two of the same mobos, one runs hotter than the other. why?

[ChaosLegionnaire]

i have two of the same mobos (maximus 2 formula) and the nb and sb on one runs much hotter 40°C vs 60°C than the other. the cpu, ram, video card and psu are kept the same. it is NOT overclocked.

i cannot figure out why two of the same boards can run at such a vast difference in temperatures. what could be the possible list of explanations? could it be bad caps, bad mosfets, faulty thermal sensor giving wrong readings perhaps? what else?

[mariushm]

Re: two of the same mobos, one runs hotter than the other. why?

Measure the temps directly on the heatsinks with an ifrared thermometer or some probe. Don't rely on software sensors.
But keep in mind if you use an infrared thermometer that shiny surfaces can mess up the measurement.

Could be imperfect contact between the chips and the heatsinks, maybe not enough pressure, or too much thermal paste.
Maybe you have one board with different settings (cool'n'quiet or equivalent on one, Maybe you have the overclocking features enabled but not used on one, which may raise the voltages just a bit.

Maybe the fans on a system are more dusty and the cables are poorly layed out blocking airflow, so the heatsinks on one don't get to cool down as much as the other...

[kaboom]

Re: two of the same mobos, one runs hotter than the other. why?

the cpu, ram, video card and psu are kept the same.

What about the case, fans, and airflow?

This temperature difference is easily felt by the hand or fingers. You can always do a quick-'n-dirty temperature check...

Typical IR thermometers won't read right- has to do with "emissivity."

http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/14...ctual-ir-temps

[mariushm]

Re: two of the same mobos, one runs hotter than the other. why?

It will read close enough if you put some black tape on the heatsink to prevent the issues pointed in the article
.

[Gabriel]

Re: two of the same mobos, one runs hotter than the other. why?

Do you have the same bios on both boards ?

[kaboom]

Re: two of the same mobos, one runs hotter than the other. why?

It will read close enough if you put some black tape on the heatsink to prevent the issues pointed in the article
.

Thanks, I forgot about that.


But how do you cut little pieces of tape for all those little heatsink fins?

[kc8adu]

Re: two of the same mobos, one runs hotter than the other. why?

same cpu cooler with same orientation?

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: two of the same mobos, one runs hotter than the other. why?

i'm trying both boards on an open air test bench. both are clean and dust free. clocks and voltages are all left at stock. sensor voltage readings both read the same for both boards. just the nb and sb temp readings are vastly different.

i have flashed the same latest bios 2302 for both boards. i have also thoroughly checked the bios settings both are using the same bios settings. as im keeping one as a spare so they have to have the same bios settings or the os might not boot if the bios settings are different heh~

also using same cpu cooler on both boards same orientation. using stock intel cooler atm.

as for temp measurement, i have a scythe IR thermometer that can either be usb powered or powered using a cr2032 battery but i have no idea how good or accurate that scythe IR thermometer is. any1 here got one of those b4 heh?

i think i might try reapplying thermal grease and reseating the asus stack cool 2 heatsink system as i read around somewhere and saw some ppl complained that the asus stack cool heatsink warps the board and might cause the heatsink to no longer make good contact with the chipsets.