I did a "lets play" on my Pentium mmx 233 + voodoo 3, it was like 4 hours playing star wars pod racer and it didn't get that hot.
and also I did almost a full day playing lands of lore (not all the time, but, I just let the computer on running the game...), and still no problem at all.

My pmmx never actually got hot, neither the voodoo 3 (it's not compared to a fx5500 without cooler D: )

I don't have a better pic now, but mine looks like yours http://bimg2.mlstatic.com/placa-me-via-ms5184 … 2322_042013.jpg

Also, was the performance increased alot? I did a try on that pmmx using 2,5 x 100fsb, but the difference was so small, and the weirdest part is that disabling the l1 cache the system at 250MHz got slower than before (233MHz)

That heatsink should be more than enough even with a fan with really low air flow.

The stock heatsink for the Pentium 233 MMX has perhaps a quarter of the mass compared to the one you are using.

I think its a "CPU thing" with that specimen or just bad contact between the CPU and heatsink, are you using thermal compound?

@ibm5155

I can't believe that the voodoo3 didn't get hot in that story :p , these cards are like little radiators without active cooling 🤣
Performance-wise I got a small boost from the previous 200mhz cpu, a welcomed one for some DOS 3D games...

@Skyscraper
That's what I remember, intel's heatsinks were tiny... I use arctic silver ceramique , it's not a problem with heat transfer because the heatsink really gets hot...

Going to remove the cpu now and see what kind of model it is...

edit: here it is...

back in the day i ran a P166mmx naked without problems without any fans, you arn't overheating

Double check that the correct voltage is applied. MMX processors use lower voltage than normal Pentiums.

I believe I have the same exact cooler. It should be easily enough for a MMX 233. ~20W is nothing for a CPU cooler 😀

Well , it rained here and the temperature dropped quite for now.. guess what , the heatsink isn't even warm now.
Maybe it was ambient temperature after all, don't know what to think... will put a beefier heatsink/fan for sure though, no way I am keeping this... 🤣
VCORE is tripple-checked and set manually, that's not the problem 😎

thanks for the suggestions all, I'll report back later

edit: maybe it's a combination of crappy cpu fan and low-rpm psu fan, I do run the psu fan in silent mode... I believe I need more flow as I think that I overdid it with low db chase while not considering the temperatures here 🤣

I have just built a 233MMX myself, similar heatsink/fan combo as yours, think it was originally from a celeron 600, runs so cool you can't feel a thing and thats with dirt cheap paste. I just added a bunch of scores to Phil's VGA benchmark sheet with a load of different cards without problems, add yours!
Phil's Ultimate VGA Benchmark Database Project

Have to check, but if i'm correct my compaq just uses a passive heatsink on the p233mmx.

My Pentium MMX rig is one of the coolest running machine at home with half the heat sink you have. I generally found the available socket 7 coolers a bit flimsy and prefer to put Intel stock coolers for socket 370, but that's not much substantial compared to your either. With that, my CPU is not cold or even cool by any means, but probably running around 40-50 degrees which is fine and I have no lock ups or shot downs. There must be something else, but I have no idea specifically what It is.

a lot of the 200mmx cpu's are unlocked and can run 3,5 multi (= 1,5 on a lot of mobo's)
if you have one try that and see if it makes a difference.

keropi wrote:

Well , it rained here and the temperature dropped quite for now.. guess what , the heatsink isn't even warm now.

This is after you removed and re-ftiited the heatsink? Perhaps that helped? Too much paste isn't good, regardless of brand. You just want a thin layer to replace the the air between the two surfaces. (But surely you know this... I'm just trying to think of Why it was hot.)

My 200mmx at 3.5x66.6 for 233mhz doesn't get hot. Sink is only warm to the touch. Paste is basic white thermal that was bundled with a motherboard.

Well, a hot heatsink is a good sign, it means it absorbs heat afaik
I don't know fellows, I think I overdid it with silent stuff, the machine is in a bog standard babyAT case that only has the psu for ventilation and right next to the cpu is a riva128 vga, it gets pretty hot too - riva has it's own heatsink/fan too but put all that in a small space , 30degrees environment and low-rpm psu exhaust fan and you get heat built-up really quick apparently...

I'll do some modifications and report back, the heat isn't going anywhere soon so there will lots of chance to test things 🤣

If the airflow is lacking, some underclocking and undervolting may help to keep temperatures in check. But who would do such a thing? 😉

You can always undervolt to some degree. My P-233MMX run fine at just 2.2V @233MHz. It also runs @315MHz at 3.0V

Well I did some changes and I think all is good now...

a. running the psu fan at full speed, 1800rpm
b. replaced the heatsink/fan with a heavier/bigger heatsink (100gr vs 70gr) and a beefier but silent fan (a 60x60x25 thermaltake one)
c. fixed a jumper error on the mobo, sdram bus clock was set to agp and not cpu (mobo has this for K6 cpus)
d. reverted to automatic cpu vcore since that wasn't the issue

So now the heatsink doesn't even get hot . I do get some more noise from the psu (wind tunnel) but I can live with that 🤣
I also tested with the cpu fan disconnected, I am pretty sure that with a different case and some airflow one can get away without a cpu fan.
Currently waiting on the next heat-wave to see how the machine behaves 😎

Thank you all for your input/suggestions! 😊