# Your help needed (and greatly appreciated).



## Zazula (Apr 27, 2006)

MY INTRO

I decided to post in _this _subforum because we'll inevitably have to deal with the issue(s) at hand as a whole. The computer in question is my personal "right hand" in my endless hours of everyday digital work. It will undeniably look vintage to almost everyone, yet this is my mate that has been working great for me since Sept. 10th, 2003. One month ago I re-assembled it from ground up, adding a few new components (hard and optical disks, mainly), removing some components I no longer need/use, cleaning everything thoroughly, and installing all software from scratch. So, it may _not _be a "new build" per se, but it certainly _is _a "build anew".


MY CONFIGURATION

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-8KNXP (Rev 1.x)
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 3.0GHz supporting Hyper-Threading Technology
Memory: Two sticks of Kingston KVR400X64C3A/512 and one OCZ4001024V25DC-K kit.
Video card: Gigabyte GV-R96P128D
Floppy: NEC FD1321H
Hard disk 0: Seagate ST3320620AS Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s 320GB
Hard disk 1: WDC WD2500KS-00MJB0 250GB Caviar SE16 SATA II
Optical drives: LG GSA-H55N and Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7170A
Audio card: Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96
Chassis: Thermaltake Xaser III V1000C
Card reader: In-Win CRi530 6-in-1
TV tuner: Pinnacle PCTV Pro PCI
Power supply: FSP Epsilon FX700-GLN


MY PROBLEM #1

Some voltage readings look fishy - please advise:





























MY PROBLEM #2

This system combines the King of Roast (P4HT Prescott) and the King of Junk (Intel P4 stock cooler) in one package.










The result is temps of 50°-55°C when idle, which easily go up to 70°-75°C under stress (see Sensors View snapshot above). Suggestions, please.


MY PROBLEM #3

There seems that the only HDD temperature indication being received is from HD1 (WD) and not HD0 (Seagate); e.g. see SpeedFan snapshot above (reports that the WD was found in both instances, with only the capacity showing different - still it can't be that their temps are identical all the time). Please help me resolve this.


MY PROMISE

As always, I will be eternally thankful. ray: :smile:


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hello Zaz, :wave:

To start, lets check the temps and voltages in the BIOS. See if they are different. Your +5v is out of spec, but the +12v is close to being out of spec as well. All voltages have a +/- 5% tolerance according to the ATX12v spec.

If they are the same in the BIOS, we might want to move onto Multimeter testing. I can post some nice pictures if we get that far.

As for the heatsink, you should probably consider a heatsink upgrade. I would look at something like the Zalman 7700 as it is a good stock cooler. It looks like you have good airflow so I don't think thats the issue. Also, if your case is dusty blow the dust out with compressed air.


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## Zazula (Apr 27, 2006)

Thanks, Matt, for responding to the cry for help. :grin:


Regarding the voltages, I went a royal "***!?!" when I saw them... :laugh: Anyhow, my Award BIOS doesn't seem to be very helpful (in terms of accuracy) on that aspect... Under 'PC Health Status' it says OK for all of them (Vcore, DDR25V, +3.3V, +5V, +12V). Under 'Frequency/Voltage Control' I have all three tweakable voltages (DIMM Overvoltage Control, AGP Overvoltage Control & CPU Voltage Control) set to Normal; thus getting a 'Normal CPU Vcore' of 1.2875V.

As far as the Zalman 7700 goes, which one is preferable - pure copper (34 euros) or pure aluminum/copper (33 euros)?

Moreover, dear all, please do not neglect my Problem #3, in case you are familiar with it. :smile:


Additional information: This PSU is less than a year old; it was initially commissioned on a very light application in terms of wattage, but had to be working 24/7. It then had a sabbatical of four months, and finally ended up in this computer.


Aditional suggestions: If you have them (regarding upgradeability or general improvement of this system or what have you), they're always welcome.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I know about the BIOS thing, mine does that as well. OK would indicate they are within the ATX spec (+/- 5% tolerance). I don't think the PSU is an issue, but if you have a multimeter it would not hurt to double check the voltages especially when the computer is under load (Prime95, gaming, etc.). Your 5v especially concerns me because it is shown the same in both SpeedFan and SensorsView.

For the HSF, spend the extra euro on the all copper one. It is a good heatsink. Remember to use some Arctic Silver.

As for the hard drive, you might have to configure SpeedFan to detect both. Click the *Configure* button and in the *Temperatures* tab. See if it can find your HD0 there.


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## Zazula (Apr 27, 2006)

Well, since there's a BIOS - SensorsView/SpeedFan/PCWizard conflict, I think a multimeter testing is in order (awaiting those pics). :smile:

About the thermal paste, that would be my very next question on My Problem #2: I should use my Arctic Silver (as always) - not the paste that Zalman includes in the 7700 retail package, right?

Like I said, all programs seem to see only the WDC (or to confuse my two HDDs); e.g. see at the SpeedFan pic of my opening post: It says two HDDs were found (capacities are reported correctly), yet both have the WDC P/N, and no matter how long one monitors their temps, they remain identical. All programs fail to distinguish between my two HDDs - is there a possibility that this is a SiI3112 glitch (since they're both on the same controller)? (Remember, Seagate is 320GB, WDC is 250GB.)


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

OK. We are going to use a technique called Back Probing because I like it. :chgrin: Its easy, and you can test the PSU when the computer is running.

Take the red probe. This is positive. Insert into the back of the 20/24-pin main molex connector. Start with a yellow (+12v) wire. Then, take the black Probe and touch it to the metal part of the chassis. This is ground. 

The picture below shows using a ground wire, but I usually don't do that because from a textbook standpoint it is incorrect. Touch it to the chassis. It will still read correctly.










Repeat this process with the red (+5v) and orange (+3.3v) wires. I would also test the gray (Power_Good) wire as well. The Power_Good wire should be between 3v and 6v, but preferably about 5v.

As for the hard disk reading, my only guess is to try another SATA port. That is a strange issue. If you unplug the Western Digital, does it read the Seagate?

For the Thermal Paste, it won't make a huge difference TBH, but if you do happen to have Arctic Silver around, I would use that instead.

One thing I like about AS is the Arctic Silver Ceramique variety. It is completely non electrically conductive, so if you are clumsy like me and get some on the Motherboard, it is not a huge deal.


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## Zazula (Apr 27, 2006)

Multimeter-testing results follow:
+12V = 12.09V
+5V = 4.89V
+3.3V = 3.23V
Power_Good = 3.93V

Well, obviously my PSU is well within spec, and simply the three pieces of software that are supposed to take those readings from within Windows (i.e. PCWizard, SpeedFan and SensorsView), were proved plain clueless - at least regarding the +5V reading.

And THEN, while I was kinda stumped with this news, I remembered I also have Everest... :grin: Guess what? Everest Ultimate records my voltages perfectly right!










Therefore, my conclusion to My Problem #1 is that only Everest was proved to provide accurate voltages readings - which, by the way, are within spec in my case.


Now, fast forward to My Problem #3; when I disconnect HD1 (the WDC 250GB), then my Seagate gets miraculously detected - and its temp, as well (which, by the way, is well beneath the one recorded when both HDDs are connected):










Compare SpeedFan's SMART tab before and after I disconnect the second hard disk:

















Obviously, this seems to be a SiI3112 glitch, because even Everest falls victim of it... I'm kinda frustated as a result of it, though, because I'd like to be aware of my System hard disk's _actual _temperature...


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Have you tried rearranging the SATA connections (trying different SATA ports)? That might fix it. But TBH I don't have a definite solution for that problem. If that doesn't work, I will post in Tweakers.


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