K7VAT
System Board 80
5-2-1 Suitable Socket A CPU coolers
AMD maintains a list of approved thermal solutions for the Athlon processor.
Please do NOT use Pentium heatsinks, Duron processors may crack when trying
to force Pentium heatsinks and fans onto them. The processors have slightly
different sizes so this is not a good idea. Make sure the cooler is approved for
Socket A use.
In addition Duron processors come with four little "feet" on top of the processor, do not buy
a cooler which also has these feet (or remove them if it does). Eight feet are bad news,
since the cooler won't make proper contact with the CPU and it may get damaged. Please
refer to the AMD website at
www.amd.com
to find a list of approved cooling FANs. We
strongly recommend that you use only FANs found there.
Why is my CPU running so hot?
If your CPU temperature is over 70 degrees C you have a cooling problem. By far the most
common cause of this is the improper removal of the protective square over the pre-applied
thermal paste. (See the hardware installation CPU section). For the adventurous, you may
remove the original thermal paste layer by using a solvent (such as oil free nail varnish
remover), and apply a standard thermal conducting compound or Artic Silver instead. Make
sure that the thermal contact between CPU and Heatsink is OK.
Take care in connecting the heatsink to the CPU
Note that the CPU core (the little raised green rectangle on the CPU) is very fragile. It is
very important to not use any horizontal force or any rocking motions when installing a
CPU FAN. The heatsink can grind the corners and edges off of the CPU incredibly easily.
It's fairly loud when it happens, Dealers will generally refuse a refund when you damage
your CPU like this therefore be CAREFULL.
Normal CPU temperature readings
The temperature of your CPU depends upon its speed in MHz, the core voltage, your CPU
FAN, the movement of air through your case and the ambient air temperature. However, a
typical CPU temperature (not overclocked) as measured by the on board thermister should
be around 40-50 degrees Celcius. The case temperature should be approximately 5-10
degrees above room temperature (or less). Do not worry if your figures are slightly higher
than these, but you should begin to think about improved cooling if your CPU temperature
is 50 degrees C or higher. The maximum temperature is 90 degrees C according to AMD,
but your processor is very unlikely to be stable at temperatures near this! Also, processor
life is directly related to temperature.
