Is this making good contact? (pics)

R

Raxxath

Limp Gawd
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May 29, 2007
Messages
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I've been trying to get to the bottom of my temperature problems for a while now. I'm wondering if my TIM application could be the culprit. I use MX-2 and the small dot method. I'll be trying the line method soon, the next time I remount everything. Anyway, here are some pictures- can anyone tell me if the heatsinks are making good contact?

E6700 and D-Tek FuZion
Rigtesting012.jpg

Rigtesting015.jpg



P35 Northbridge and stock heatpipes
65df7758.jpg

f899c298.jpg



Southbridge and stock heatpipes
2dbd2f75.jpg

e0fd9aca.jpg
 
Anyone else have an opinion? I get awful temps on the NB and SB, and the CPU is warmer than it should be.
 
it looks pretty good to me too. you know that thermal paste has a significantly long burn-in time until you get optimal temperatures, right?
 
Kevin5255 said:
it looks pretty good to me too. you know that thermal paste has a significantly long burn-in time until you get optimal temperatures, right?
Click to expand...

That depends on the thermal paste. Arctic Silver 5 is known to take quite a while, but MX-2 is ready to go almost instantly.
 
The northbridge doesn't look too good, I can't see any thermal compound on one side of the northbridge. The best way to fix this is to use something like the side of a credit card to smooth a thin layer over the core. The trick is to apply as little as possible whist making sure enough contact is made.
 
lamboman said:
Give us more detail. How is airflow in the case?
Click to expand...

Its not in a case at the moment. I have fans blowing directly on the NB and SB right now, they idle around 40C, and can reach 50C in games. I took the fans off at one point, and my games started artifacting because the NB was over 60C. The "Motherboard" sensor is also very warm, though I'm not positive as to where its located.

As for the CPU, it idles at about 32C with stock clocks. This is on a Thermochill PA120.3 and DDC 3.2. There's also a stock 8800 Ultra with MCW60 in the loop, which idles at 38C. All fans are undervolted Yate Loon lows, turning up their speed has little effect. The ambient temperature is about 18C.

I have thoroughly done everything imaginable to bleed my radiator many times, but it does get warm with use, reducing the probability that there's an air pocket stuck in it. And that wouldn't explain my crappy chipset temperatures. One thing that would explain my universally bad temperatures is improper TIM application, which is why I asked about it :p. I get the feeling that I simply have bad luck, the stock cooling on the motherboard sucks, and that my processor isn't flat or something.

Anyway, I have all the stuff for two loops, as well as MCW30s for the NB and SB. I'll be trying that out in the next few weeks if nothing comes up.
 
Errr...the northbridge and southbridge contact is terrible. The die faces aren't totally covered, as they should be. The cpu looks peachy, though. For the NB and SB, spread some compound with a credit card but make it slightly thicker than you'd spread it on a cpu.
 
skadebo said:
Errr...the northbridge and southbridge contact is terrible. The die faces aren't totally covered, as they should be. The cpu looks peachy, though. For the NB and SB, spread some compound with a credit card but make it slightly thicker than you'd spread it on a cpu.
Click to expand...

Now that's what I like to hear. :)

I'll give that a try, thanks.
 
Make sure you clean off the paste that is on there before you apply more. You can do this with thermal paste remover used with some type of surface purifier, or just use rubbing alchol (80% and up). It is also good practice to not remove the heatsink once the thermal compound has been applied because it can cause air gaps when you put it back on.
 
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