Hey all, Im doing a budget build for my youngest brother. Im dropping an athlon x2 3800+ in a biostar BIOSTAR NF61S Micro motherboard. I am going to run the system for a couple weeks to make sure the fan speeds are ok and cooling are ok since I am reusing an older case. heres my question, I have a software package that came with the gigabyte board in my system, also an AM2 board, that came with 2 programs, easytune 5, and face wizard, that I want to use on the new one. I was kinda wantin to make a new post screen with the face wizard. I have read nothing in the included manuals about either software package being board or brand specific (though both are made by gigabyte) it doesnt say it can only be used on gigabyte boards or not, or just that board or not, in fact the included instruction manuals were kinda skimpy. it seems to be that at least the easytune should work but not sure, the face wizard im totally not sure about. anyone know if these two programs will work on the biostar board or not? and if not, are there other free programs that I can use? I posted this on another site and all the help I got was get coretemp. yeah its free but why bother getting that if I already have the software that I like (I really like easytune 5) which is why I want to know if it will work, and the face wizard as well. any help would be appreciated.

Easytune or indeed any Gigabyte "configuration" software won't run a rivals motherboard, mainly because the software is specifically aimed to configure Gigabyte hardware and they aren't particularly interested in researching other motherboards to make them compatible. You will find that if you run the software, it will simply just exit itself.

alright thankyou for your reply! now I know. so nice to have a definite answer.

Your motherboard utilities disk should have a monitoring program (check for a more recent version on your maker's website). If none, I too recommend CoreTemp for newer Intel and AMD64 CPUs. Speedfan is a great and popular alternative, or you can try Motherboard Monitor. Unfortunately, I have found that the latter two programs often have problems properly identifying and labeling the sensor they are reading. So I use Everest to verify the temperatures, then modify Speedfan or Motherboard Monitor to edit the label. In Everest, look under Computer > Sensor, then wait a couple seconds for the readings to appear. Unfortunately, Everest does not minimize to the system tray to show real-time temperatures full time, otherwise, you could use Everest instead of the others.

I finally got the system up and running, (after much frantic work, I accidently bought the upgrade version of XP for it so i tore my house apart looking for another copy of windows so I could install it on the comp. such a nuisance) and your were right dig-it did come with some monitoring and overclocking tools. they were both rather cheesy however and i question the reliability of either. it had one for o/cing and one for temp control. i wish easytune 5 would work on it it does both and seems to be more reliable. in any case i went ahead and downloaded coretemp. though I had another question-the cpu fan is running at like 3500+ rpm and sounds like a jeat engine, is there a tool that will allow me to slow the rpm down for noise control? I have plenty of cooling in the case and 2000 rpm ought to be more then enough to keep the CPU cool.

I am not happy that Biostar does not include any documentation for this board on their site. There's no excuse for that.

Well, anyway, if your motherboard supports it, you may be able to slow down your CPU fan, but I would not advise it, unless you keep the CPU temperatures under constant surveillance.

Your other alternatives include putting a speed controller in-line with the fan's power connector. But, again, you must keep constant watch on the temps. Also, since such a speed controller will change the expected load on the motherboard's fan header, I would suggest a spare power supply connector be used instead. This, in turn, may require you to disable CPU fan monitoring in the BIOS Setup Menu.

Another alternative is to get a better case that suppresses noise better, and/or a quieter CPU heatsink fan assembly. However, I must caution here that using anything other than the supplied cooling solutions with "retail" ("boxed") CPUs from AMD (and Intel too) voids the warranty! Damage from overclocking is not covered either!

the motherboard is supposed to allow for smartfan control though theres no software included for that. im not to worried about the temp itself, I have plenty of cooling in the case, (80 mm intake, 90 mm exhaust, thinkin about putting in another exhaust for good measure. by the way both of these are silent running) and I am constantly monitoring the temps on it as I am running it for a week to quality control it before i give it to my brother. as far as heatsinks go the processor did not come with a heatsink, nor in a box but came alone, i had to buy the heatsink extra. also, my parents wanted a budget system and so i reused an old HP case i had laying around. i know my gigabyte board has a silent cool option that lowers the CPU rpm when not in use to decrease noise, and brings the rpm up as the load increases on it to keep the temp cool, and that was what i was wonderin if there was any other software that could do that that was free and i could download and play with. also, my brother is only 11 and usin this for schoolwork so it wont be overclocked any time soon, and the noise might be distracting which is why i want to play with it. if it were my system i wouldnt be concerned, im a gamer, the instant i turn on my game all other sound is drowned out.

Well, Speedfan does allow you to control the fan speeds, if it knows your board, and your motherboard supports it.

If the case fans now are low noise types, then I would not worry too much about the CPU fan noise, as long as it is simply fan noise and not bad bearings whining. In other words, if it ain't broke...

When you installed the new CPU heatsink, did you use TIM? (See sticky.)

the board does have a smart fan control which Ive been messing around with, and it helps a bit. yes I used TIM. when I purchased the heatsink I didnt realize it had some on the base of it already (it didnt say anything about it on newegg) so I purchased some arctic silver as well. when I got it, i saw the stuff on the bottom of the heatsink and wasnt sure what it was-ive never seen a heatsink with the stuff already on it, all the others ive seen you had to add the stuff. so I went ahead and put a small amount (miniscule) of the arctic silver on the CPU itself, and when I realized it was the same texture as that of the heatsink then it must be similar stuff, so I merely spread out the amount i had over the heatsink and installed it. so far it has been running fine. the temps for the two cores (using coretemp) idle at 88 degrees F. with the CPU fan going full force, and using the smart fan control they idle at 95 degrees F. neither are dangerously high but id like to lower it some more, but i dont want the noise associated with the full force fan, so i think ill invest in a 92 in. quiet exhast fan right behind the CPU (theres a mount there for one) so thanks for your help, Ive got most of it figured out.

If you used Arctic Silver on the die without removing the thermal pad from the heatsink, you need to pull that, clean both surfaces thoroughly, and reapply a fresh, thin, layer.

Note that even in the US, most folks use Celsius for the temperature scales. So 95°F = 35°C which is great - and nothing to worry about - in other words, don't mess with the CPU fan (other than new TIM).

If your case supports 92mm fans, that's good. Oh, and that's 92mm - millimeters - not 90 and not inches! - 120mm would be better, but you take what you get and 92mm is better than 80mm any day.

Still, I would redo your TIM so that you only have one chemical compound there.