ok, ive read a few other posts around here about a similar topic

but im having problems with keeping my cpu cool

when it's idle its running at a steady 50C, but under a load with on a slightly warm day it's running at about 65C

i've got a Coolermaster Jet 4 slapped on top of it

http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=ICB-V83&other_title=%2BICB-V83%2BJET%204

the air circulation in its never really been a problem so i dont think that would be it, so what i read in another one is that the heatsink might not be flat

now since i have the observational jurdgement of a mole i was wondering if anyone can give me a hint on how to check that aswell

if anyone else can think of a reason why its running so hot then let me know because when a hot day gets here then my processor is just gonna fry

P4 2.8 has a 75C max temp.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/scripts/details.asp?sSpec=SL6WT&ProcFam=483&PkgType=ALL&SysBusSpd=ALL&CorSpd=ALL

1) Motherboard temp reporting is the biggest liar. I am surprised they don't get sued yet.

2) Rarely heatsink base is 100% flat due to mass production and cost control. Hence, heatsink lapping is a normal practice for overclockers.

Whatever motherboard you are using, since you did not mention, go to the Board website and check out the forum in temp related topics.

"the air circulation in its never really been a problem "

How do you know? I gather you wouldn't otherwise you wouldn't be asking a basic thermal management question.

Your setup is similar to mine, although I have a P4 2.6 (800FSB) with a Cooler Master Aero 4 (mounted using Arctic Silver Ceramique thermal paste). On the one hand, I'm inclined to agree with real_cool that mobo temp reporting is often inaccurate (example: my CPU temp alarm went off tonight, showing a temp of 127 degrees C ... that's over 260 F, which is ridiculous!). On the other hand, you may have to double-check your heatsink/fan installation. Did you mount it yourself? If so, were you careful to use thermal paste, but not too much? In my case, since I had already run my P4 2.6 with the stock heatsink/fan, I had to clean the residue from the original thermal pad before mounting the Cooler Master unit. Any further info you can provide would be helpful.

ok since real_cool pointed out the complete stupidity in lack of detail in that post i tihnk i'll throw in a little more

Mobo : Gigabyte GA-8K1100
http://tw.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-8IK1100.htm

ive actually got a 400w psu mounted above the heatsink + fan which is giving off quite a bit of heat, although it's never given me problems before

The heatsink was attached with about 1mm of artic silver on the cpu

there wasnt any existing paste on the heatsink to start with

and i didnt actually know about some BIOS reporting wrong

cheers for any help youve given

Just got done playing 30 minutes Combat simulator. P4 2.6 overclocked to 3.38 ghz (260FSB), Stock Heatsink Fan (retail pack), idle 38C and during game time it peaked at 48C; IC7 board with system temp 25C at 21C room temp.

"The heatsink was attached with about 1mm of artic silver on the cpu "

Talk about stupidity.

"and i didnt actually know about some BIOS reporting wrong :"

You have not been long in building PC or know much about it.

"ive actually got a 400w psu mounted above the heatsink + fan which is giving off quite a bit of heat"

Heat loss from PS (actually should be called switching power supply) comes from cheapos.

genesis ...

How many cooling fans do you have in your case, and how are they arranged?

ive got two 60mm at the bottom front of my case taking in air and an 80mm at the back as an exhaust

i did have another one but i tihnk someone sotle it, that or i just have an empty holder at the front

Too much thermal compound used, 1mm thick over the heatsink is too much.

What is system or board temp? Ideal should be around a few degrees higher than room temp.

i'll probably take the heatsink off and re-attach it then.

and i dont know the board temp, it doesnt report it.

Your "board temp" may be reported as "system temp." Normally it will be lower than the CPU temp (although with my AOpen mobo, the diagnostic utility that came with it often shows the CPU temp as being lower - could be a bogus reading due to faulty thermal sensors on the board).

Daniel,

That's why I said motherboards were liars in temp reporting. Commons sense tells me system or board temp could not be higher than CPU temp.

I have the Asus P4P800 Deluxe reporting 27C CPU and 30C system/board temp. The 27C CPU temp would go up to 41C under load, and the 30C system temp would go to 34C under load. So, there is no mix up of the two.

The two IC7, one IS7 and 2 NF7 report halfway decent temp, and I know they are 3-5C off of each other. They are never accurate. They (motherboard makers) play (fool) the customers to create the heatsink business. There is no way they could not make the bios to report +/-1% accuracy in temp reporting.

A cheap $5 fish tank temp sensor reports more accurately.

I'm inclined to agree with real_cool regarding the inaccuracy of mobo temp readings. After all, how could my CPU temp be lower than the system (although after a while, the CPU temp does show up higher, say, 35-40 C, while the system temp stays around 30-31 C). I think the temp sensors in my AOpen mobo are a little flaky!

I also have the GA-8IK1100. I built the current system from scratch and just finished installing everything the other night.

My proc is a 2.6C, which I have boosted to about 2.8 currently (via FSB 217 to get DDR rate to 434 to max out the PC3500 memory). DDR voltage increased by +0.1, others at base level.

I used the Thermalright SLK-947U with a Thermaltake SmartFan II mounted on top of it. The fan is plugged into the board's cpu_fan sensor, and seems to work properly with that configuration in varying its temperature. I applied Arctic Silver 5 to the chip as per the product's instructions (barely obscuring the printing on the die). The case also has three other TTsf2 fans blowing air into it, and the PSU fan as exhaust.

The mobo reports the cpu idle temp in the 32-35 range. While burning CD's or installing a couple of large games it never broke 40C in temp, though I've yet to run it through any rigorous benchmarks. (the temp was taken from the EasyTune hardware reporting console, which I'm assuming mirrors the BIOS directly, since they both have the same range in idle temps).

My advice would be to re-apply the thermal paste, since if you use to much it can actually act as an insulator. I can't recall which heatsink you were using, but I'd recommend getting something better than stock if you haven't already.

System stats:

Apex TU-150 case (on Intel's "thermally advanged" list) (~$70 on dealsonic with a decent quality 400W psu)

P4 2.6C
GigaByte GA-8IK1100 (rev 2.0, BIOS FF)
FSB oc'd to 217 (~870qdr)
2x512 Kingston HyperX 3500 (DDR434)
Old-azz AGP 4X card (nVidia set)
4 ThermalTake SmartFan II (1 on cpu, 3 case)
Thermalright SLK-947U Heatsink
Seagate Baracuda 80GB SATA Drive
My old 10GB Maxtor IDE Drive
Lite-On DVD player and Lite-On CD/RW

Hope that helps.