Power failure during vacation

patrik · 2003-07-29, 20:15

My fears have been verified.

Four days ago I was still on vacation, and then I heard on the news that there had been a power failure in Uppsala, affecting 80000 customers of the power company. About 190000 people live in Uppsala, and usually only one person in each family is a customer of the power company...

And when I returned today, my apartment was completely silent. Maybe I will have to see if my BIOSes support booting when the power comes back.

A lucky coincidence though, that it was near the end of the vacation.

lycorn · 2003-07-29, 21:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrik

I will have to see if my BIOSes support booting when the power comes back.

That also happened to me last year, but unfortunately it was at the beginning of the vacation :( . Missed ~10M iterations of a 33M exponent.
I then checked my BIOS and set it to boot when power is restored (ASUS A7V266-E). According to Murphy´s law, power won´t fail this year...

nomadicus · 2003-07-30, 00:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by lycorn

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrik

I will have to see if my BIOSes support booting when the power comes back.

That also happened to me last year, but unfortunately it was at the beginning of the vacation :( . Missed ~10M iterations of a 33M exponent.
I then checked my BIOS and set it to boot when power is restored (ASUS A7V266-E). According to Murphy´s law, power won´t fail this year...

I have the same mobo. I was on vacation, during which time we had many lightning storms, my GeForce3 fried (the fan has a nasty brown stain in the center) while I was gone. I think, not sure, that in turn damaged the mobo north or south bridge, et al. I am fixing it. Just hope my hard drive didn't receive some sort of write and scribble data command during the last few ms. :?

Question: My Athlon XP 1700 runs very hot (well, used to anyway), like about 62C (145F). Does yours?

lycorn · 2003-07-30, 08:24

I have an Athlon XP1800 (Palomino). It used to run very hot until I got a Thermaltake Dragon Orb 3 cooler. Then I managed to stabilize the temperature in the mid-fifties. But in hot weather it still rises above 60 C (the computer room has no air conditioning and it gets *very* hot in summer).
The cooler is effective, but it has two weak points in my opinion:

1. The air slots get very easily clogged with dust and stuff like that. Then the efficiency drops quite a lot. Cleaning it is a bit cumbersome and takes time.

2. It is bloody noisy

. You hear it all around the house

May be one day I´ll get a water cooling system. But it will be for a new machine anyway...

QuintLeo · 2003-07-30, 13:46

In my experience, the HS/Fan AMD included in the boxed retail Thunderbird and Palomino Athlons was ... pretty wimpy. *BARELY* acceptably by their OWN thermal design specs in an air-conditioned environment.

They seem to include the SAME HS/Fan with a given speed grade of Thoroughbred that they used to include with the Palomino of that same speed grade - even though the Thououghbred runs a LOT cooler.

In my case, I've found that Alpha 8045s are relatively inexpensive, and provide excellent cooling, even with a low noise fan. There are other HSs that work as well, and a few that work a LITTLE better (the SLK900 comes to mind), but the difference in performance is pretty minimal for the almost *double* the cost of the HS.

BTW - I *don't* have air conditioning, and my Thoroughbred in the machine next to this one rarely sees more than 45C with an 8045 and a 50cfm Sunon - and it's an XP1800+ overclocked to 1848 Mhz (from 1533 stock). The Palomino XP1800+ in THIS machine will get to 65C on hot summer days - but that's with an outside temp in the 100F or higher range, and the same fan (no space for a Delta in this machine, unfortunately).

Wolf · 2003-07-30, 18:03

According to ASUS Probe V2.15.00 my XP2100+ is running at 64C/147F. A couple of weeks ago it hit 70C (ambient 33C).

Does anyone know how accurate Probe is?

QuintLeo · 2003-07-31, 02:29

Which motherboard?

If it's reading from the on-chip thermal diode (like my A7V333-X does), anything under 70C is GOOD - that's the spec AMD quotes at 90/95C max.

If it's reading from a thermistor on the MB, I'd worry - that's into probably overheating territory.

I've not used Probe, so can't say how accurate it would be.

Wolf · 2003-07-31, 06:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuintLeo

Which motherboard? .

A7A266-E

QuintLeo · 2003-07-31, 13:43

OK, I think you have a problem - I'm pretty sure your motherboard uses a thermistor for CPU temp sensing in all cases.

I would suggest a HS/Fan upgrade like immediately.

Wolf · 2003-07-31, 15:37

Now you've got me worried.

The good news is that the computer is still under warranty.

Thanks for the warning, I'll keep my eye on the temperature.

I could turn Prime95 off

that drops the temperature by about 6C.

QuintLeo · 2003-08-01, 03:40

You might want to turn Prime off *if* the CPU temp gets up past about 65C.

Should be OK the rest of the time.

I'm guessing your machine isn't in an air-conditioned environment?

2003-07-29, 20:15	#1
patrik "Patrik Johansson" Aug 2002 Uppsala, Sweden 5²×17 Posts	Power failure during vacation My fears have been verified. Four days ago I was still on vacation, and then I heard on the news that there had been a power failure in Uppsala, affecting 80000 customers of the power company. About 190000 people live in Uppsala, and usually only one person in each family is a customer of the power company... And when I returned today, my apartment was completely silent. Maybe I will have to see if my BIOSes support booting when the power comes back. A lucky coincidence though, that it was near the end of the vacation.

2003-07-30, 08:24	#4
lycorn Sep 2002 Oeiras, Portugal 2⁶·23 Posts	Re: Power failure during vacation I have an Athlon XP1800 (Palomino). It used to run very hot until I got a Thermaltake Dragon Orb 3 cooler. Then I managed to stabilize the temperature in the mid-fifties. But in hot weather it still rises above 60 C (the computer room has no air conditioning and it gets very hot in summer). The cooler is effective, but it has two weak points in my opinion: 1. The air slots get very easily clogged with dust and stuff like that. Then the efficiency drops quite a lot. Cleaning it is a bit cumbersome and takes time. 2. It is bloody noisy . You hear it all around the house May be one day I´ll get a water cooling system. But it will be for a new machine anyway...

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2003-07-30, 13:46	#5
QuintLeo Oct 2002 Lost in the hills of Iowa 2⁶×7 Posts	In my experience, the HS/Fan AMD included in the boxed retail Thunderbird and Palomino Athlons was ... pretty wimpy. BARELY acceptably by their OWN thermal design specs in an air-conditioned environment. They seem to include the SAME HS/Fan with a given speed grade of Thoroughbred that they used to include with the Palomino of that same speed grade - even though the Thououghbred runs a LOT cooler. In my case, I've found that Alpha 8045s are relatively inexpensive, and provide excellent cooling, even with a low noise fan. There are other HSs that work as well, and a few that work a LITTLE better (the SLK900 comes to mind), but the difference in performance is pretty minimal for the almost double the cost of the HS. BTW - I don't have air conditioning, and my Thoroughbred in the machine next to this one rarely sees more than 45C with an 8045 and a 50cfm Sunon - and it's an XP1800+ overclocked to 1848 Mhz (from 1533 stock). The Palomino XP1800+ in THIS machine will get to 65C on hot summer days - but that's with an outside temp in the 100F or higher range, and the same fan (no space for a Delta in this machine, unfortunately).

2003-07-30, 18:03	#6
Wolf Jul 2003 UK 33₁₆ Posts	According to ASUS Probe V2.15.00 my XP2100+ is running at 64C/147F. A couple of weeks ago it hit 70C (ambient 33C). Does anyone know how accurate Probe is?

2003-07-31, 02:29	#7
QuintLeo Oct 2002 Lost in the hills of Iowa 1C0₁₆ Posts	Which motherboard? If it's reading from the on-chip thermal diode (like my A7V333-X does), anything under 70C is GOOD - that's the spec AMD quotes at 90/95C max. If it's reading from a thermistor on the MB, I'd worry - that's into probably overheating territory. I've not used Probe, so can't say how accurate it would be.

2003-07-31, 13:43	#9
QuintLeo Oct 2002 Lost in the hills of Iowa 2⁶·7 Posts	OK, I think you have a problem - I'm pretty sure your motherboard uses a thermistor for CPU temp sensing in all cases. I would suggest a HS/Fan upgrade like immediately.

2003-07-31, 15:37	#10
Wolf Jul 2003 UK 33₁₆ Posts	Now you've got me worried. The good news is that the computer is still under warranty. Thanks for the warning, I'll keep my eye on the temperature. I could turn Prime95 off that drops the temperature by about 6C.

2003-08-01, 03:40	#11
QuintLeo Oct 2002 Lost in the hills of Iowa 2⁶·7 Posts	You might want to turn Prime off if the CPU temp gets up past about 65C. Should be OK the rest of the time. I'm guessing your machine isn't in an air-conditioned environment?