying out the fan header.

Your best bet is to plug any Fans/Case fans other than the CPU fan directly to the PSU usually via molex connectors, even doing that you can still utilize the speed sensor of the fan headers on your mobo (usually the yellow wire)

 

Hi Asus,

sorry i don't want to take over your thread, just wanted to post my recent thoughts on all this heating and cooling ideas going around.

Well, the mobo fan connecters not only monitor the fan speed, but also control it's speed. And, better than the psu fan speed connecters, the mobo can "regulate" front and back fan speeds, according to separate thermal zones on the mobo. (see http://www.auij64.dsl.pipex.com/)

But when the cpu temp rises to max, the mobo doesn't raise the fan speeds enough, to my opinion (1400 rpm max). The cpu fan, however, goes berzerk rising to 4000 rpm try and do all the work on his own (poor little guy..)

I installed a duct, and temps have dropped slightly but i'm still not satisfied... gonna do some more changes and tests...

Thanks for the advice on CPU fan connection - i won't try connect 2 fans on the cpu connector, fried my mobo and cpu last year already ;-)

 

i know im gonna sound stupid but
what is a 'mobo'. this term is used frequently in forems and i dont know what it means, i dont wan to clog up ur thread so could someone plz pm me if possible
thanX

 

a mobo is some kind of potato

just kiddin = it is your motherboard

 

DUDES stop installing fans and ducts: just apply some Artic Silver 5 after cleaning your CPU and heatsink properly, and your temps will drop properly!!!!

idle 55 -> 48

heavy 69 -> 61

Question: CPU fan goes up to 4400 RPM, is this normal ? I can hear the poor little guy spinning at hyper-speed when the cpu is "hot".. very clearly....

 

A fan controller is something you gotta have if you wanna control the silence and temps imho

 

I have one, it's nexus vanteq or something, with 3 temp sensors and 1 manual fan controller... (and removable face plates)

I think this one is a waste of money, the temps are not accurate, the thing even starts beeping when i start up for about 20 secs... the controller doesnt seem to maintain a stable speed, really it's a useless piece of hardware sitting in my pc, i'm thinking of returning it but don't know what to say yet to get my money back...

which temp controllers do you recommend opti? (url's pls!!!)

 

the best I can recommend are aerogates . they have some new ones at the moment, real beauties if you ask me.

I got the aerogate 2 and very pleased with it.

just press aerogate 2 in google and you will find them.

 

Yo Optimizer,

i looked again at my case, and can't see how i can install 120mm fans in the front and back, without drilling additional holes.

The grills are designed for 80mm, but i suppose you could just stick an 120mm behind if, if the holes were there.

pls. pls. tell me how!

dr. Evil.

 

With a fan adaptor this is easy to do. this will suck much more air then a regular 80mm at lower speeds.

my friend does it like that and his temps are better now.

 

Hi there,
I had the same problem with a 2.8E Prescott and I eventually solved it by buying an EZ Cool case that I would recommend to anyone.
It has two fans, 1 directed to the cpu via a tube and one at the back (120mm one) The PSU has two fans to disperse hest.
I also have a gigabyte cpu cooler that blows air all around the casing.
With the gigabyte cooler I still had high temperatures similar to yours but the new case cured that.
hope this helps.
billo

 

Well Prescott's are wellknown to be quite warm and i solved my prescott heating problem like this : I bought a passive cooler(to have a silent pc) and made a plexiglass case to steer the airflow through my passive coolers(to CPU and Northbridge). By doing so i didnt have to install additional fans.
As you can see on the left side of my plexi case there is a vent hole to let the air in. The Casefan and the PSU fan pulls the air into the case and blows it out of the cabinet.
The plexi case
My temps after playing farcry for about 30 minutes and running some programs afterwards.
CPU Temp
My cabinet is a coolermaster centurion 5, it has great airflow.
I hope this helps a little...
/SwampThing

 

Hello Ex Tutbo,
(Hope I got that right!)

It seems that your problem is just what I experienced.
Firstly, the standard fan and heatsink supplied with the CPU should be thrown away.
What you need is a better fan and HS. There are many on the market, the one I bought is an Gigabyte one but there are others such as Thermaltake,et al.
The gigabyte fan and heatsink has cooling pipes and a fan that blows air all around the cpu, hence the other components as well.
That helped, dropping the tremp by about 7deg C. Not enough. I then was advised that I needed a case capable of better ventilation,
I searched and researched and finally bought an EZ Cool Alpine G5 Mac Style Case. I had it fitted with two fans. One blowing air out and one in a funnel blowing extra air directly onto the CPU.
I got a 450Watt PSU with double fans to throw the heat directly out of my case.
The case looks odd. It is perforated all over with 1/8" dia holes with some sort of fabric beneath to exclude dust but it works great.
My temps now are:- CPU idle 46 to 50C.
When running top games it rises to 61C Max.
The case cost me £55 including fans and PSU on ebay.
The CPU Fan & HS cost around £20.
It was well worth it.
It's a shame that Intel does not warn people more concisely the heat generated by their Prescotts.
I do hope this helps.
billo

 

Hey Guys,

it's really funny: for the amount of money spent on trying to cool down these damn Prescotts, you an buy another one!!

I recommend all people to go for the Northwood CPU, which performs the same and sometimes even better!

But, if you have a Prescott, then read further...

well, i now am quite happy with my case: it cost me months and months and various different ways of cooling.

My final recommendations:

* upgrade your case fans to 120mm fans for main inlet/outlet
* upgrade your cpu cooler to cooler with much larger heatsink design (Zalman 120mm flower, gigabyte rocket3d, aerocool freezer, asus ice star, etc.. but make sure they can handle large amounts of heat)
* use arctic silver thermal compound (silver only!)

if this is not enough, then:
* install a cpu duct, with an additional fan blowing cool air in from outside the case (optional: speed controlled)
* install an additional fan near your videocard, as this card generates a lot of heat also (in most cases) and can do with some additional cooling
* make sure the airflow in your case is lineair: cold air flowing in, following a certain route within your case, after being sucked out as being hot air. (So no contradictions that might interrupt your air flow, such as another fan sucking cold air out before it gets to your cpu, or blowing air in from another side which will build up too much hot air in one area)

hope this all helps, i managed to bring my temps down drastically with a normal case to acceptable levels.

Did you also know that P4 prescotts have some kind of "auto-shutdown" feature that will stop them from doing any work if it reaches 85 degrees C ?

(sure you don't really want to be reaching that temp though...)

 

well i see the temp ranges over here and i can't believe it
this is my specs
motherboard - MSI NEO3
cpu - 3.0GHZ
case-antec sonata
psu -enermax noisetaker 2.0 425
2 memory sticks- 512
HD -SAMSUNG 80G
CDRW - BENQ 52*32*52
DVDR - LG
temp reading from speedfan
TEMP1: -40
TEMP2: 50
TEMP3: 42
HD0: 37
FAN2: 2900 RPM
-----------------------
with no extra cooling\modding
what is causing your system to reach such high temp
i have to add that my system is a bit noisy

 

DANG!,this thread has been viewed over 2000 times,there must be alot of hot prescott's out there and alot of worried owners !

 

check the msi motherboard forum too man every motherboard with prescott
has that thread too several(is this how you write it?) times each one over 300 views intel sucks with this one or no retail seller cared...

 

Hi Ricky,
Yes there certainly is a problem with the Prescotts. Intel's solution seems to be a fancy case and fans built to their spec.
If I had known about this problem I would not have bought mine. Never mind.
At the moment mine is running at 50C with a case temp of 26C, This is around 15C lower than my original setup.
Do you know what Northbridge temperatures are?
I don't mean a setup with extra fans and special heatsinks or fancy cases. Just a standard setup. I'd be interested to to know as I may sell the Prescott and get a Northbridge.
I'm assured by Intel that my tenperatures are fine but I wonder how long the Prescott will survive.

Cheers


billo

 

The northbridge is the link between your cpu and basically the rest of the motherboard,if you look inside the case you will see a small fan or heatsink on the motherboard,this is the northbridge every motherboard has one,it isn't an actual chip you can buy.when you overclock a system especially the front side bus you have to keep this cool for stability,the only chips you can buy are intel and AMD. BTW HI M8!

 

Thanks Ricky,
Yes; I know that. I meant Northwood CPU rather than a Prescott.

cheers

billo

 

Do! I should have realized!My fault!

If I were you I wouldn't bother unless you experience system instability or you wanna overclock it,I have a three year warranty with my amd what do you get with your prescott?

 

All Retail Box P4's have 3yr warranty.

Right from the get go, it was Known the prescott's were hot one's, they were tagged early on P4 3.0E, the E meaning extra Heat, LOL.

Anyone running Prescott P4 in the low 50's C, shouldnt worry they can take it.
Lot of factor's contribute to the temps.
I have a P4 3.0 Prescott, stock cpu fan & HS, Ceramic thermal paste, Gigabyte 2004 GT Edition mobo, generic case, Antec true 480psu & few el cheepo case fans, run's in upper 30's to low 40's, when I do some video editing occasional upper 40's.
I've heard with some good water cooling these can OC very fast.

I'm AMD guy all the way, I just had ta build one Pentinum rig, now that I did I think I'll see how fast I can toast it, I'm shopping around for some water cooling first.

 

I doubt I'll even own this chip in three years so I wouldn't care how hot it is,but I'm planning to overclock it soon so I'm tryin to keep pretty cool so my winchester still has some backbone when the time comes,here's a link asus you might find interesting,might give you a few water cooling product idea's,The thing I here most of all is stay away from kits,make up your own,but it doesn't half seem expensive.

http://gruntville.com/kingofthehill.php

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

 

Thanks for the link, Rikky
I've heard about the same thing about kits, probably be couple months before I'm done.
If all goes well, I'll post a thread & include some pic's.

 

Is that temp. is alright ?
cause Ive read about people that has it on idle on 20-30c
Ive been freakin out for that last 3 days about my cpu gettin fried or something ..
I only got it and the mother board last sunday

 

I'm not sure what everyone's problem is. I used the default fan/HS with some dynex silver. I'm idling around 38 and not getting above 50 under heavy load.

 

Im in pretty much the same boat as Jazzdrive - I'm using stock HS/Fan and getting idle temps of 39C and max at 50C after a large gaming session. My Antec case does have 2 120mm fans though and the case temps are maintained low thanks to this, probably helping the CPU temps to lower as well. The only extra precaution Ive taken is getting all the cables out of the way and keeping the airflow area unobstructed

 

I have 3 80mm fans for airflow. The fan on the stock heatsink rarely goes above 1000 rpms, and I'm still getting low temps.

One thing I noticed is that it's hard to get the stock heatsink situated and fully connected right. I had to fight a little bit.

So be sure the heatsink is on ALL THE WAY. This will ensure good contact and should stop any heating problems.

 

This is the fan that I chucked on my 3.0:
http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=ICB-V83&other_title=+ICB-V83+JET%204
I have only ever seen my CPU get above 35 once and 30 3 times. It might look a bit gaudy, but well worth it.

 

Well, don't like to burst any bubbles but don't totaally blame the Prescott:

I have a 3.0 Prescott(478 socket) with the stock fan/heatsink that came in the box.
Aspire X Navigator case, front intake fan,top exhaust fan,two rear exhaust fans(all 80 mm) and one 120 mm side exhaust(yes,exhaust, the way it came) and as I type this my cpu is at 28C and never exceeded 33C on the hottest summer day. I don't game.
Psu has it own exhaust fan, and extra fan port in front for 80mm fan. The case is very spacious, lots of circulation.

 

An important point here that I think has been overlooked is ambient operating environmental temp(i.e. background room temp). I live in the sub-tropics in Brisbane, Australia and our local environment averages between 25-35C (upto early 40s'C). With this in mind I have my workstation in an airconditioned room but I rarely lower the temp to 26C as I begin to freeze my b..ls off and often use my sys in 30-32C. I bought my sys as a complete package and definately expect salesman to consider local environmental conditions. Intel states their are critical operating temps for their chips upto ambient envirnments of 38C. In otherwords they consider that you can use your sys in room temps upto 38C (but who would) and that their chips should not achieve their CRITICAL TEMP THRESHOLD if all parts match properly, eg mobo, CPU and BIOS. I have posted the thread:

P4E 3.0GHz Prescott overheat, complete sys STILL UNDER WARRANTY, want tech specs.

Long story short my CPU is:

Intel P4E, 3.00 GHz 3006 MHz 1Mb L2 Cache (800FSB socket 478 Prescott CPU with HT*), CPU sSpec No.: SL7PM, with mobo,
MSI 661FM2-LSR(601-7060-050) Motherboard, SiS-661FX, Model No. (on board) = MS 7060 and,
BIOS Version: W7060SMS V2.0 030705.

Intel states that the CRITICAL TEMP THRESHOLD for my CPU is 69.1C and that operating CPU at 70C or greater will signifcantly shorten the life of your chip

http://www.intel.com/products/browse/processor.htm

Who is at fault? Intel, MSI or BIOS? I dont know. Others with Prescotts are achieving a lot lower temps but no one is stating AMBIENT OPERATING ENVIRONMENT. Either was my sys should not be hitting these temps and advice I have recieved from comp shops (not the supplier) is to firstly check for BIOS update, then mobo and lastly CPU. CPU has the most rigorous of quality control of all parts and thus should be the least likely to fail.

These parts are technically matched and yet my sys was hitting 72-73C, thermally throttling was kicking and the sys was slowing significantly. Thankfully I am still under warranty and my sys has been back to the shop were they replaced the THERMAL PASTE. This lowered temps by 5C, so that idle temp is now around 55C. This is still to high from advice and I have hit 70C once since it left shop (2 weeks ago) but are often hitting 64-65C with lowend activity. It is going back to the shop and thanks to this site and copius research I can now talk to them a lot more informed and they are going to replace my mobo or BIOS or CPU. Even though Prescott, 70C is to high!!!!

 

If any one is interested or just need to cure your insomnia here are some technical refrences for the P4E 3.0GHz on 90nm process:

The technical term for cooling and heating is Thermal Management and tech specs for Intel P4E 3.0 GHz on 90 nm process can be found at:

ftp://download.intel.com/design/Pentium4/datashts/30056103.pdf

http://www.intel.com/design/pentium4/guides/249889.htm

p7 of 2nd doc shows.; ambient env., air flow, effective thermal conductivity (heat transference) will effect the systems heat (including CPU).

Intel P4 on 90 nm process Thermal and Mechanical Design Guidelines:

ftp://download.intel.com/design/pentium4/guides/30056401.pdf

For thermal management suggestions and points to consider:

http://www.formfactors.org/developer\specs\atx_thermal_dg1.pdf

 

Hi I Also Have Prescott
It Is Normal For Prescott To Be In Higher Temps But...
There Is 1 Thing Missed, You Must Have A Very Good Power Supply (400w But Real 400w Dtk, Chiftec Etc...), And You Must Have A
Special Computer Case With Special Side Hole With Wide Tube Only For Processor Cooler To Get Fresh And Cold Air.
Also Extra Coolers Are Needed Better Processor Cooler (then Original Intel),
For Putting Out A Warm Air (rear)
And Putting In Cold Air (frontones).
As You See Lots Of Coolers But Most Important Is good Power Supply Or Your Voltages Will Not Be Constant Or Even Burn Components...

Best Regards Milan

 

I have read alot about alot of people concerned with the temps of their Prescotts, but from what was explained to me by a local computer shop tech, Prescotts are designed to run at higher temperatures than other CPU's, and to not be alarmed by the temps (obviously to a extent here...).

I guess relative to some AMD's or northwoods or whatever, prescotts may seem near to meltdown or something, but they are just different.

 

Theres different and thens theres hot, Prescotts still have critical threshold temps and the thermal throttling kicks in slowing your otherwise fast chip. Intel have done a bit of a bodgey job on this one, good thermal paste is needed and thermal management of convection flow thru the case is important to maintain longevity.

 

up until reading this thread i was sure i had a prescott cpu. I have a P4 3.0Ghz 800mhz fsb, it cost 250$CAD. it said prescott on the box when i bought it. but my temps are way off of what i'm seeing here. i am getting 36*C idle and 54*C load, with my stock intell hsf(i currently have my side panel off and have a 30cm fan blowing in my case which puts it down to 32*C idle and 45*C load). was i swindled? do i have a northwood?

 

Okay you can readily ID your CPU (and obtain the model AKA alias) with numerous apps, one good one is EVEREST Home (free):

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

Run the app expand Motherboard > click on CPU and on the third line you should note "CPU Alias" if you can't do it with this app I will suggest another you should get a copy of EVEREST while you still can anyway.

 

If your temps are lower than those stated and you can ID a Prescott with a diagnostics util be thankful, numerous people are achieving lower than avg idle and load temps. An important consideration is the ambient operating environment (how hot is the room the sys is in). Will naturally make a big difference and so few people have mentioned or measured this aspect.

 

I too am a owner of a P4 3.06Ghz Prescott and i live in Orlando Florida with outside Temps at about 80 degrees F.... Didn't have any problems last summer when it was 90F outside with a room temp of 75F when i had a heat sink and fan set up.I had my Prescott over clocked to 3.8 with 1.55v to the core and my idle temps were 40c and 55c with a load..Maybe you guys with extremely high temps at stock speeds have defects with your Processors(its common with pentium)..If you wan't to protect your investment with These prescotts then you may want to consider liquid cooling,it keeps the temps down even with extreme loads on the processor.Im currently at 4ghz with 1.6v core and i idle at 35,and max load at 55c....stock speeds im 25c at idle and 35 with a load....Think about Liquid(its the best way to keep that sucker cool)...