My buddy has just built a PC and is having a few issues with it. His specs are:
AMD 2500+
Gigabyte 7N400 Pro2
512 Crucial 2100 DDR
Radeon 9600 Pro

The problem is that when he runs his CPU at half speed, it has a temp of 50* C and when run at full speed it has a temp of 60*C. This is when its idle, no apps running... this temp reported in bios.

Now i have the same CPU with the Asus A7N8X Del mobo and running at full speed its temp is like 40*C and like 45-50* C when in heavy use.

Both of us are using the standard heat sink and fan shipped with the CPU. Anyone out there know why his is running so hot? Please let us know how to fix this. Thanks guys.
-Lalaji

Most likely a bad Heatsink installation. Installing the heatsink backwards for example can make for a bad contact between the CPU Die surface & the heatsink's surface.

It could also be related to the Case's ventilation. No enough air flow for example or maybe a "crowded" area around the CPU. Make sure the main PSU cable, that goes to the mainboard doesn't block hot air around the CPU.

Also check to see if Q-fan isn't enabled, lowering the CPU's fan speed.

PS. Did the heatsink come with a thermal pad allready installed or did he apply some thermal paste ?

The thermal pad was already installed. I told him it might be the heatsink installation... we shall see.

PS. Q-fan on the Gigabyte board? i didnt think it even has Q-fan. If you know it does... do you know where in the bios that setting is located? Thanks.

-Lalaji

When looking at the FAQ for that board, the first item is about increased CPU temps with newer BIOS versions. According to Gigabyte, newer BIOS versions monitor the CPU temp in a more accurate way. Maybe the temps he's getting isn't that far off.

The last Item also talked about the CPU fan getting shut down when the CPU temp was very low so I thought it had a fan speed management system such as the Asus Q-Fan.

Gigabyte FAQ page ( 7N400 Pro 2 )

BTW, What FSB is he using ? With PC2100 Ram, it's hard to set a 166FSB & run the Ram in sync ( which is the best performance setup for an nForce based system ). If he runs them out of sync ( 166 for FSB & 133 for Ram ), he's prolly having lackluster performance.

PS. I downloaded the manuals for that board but nothing about BIOS setup. The manuals I found ony explain how to install the CPU, Ram, etc...

did he instal the thermal paste?

Also check the surface of heatsink...(flatness)

Check the airflow maybe need for some coolers!