Core i7 Heatsink/Temperature Woes

O

osrk

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 10, 2003
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I've been seeing some weirdness from my core i7 860 rig. It's clocked at 3.4ghz @1.125 V. It seems to be consistently operating at around 63-64C on the hottest core. It has one of these cooling it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
The weird thing is it will cool it to ~55 C on the hottest core but after about 5 hours the temperature steadily rises to about 65C without any changes to anything else. I think it might be a cheap cooler not meant for 24/7 work.

Meanwhile my core i7 920 at 3.8ghz 1.2V is usually around 56-57 C on the the hottest core. It's cooled by this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

I have another Dark Knight laying around. Do you guys think it would do better then the Cooler Master? It seems to keep my 920 frosty.

Btw the 920 get 23kppd while the 860 gets 20.3 k ppd for those who wanted to know.
 
Are these builds in similar cases? No case? Could it be a difference in case cooling? One case builds up heat after a while but the one case does a better job of getting rid of the heat?
 
metallicafan said:
Are these builds in similar cases? No case? Could it be a difference in case cooling? One case builds up heat after a while but the one case does a better job of getting rid of the heat?
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same case and fan position. The 920 has two video cards in the case and the 860 only has 1.

Alternatively I was also thinking of picking up a Corsair H50 but it would be more expensive then just using what i got.
 
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Is it possible that your folding rig is heating up the entire room by 10°C?
 
Yea I guess then if the case isn't the difference, the only variables left would be location (environment) of each box, the heat sink (as you mentioned), and maybe the heat sink installation (bad thermal paste, not enough too much, etc?). Either way replacing the heatsink with your spare one is probably the quickest way to troubleshoot. :)
 
Wyxe said:
Is it possible that your folding rig is heating up the entire room by 10°C?
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No I doubt it. Room is a 250 ft2 a window is open too. The thing i'm keying on is the difference in heatsink. I had thought the coolermaster was better but i'm starting to think differently.
 
I would just leave it. Your temperatures are perfectly fine, even if the 860 is running hotter than the 920. It's not worth the effort to change the cooler.
 
Until you start hitting 85C on a regular basis.... Meh.

These are not the old Socket A procs that I and so many others fried.
 
osrk said:
Alternatively I was also thinking of picking up a Corsair H50 but it would be more expensive then just using what i got.
Click to expand...

I own six H50 cooler systems and love them!
I only have 2 in service at the moment, but they work awesome in a push pull fan setup!

O/Ced to 3.9GHz my temp are......
Temps.jpg
 
Kendrak said:
Until you start hitting 85C on a regular basis.... Meh.

These are not the old Socket A procs that I and so many others fried.
Click to expand...


mmm fired socket A processors.. those were the fun days.. :D and when a quiet heatsink didnt exist.. lol


but yeah i agree with zero.. temps are well under the Tjmax.. i wouldnt worry about it til your hitting 80C+ constant..
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
i wouldnt worry about it til your hitting 80C+ constant..
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Depends on the person and what their limit/"freaked out" temps are.
I don't like going over 70 myself, TBH. Granted my i7 hovers around 70-71 Folding now (and went to around 73-74 while Priming), it's not bad though, I can deal with it. The cpu runs warm, I know. 80+ is definitely freak out territory though, it's safe range, technically, but too hot for my taste to run 24/7.

I found out 4ghz+ was running me 80c+, I scaled it back to 3.9. Having the extra 100mhz was not worth it to me to add nearly .1v more (above 1.3 Vcc) and 10c more. It's all about the individual though and what they're comfortable with.

osrk I wouldn't worry about the difference in temps, one to the other. There's a lot of factors that play into it; too many to really worry about since your temps are still very safe.
 
UPDATE!:

I replaced the heatsink with a Xigmatek Dark Knight and redid the thermal paste. I think initially I had too much thermal paste on it too. Currently running at 3.7ghz @ 1.182 V and running a cool 55 C. I think it was also the coolmaster heatsink. I don't know if it was meant for the rigers of 24/7 load at overclocked settings. It from the temperature profiles the temperature seems to increases over time on the same work unit. It's a pretty cheap heatsink.
 
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@gekenais: as a H50 n00b I'd like to know the particulars on your setup with your H50. What case and fans do you have and are you running the push/pull as intake or exhaust? thnx!
 
tjmagneto said:
@gekenais: as a H50 n00b I'd like to know the particulars on your setup with your H50. What case and fans do you have and are you running the push/pull as intake or exhaust? thnx!
Click to expand...
I have a h50 that i use on my main rig and i just have the fan pulling air into the case. The fan is on the inside and i have a filter on the outside to make sure the radiator doesn't get crapped up.
 
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