Wierd cooling behavior on Presario s3200nx

[Dr Chocobo]

I just got this board and I was happily impressed with its performance for what it was, but I noticed this little issue and am uneasy about it.

first off, I installed it into a new case and power supply and placed a very good all copper heatsink and fan on it. That is when I noticed this strange behavior.

The thing runs at its rated speed and then slows down and shuts of completely sometimes. then at regular intervals, it runs ungodly fast and loud for about fifteen seconds and tapers of in speed until it stops.

I suspect this is some kind of thermostat on the mobo because I noticed it does this with both the case fan and the heatsink at the same time, but the thing that worries me is that this may cause microfractures to my cpu.

When the thing cuts in, the heatsink is HOT REAL hot! when it finishes its cycle its on the hot side of warm.

I like to keep my CPU in the neighborhood of 49 to 55 deg C and this is making me nervous.

SHould I worry over this behavior or is this simply how this motherboard operates? Ive exhausted my efforts to find any kind of specs from compaq or other places. I get nothing but the general rundown of features and such but no cooling related data. I suspect if I pull the fan and install a molex connector so that it run right off the power supply, that the board migh halt due to not seeing a running fan but am not sure.

Any input would REALY be welcome :)

Thanks

[Darthtanion]

I have never been a big fan of system-regulated thermistors since I've never been convinced that a diode knows more than I do. You mentioned that the case fan acts up at the same time that the HSF does? If this is the case then it sounds as if you have the fan for your processor cooling attached to one of the 3-pin headers located on the motherboard. I usually recommend staying away from this setup as the power draw of a decent fan can be too much for a motherboard to handle. I always attach my primary cooling fans directly into a 4-pin Molex from the power supply. If you don't have a means to attach it in this manner, you can pick up a 3-pin to 4-pin converter for very little at most decent electronics stores or online.

If you're bound and determined to use the motherboard header, then take a look in the system BIOS and you should find a setting that will disable the automatic fan speeds from kicking in.

[Dr Chocobo]

Thanks a bunch man I arrived at a similar solution. Seems the mobo was controling via thermostat and was holding my chip at 59 to 70 deg. I dug through my junk box and found a molex and things are going wwel now she rides at about 49 to 53 deg.

There is a program out there that overcomes the mobo and allows the fans to run at 100% It's called speedfan but it only runs in 98 last I checked

thanks
Dr Chocobo

[bf2nut]

Originally Posted by Darthtanion

I have never been a big fan of system-regulated thermistors since I've never been convinced that a diode knows more than I do. You mentioned that the case fan acts up at the same time that the HSF does? If this is the case then it sounds as if you have the fan for your processor cooling attached to one of the 3-pin headers located on the motherboard. I usually recommend staying away from this setup as the power draw of a decent fan can be too much for a motherboard to handle. I always attach my primary cooling fans directly into a 4-pin Molex from the power supply. If you don't have a means to attach it in this manner, you can pick up a 3-pin to 4-pin converter for very little at most decent electronics stores or online.

If you're bound and determined to use the motherboard header, then take a look in the system BIOS and you should find a setting that will disable the automatic fan speeds from kicking in.

agree with darth 100%,and what heatsink do u have exactly sir?and yes disable all automatic fan option stuff.

[amd_man2005]

Originally Posted by bf2nut

agree with darth 100%,and what heatsink do u have exactly sir?and yes disable all automatic fan option stuff.

He already got the problem fixed. Being a Compaq PC it probably has whatever stock junk Compaq throws in there.