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Hot Q6600... tried everything!

D

dom_b

n00b
Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
32
I have an Intel Q6600 overclocked to 3ghz but I just cannot get the temps under load down below 70-80C (with prime)! I have tried everything I can think of. Do I just have a hot q6600 and i'll never get the temps down? thats all i can think of now.

things i've tried...

lapped the cpu - no effect
scythe ninja mini cooler - fans in all different configurations - no effect
artic silver 5 - applied correctly but no effect
changed airflow in the case (antec fusion) - no effect
pulled all the components out, reseated the heatsink a hundred times and no difference!

has anybody got any other ides? thanks.
 
whats the avg ambient temp in your room? also what voltage are you using?
 
its quite warm but im in england so its not tropical or anything! voltage thats stable at 3ghz is 1.385.
 
right now i've been running prime for 30 mins and my first core has peaked at 75C and now stable at 73C to74C. i just cannot get the temps down. The heatsink is definately on right and i've applied the arctic silver 5 across the middle of the cpu as you're supposed to on the quads...
 
for prime95 temps they arent really that bad.. realisticly prime95 temps are usually 10-15C higher then you will see with any other application that can get that cpu to full load..
 
i realise nothing else is going to get temps that high, still not seen many people reporting load temps this high.

unless they are not reporting proper load temps!
 
dom_b said:
i realise nothing else is going to get temps that high, still not seen many people reporting load temps this high.

unless they are not reporting proper load temps!
Click to expand...


it really depends on the heatsink.. the majority of people are running CM v8's, TRUE's, xig s1283's.. i havent really looked into the heatsink you are using so i dont know how well it compares to those though..


so i decided to do some looking around about the scythe ninja mini and the q6600.. and id say your primary reason for the high temps is your voltage.. everyone running between 1.36-1.38v are avging 70-75C.. which is what you are hitting.. so you may want to go back and mess with your overclock because you should be able to run 3ghz well under 1.38v.. unless you got a bad chip or have the b3 stepping i believe it is(some one correct me if im wrong) that sucks at overclocking..
 
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i have the G0 stepping and have tried all voltages below 1.385. some won't boot, others will stop with prime after a minute or two. 1.385 is about the best i can get at 3ghz.

thanks for your help. was considering getting another cooler but didnt want to spend another £30 on a lump of metal thats not going to make any difference!

as usual i've followed all the advice i can get the letter but end up with a duff chip... just my luck. oh well.
 
when the voltage is below 1.38v is it failing Blend test or failing small FFT's as well? if you want to check to see if its the cpu thats the problem.. try using a lower voltage then running small FFT test in prime 95.. if it fails then you are right 1.38 is the lowest it will go.. if it passes.. then you might need to tweak some other voltage settings or ram timing..
 
it fails below 1.385 on small ffts. i only ever test with small ffts.
 
Unfortunately, thats how it goes sometimes. I remember when I first tried overclocking. I built a rig based around an Athlon XP 2100+ with a Radeon 9500 Pro. Neither would overclock more than about 5% each. But I still had a blast trying. If nothing else, it's experience for the future.
 
the thing is, couple of years ago when i bought the stuff i learnt from the last gear i had and specifically looked for the best thing at the time for oc'ing which was the q6600. spent the time and money and still ended up with something too hot...

will leave it at 3ghz anyway. sure its not gonna fry itself.
 
Have you tried running with case open with a fan pointed at it to see if that makes a difference? Just curios... if temps show a drop then it would be your cooling solution that would need upgraded...
 
dom_b said:
i realize nothing else is going to get temps that high, still not seen many people reporting load temps this high.

unless they are not reporting proper load temps!
Click to expand...

Or not running in a small form factor case with a comparatively small heatsink ? :p

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129030
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/cpu/032/scmnj1000_detail.html

Hope I got your case right, if not most of below is worthless /shrug.

Taking a look at your case I do not believe your temps are too far out of line. I am still trying to figure out what Antec intended for an airflow pattern with the 2 x 120mm on the side and the smallish vent in the back (and one on top).

The 120's are so close together they need to either both intake or both exhaust or else they would interfere with each others airflow.

Given that, if both intake the exhaust venting area seems small with your heatsink and fan (I am assuming here and we know where that takes me.) directly in the way of the rearward 120 and I presume the fan on the heatsink is orientated to attempt to blow the hot air out that back vent. I read where you have tried all kinds of orientations, bear with me. I see, by that I mean visualize, the airflow from the side fans disrupting the attempt pushing the hot air out the back vent by causing a lot of turbulence if not disrupting the the CPU heatsink fans airflow direction completely.

If the 120's where set up for exhaust and your heatsink fan mounted to push the hot air off the heatsink toward the 120s I believe the small vent area available for air intake would be restrictive and perhaps noisy as all the air exhausted by the 120's needs to enter through those smallish vent areas.

So my issue with that case is the 120s are so close together, and the case so small, that without something done they must both be configured as exhaust or both intake and that leaves no decent airflow pattern possible. Hang on, I am getting to it, I promise.

The small case size, unoptimized airflow pattern and smallish heatsink are difficult issues to overcome. Just taking a look and using the method of SWAG (scientific wild ass guess) I would try this:

Cut a thin piece of cardboard and make a divider for those two 120mm fans so that the rear one can act as an exhaust and the the more forward fan act as an intake. Orientate the heatsink fan "in-line" (fan moving air toward ) the rear exhausting 120 and I would first try it with the fan pushing air through the heatsink and then out the 120. As opposed to the fan pulling air through the HS with the fans very close to one another. This divider should basically go between the 120mm fans and from the motherboard to the top of the case in an attempt to eliminate the fans affecting one another and extend past the CPU heatsink/fan assembly. Angles or bends as needed.

The idea is to try to create a "smooth" C shaped airflow pattern with the forward 120 sucking cool air in (the cardboard keeping the rear fan from just blowing it right back out) and blowing it across the front half or so of the motherboard , at least an inch or two past the fan for the CPU heatsink, until the end our your cardboard 'divider'/air dam where it would make a "U-turn" and be pulled back in the other direction by the CPU fan and the rearward 120. The idea would be to establish some kind of close to laminar airflow pattern with intake at least in the same order of magnitude as exhaust. There is still the issue at the outside of the case of the intake 120 pulling in warm air from the exhaust 120 fan. Perhaps the judicious placement of a picture frame or CD jewel case etc. could be managed.

You could obtain a piece of clear plastic (cling wrap might even be sufficient) to lay in place of the top of the case and with something producing smoke, trim and adjust your baffle length etc. trim as needed to fit around/over components etc.

I doubt it would help much, few deg, but it would be fun to experiment if you are inclined to tinker. At the least you could try it and post back that I am an idiot and it was a complete waste of time. All it will cost you is a cereal box.

Oh and if you are running a gaming video card in there as well, I see little hope, but per above on a rainy weekend afternoon you have little to loose with a little boffin work.

Best of luck.
 
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Check your bios setting for something like "Fan Speed Control Method" (that's what Gigabyte calls it anyway). If its using Intel QST then the fan speed will ramp rather slowly, too slowly for an OCed cpu in my opinion. Instead, try using the other fan speed options to find one that ramps fan speed in correlation to the temp.

FYI, I found this review using a mini on a Q6600.
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php?/cases_cooling/scythe_ninja_mini_cpu_cooler/1
 
I agree, good call. EIST trades off temp for fan speed in favor of keeping the noise down. Try "legacy" or "voltage control" or better yet if you can stand the noise disable fan speed control and run it at 100% all the time.

That review shows the heatsink is decent but I advise the OP to notice the case used was a full tower monster and the cpu was not OCed so expecting 40ish C temps is unrealistic. Still, it is useful in that it shows that heatsink is a significant improvement over the stock one and likely as good as you could get and still fit in your case.
 
Have you tried upping the chipset voltage?

Oherwise might be time to get a new cooler if you cant handle the temps, does seem high though as my I7 @ 4ghz hits lower temps on a True.
 
My Q6600 was running around 80 degrees on small FTT with voltages from 1.269 to 1.35. That was too hot compared to others' results, so I reapplied thermal compound. Afterwards, it topped out in the high 60s at 1.5 volts, and temps of the high 50s with 1.337 volts.

So based on my experience of about 130 separate stress tests with my Q6600, yes, your temps are too high. When you reset the heatsink, are you cleaning/reapplying thermal compound each time?

And not sure what is meant by "quite warm." Room temperature can have a significant impact.
 
Is that really the case that BillParrish posted you are using? If it is then that might be your problem right there....realistically...you cant expect super good temps with such a small case...take the top off and run it a fan pointed at it...if temps improve dramatically then you know what to do or live with..
 
Try the 8x multiplier.

I'm hitting 8*400 with only 1.225 volts. :D /brag
 
thanks for all your comments...

i've been tinkering for a good year or so with it when i can be bothered! i appreciate the input about using one fan for intake, the other for outake. i had the same idea a while ago but it didn't do an awful lot to help.

everytime i remove the heatsink i clean it at the cpu thouroughly and reapply as5.

i said its quite warm as i don't keep a thermometer handy around the house, maybe you do, but i dont! somewhere in the mid 20s i imagine!

also, regarding fan control...

my cpu (or exhaust fan as it is at the moment) is always at 100%. the intake (side 120mm fans) are controlled by speedfan. as soon as the first core gets above 50C they kick in at full speed. it sounds like an aircraft taking of but still doesnt do much to help!

maybe i'll have one more try at cleaning the cpu and heatsink, then try some more ducting when i get a chance.

thanks for your help again...
 
and with regards to the case, its a media centre. i use it for ripping blurays etc, but also use it for a bit of gaming, encoding etc which is why i would like it as fast as possible.

i imagine the case doesnt help much but im not having a huge tower in my living room lol
 
e-geek said:
Have you tried upping the chipset voltage?

Oherwise might be time to get a new cooler if you cant handle the temps, does seem high though as my I7 @ 4ghz hits lower temps on a True.
Click to expand...


yeah but your comparing a ~3 inch tall heatsink vx a ~10 inch tall heatsink with 300% more surface area on it to begin with..
 
dom_b said:
and with regards to the case, its a media centre. i use it for ripping blurays etc, but also use it for a bit of gaming, encoding etc which is why i would like it as fast as possible.

i imagine the case doesnt help much but im not having a huge tower in my living room lol
Click to expand...

Just get something fashionable? A Larger case can make all the difference.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103026
 
i have similar problem, i have q9300 open air
tried it with tuniq tower, stock fan, zalman 9700 coolermaster gemini and water cooling. no mater what i tried it has the same temps. mid 40s at idle and mid to high 60s at load with 1.26v. there might be faulty processor?
 
What are you using to measure the temp? realtemp, coretemp, speedfan? Try another if you're always using the same one, or download an updated version of the one you have. I personally like realtemp as it seems to be widely accepted as most accurate.

Also, do you have a 92mm fan to try on the heatsink. It'll be quieter than the scythe one and push a good deal more air.
 
My philosophy is that as long as the CPU is running at a safe temperature, who cares if it's a bit high? It won't cause any damage to the chip, so just leave it be.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
he has a media center pc.. so the case is small for a reason.. neither of those cases are small.. since i own the antec 300 and use it as my htpc case as well but only because i have the room to use a case that big..
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:

Not all mediacenters have to be small, but I see. If it's a media center, no point in overclocking then.

IMO at least. I would have a main P.C. rip movies and send them over to the media p.c./server. That's just me.


In short, I wouldn't be expecting to overclock much on a media-center designed P.C.
 
I am having the exact same problem with my q6600.....

I hit about 85C under load at 1.3825v

w/ tuniq tower and a decent case (thermaltake soprano) .... I know neither will win overclocking competitions but I shouldn't be hitting 85C
 
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