Solved: A quick bit of advice on AMD CPU cooler

[BG-0]

So, I wanted to replace my AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+'s stock cooler with Zalman CNPS 9700 LED. Problem is, the stock block is stuck there really tight, and I'm afraid to use any more force than I already did... Any safe ways to get it off? Wiggling? Waiting?

 

[crjdriver]

What I do with a stuck hsf is to do one of the following.
1 Power ON the system for a few min to warm the hsf. Power OFF and pull the hsf.
2 If it is not possible to pw ON the system, then use a hairdryer set on max heat to warm the hsf.

 

[BG-0]

Well, the machine was on for about 4 hours before trying to take it out... And was shut down for, let's say 2 minutes that I disconnected wires and such for.

I guess I'll try opening the case forehand and then running it for a while..

 

[crjdriver]

It should have been warm enough. Have you given the hsf a twist back and forth after the clips are removed?

 

[BG-0]

It came off when I tried it instantly after turning the PC off and swiftly draining the power from it. The CNPS 9700 gave me quite a mighty fight, got my pointing finger shred, my thumbs sore from twisting the "through-iron" so I wouldn't break anything when actually putting it in place.

The thing is... I put it the wrong way (recommended by the manual and stuff). But... It blows from down(gfx) to up, to the 140mm, so it's not too bad... I assume.. :/

 

[crjdriver]

Glad you got it off. I have had more than a few fingers cut by working inside a system

I have had very good luck with the arctic freezer pro. I have one on my own system and it keeps an amd 6400+ running @30C or so when under a light load; 45C when encoding video, etc.

FWIW on the few occasions I have had a stuck hsf, what I do is release the spring clips and pw ON the system. Once on for a few min, shutdown and pull the fan power and remove the hsf.

 

[BG-0]

Yeah, I'm glad too. I have 50 % less noise coming from my system now (CPU fan was the most noisy one if the Tricools were on lowest or medium setting), and the CPU temps seem to have gone down... Speedfan reports 9 C CPU and core temps (false temps, I know) after playing for a few hours, as they would've been about 20 C with the stock one.
Know any programs that would see the PCU temps the way BIOS sees them?

 

[crjdriver]

The bios temps and the temps under windows xp or vista are going to be very different. The reason is both support C&Q; the vcore and cpu speed go up and down.

Does your board maker have any monitoring software? Most top end board makers have some type of monitoring app like probe for asus, easytune for gigabyte, etc.

 

[crjdriver]

FWIW I have C&Q disabled on my system and vista still alters cpu speed, vcore, etc. It does not run as cool as when I had C&Q enabled however it is still really cool for a 6400+

 

[BG-0]

Well, the PC speaking of is the one in my specs. I'll see if MSI has something to offer.

 

[BG-0]

Hmm. I'm a bit confused now.. There's this MSI Dual Core Center. http://global.msi.eu/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=utility&maincat_no=1&prod_no=1243
Should I use it? It says something about ATI GFx cards: "If you are using an ATI graphic card, you must install ver. 8.41 driver and its additional applications to make Dual CoreCenter works normally. It is better to use recommended installation while installing an ATI VGA driver."
Will this be any kind of a problem? I have the Catalyst 8.9 installed.

 

[crjdriver]

I would go ahead and install it with the driver you have now. Do make a restore point and or image before doing anything.

 

[BG-0]

Well, that was a cool looking gadget. Haven't yet uninstalled, might keep it. It says CPU temp 9-10 on idle/surfing load and sys temp 32. It also has an overclock feature with AV/Game/Office/etc quick selections (you don't have to say, I WON'T use that.) And a fan that I can spin or stop. Cool. Real useful.
Nothing new with that.

 

[crjdriver]

Yes if you ever do overclock, do it with the bios settings. The amd overdrive is a good way of testing stability and showing you what fsb you can run. Come to think of it, amd overdrive shows temps as well. You might want to download amd overdrive and check it out.

 

[crjdriver]

I would think that there is something wrong with the temp sensing on that board to show a cpu temp like that. Sometimes there are bios updates that address just that issue.

Here is a screenshot of the gigabyte version of the monitoring/overclocking software. I use it just to verify the temp displayed by speedfan [which I use all of the time]