Hello, all,

I am in the process of navigating the trials and tribulations of keeping an AMD XP2000 cool (or at least, not hot). My motherboard (Soyo SY-KT400 Dragon Ultra) provides three different temp readings in the BIOS. I have been mainly focused on the 'Die temperature'. My die temperature is constantly at 63C at idle and will get up to 72C when stressed. Now, according to info at some of the overclockers boards I've visited, that's too hot. A lot of them brag about die temps around 38C at idle, with stock HSF's and only a fan or two to speak of.
I have done all of the tweaks necessary for superior cooling (intake fan, two exhaust fans, blowhole fan, CoolerMaster HSF, etc. ad nauseum.) I have used sparing amounts of the finest thermal compound money can buy. I have placed and re-placed the HSF, to no avail. The best I can get, with NOTHING overclocked in the BIOS, is 63C at the die.
A) Is the die temp the one I should be concerned with, as opposed to the other CPU temp reading in my BIOS (which is consistently 21- 22C lower than the die temp)?
B) Is there a chance that the MB is reading the temps incorrectly?
C) Should I be this concerned? I want the CPU to run as efficiently as possible, and it's very frustrating thinking that it should be running about 20C cooler than it actually is.

Sorry for the long post; thanks in advance for the assistance.

welcome ken,

IMO 72C under stress may be "hot", but is certainly not dangerous. (That's close to my likely die temps) Before we can help, can you be more specific about your setup. In particular, I'd like to know what model of CM heatsink you have? CM has only ever really made 1 decent HS and that's the copper heatpipe one... it's still takes only a 60mm fan though

Hello, powergyoza,

Currently I am using the CoolerMaster model HHC-L61 Silent Heat Pipe. Actually, I'm quite impressed with it - very quiet (I understand they have a more powerful/louder fan version of it that would probably be good for another 2 or 3C cooler).
Previous to this I tried three other HSFs, first was a generic aluminum HS with fan (carried over from my Athlon 1000, best idle was 82C) and two other newer design HSFs, one borrowed from a friend (can't remember name, all copper, very noisy, best idle 75C), and a fairly decent all copper cooler from Chump - er, I mean CompUSA (somewhat loud, but pretty decent overall quality, best idle 64C).

So I suppose the 'die' temperature is the one I should be concerned with, eh?

Thanks again.

Well, I know for a fact that different motherboards are calibrated differently and if the mobo reads off the internal diode of the CPU, then the temperatures are going to be high compared to the thermistor read temperatures, which most current motherboards have. I'm not sure if the difference is as large as the one you imply, but I'm pretty sure it's over 15C. That could be one factor in your high temperatures, but CoolerMaster heatsinks are garbage when you have Thermalright heatsinks that for around the same price. The SK7 at SVC.com is 19.99 right now. The SK6+ is 9.99 and you can mount an 80mm fan over it if you rotate the fan 45 from the "stock position."

Hello, JOF
As we speak, I am awaiting delivery of a Thermalright SLK-800. The CoolerMaster I am currently using was the best I could find at the bricks-and-mortar level around here (my walk-in retail choices are limited to Chump USA and the prototypical mom-and -pop computer places with very limited HSF selection).

Back to my original query: I've been browsing through other forums, and I've found quite a few enthusiasts running Athlon XPs like mine with basically average case configurations (one intake fan, one exhaust fan, aftermarket HSF), default BIOS values, and bragging about CPU idle temps of 38C - 45C. I find it difficult to believe that the temps they are referring to are DIE temps. Should I be able to get my CPU die temp that low?
I know that AMD claims a **maximum** on-die temperature of 90C for my XP2000, but what should be the **average** on-die temp at idle?

Thanks again in advance.