question about xp-90

J

JeRi

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 28, 2005
Messages
276
well i just installed a new XP-90 + Thermaltake Silentcat fan onto my A64 3200+ Winchester, and so far I haven't seen any real improvement. I haven't even overclocked my CPU yet, and on load it's reaching temps around 40C, and idles at around 33-34C, which was the same as stock temps for idle, and about 2C lower than stock for load. I've tried running Prime95 a few times, with shutting the computer off for at least 30 minutes in between to allow for some time for curing of AS5. So i'm wondering if i did anything wrong with the installation of the new heatsink? I went along with the directions given by AS and just put a dot of AS5 about the size of 2/3 of a BB in the middle, and tried twisting the heatsink a degree right and left, but i'm just baffled as to why i'm not seeing much improvement. the temp of my room is hotter than other rooms in my house as i get the worst circulation because i'm over the garage, but even if i place a small oscillating fan by my comp it doesn't really help much. I have a total of 5 fans in my case for circulation: 2 on the back as outtakes, 1 on the bottom front as intake, 1 side window intake and another fan mounted in front of my hard drives as an outtake as well. Is this set up good for ventillation, or should i change things up to see if i can get better ventilation?

i've left the computer on running Prime95 while i'm at work right now, so hopefully a good 7 or 8 hours of load and then a break when i get home might help to quicken this process....

does anyone think i should reinstall the heatsink and put a fresh coat of AS5? I also have a brand new tube of AS Ceramique that i bought with the HS & Fan, but wasn't sure if i should use it over AS5. Any ideas? Thanks...
 
No. Leave the AS5 on there for AT LEAST a few days for it to sink in. I believe they say 100-200 hours to sink in. So about a week. I think a lot of people's problems with AS5 is that they get impatient and reapply it without waiting for it to sink in.

btw, "+ Thermaltake Silentcat" that might be your problem. TT isn't a reliable company except perhaps their Tsunami case. I especially don't trust their fans. You may want to look into buying a panaflo. (Search newegg for "Panaflo 92".) Panaflo is a very reliable fan.
 
yeah i read about panaflo...when i bought the XP-90, svc didn't have the right panaflow in stock, and i didn't feel like paying an arm and a leg just for a fan on another site, so i went with this so i didn't have to pay for extra shipping....i love newegg, cept i live in NJ, so i get tax along with shipping costs, which is a big deterrent for me when shopping around (looking for lowest bottomline price cuz I'm a poor college kid ;) ). so i guess i'll wait it out a few days and see what happens with my temps, otherwise, i'll look into a panaflo and maybe just try mounting the silentcat somewhere in my case. thanks for the input
 
Reapplying AS5 helped me. 3700SD/XP90/Panaflo (L1A) was ~30C idle, ~40C under load. After reapplication it dropped to 23C/33C-ish.
 
if i do reapply, should i do the "one dot" method? or should i apply an even thin coat to the entire CPU?
 
i also just had a thought, and looked at the fans that i bought for my case, and it looks like i bought some pretty crappy fans...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=586525&CatId=0

Only 27CFM, ugh....I wasn't really aware of how fans can affect the temps inside the case when i first bought them (beginning of may when i built my computer = first time ever), but now I can see that this is probably another reason why i'm not getting great temps in general...do you think i should invest in some better 80mm Panaflo's for my case as well? Maybe these would be a good replacement?

http://www.svc.com/fba08a12h.html

i would think almost 40cfm on my case would help airflow big time, right? only downside is that the ultra fans i have are uber quiet at 21dba, but i probably wouldn't be able to hear the difference much anyway with all the fans in the case as it is
 
ok will look into some more fans once i finally deposit my paycheck from work and have some extra cash to spare
 
I used the 80mm version of a L1A - can't hear it over the four case fans I got for $0.99 each at the egg. :D

I used the thin, even coat method the second time I applied AS5.
 
You don't use a 92mm panaflo on your CPU? Heard those work wonders, it's what I am ordering.

Also, anyone got an idea of what kind of fan specification numbers to shoot for? Want something right in middle of sound/efficiency(and rpm of course).

Looking at these:

RPM 2450
Air Flow 32.1
Noise Level 28.0

Think that will be to loud? I like a pretty quiet system, but a little sound is ok as long as I get the extra cooling.

Thanks.
 
ok, looks like i can spend some cash on new fans...i think i'll be buyin myself 4 80mm Panaflos for my case and a 92mm for my XP-90. just gotta pick out which ones i want now....i think ultras may be just a bit noisier than i want, so i might go for the High fans for both the case and XP-90

i'm ordering 4 of these:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa80hisp.html

and one of these:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa92hisp.html

think i'll see some improvement with all these installed?


damn, never thought i would be spending 50 bucks on fans lol :D
just put my order thru, should be here in 2-3 days. can't wait to see if this helps out my temp issues, otherwise i just put a big investment into fans for nothing lol
 
it totally will, but just curious if anyone can give me an idea of what DBA is considered silent and what is considered noisy? Trying to find a median but have no fans to test on since the comp I have now is all stocked up from gateway and very silent, but crappy cooling so unsure what the specs are on the fans.

If anyone has any idea let me know.

Thanks.
 
well i gotta say i'm impressed with sidewindercomputer.com's customer service. they only had 3 80mm panaflo's left in stock, so they called me up, and then emailed me right after because i wasn't available to notify me of this, and to also ask what i would like done with my order. They were very compliant with my request to ship what they had left in stock now, and ship the last fan next week when they get it back in stock. Kudos to sidewinder ;)
 
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