Possible bad LGA1366 socket? (BAD temps @ stock clocks)

criccio

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I just recently put together a rig with the following specs:

EVGA X58 SLI LE (latest BIOS)
6GB (3x2GB) G.Skill DDR3-1600 @ 9-9-9-24
Core-i7 930 @ Stock
Corsair H50 w/ high speed Yate Loons in push/pull (at first) / Thermalright Venomous-X w/ PWM Akasa Apache's in push/pull (now)
BB sized dab of AS5 on the center of the heat spreader of the CPU for both coolers
MSI Radeon 5850 1GB
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Corsair TX650
Fractal Designs Define R2
Plenty of intake and exhaust fans


My temps with LinX with the H50 setup @ stock was 40c idle and almost 75c at load.

The temps with the Venomous-X with the pressure adjustment screw at full pressure is 40c idle and 68c at load.

Now, I haven't even attempted to overclock yet as these temps with two awesome coolers just do NOT seem as low as they should be... at stocks clocks!

My old rig has a 3.4GHz Q6600 with a Xigmatek S1283 and it idles at 29c and hits 50c running LinX.

Is it possible there is something keeping the coolers from making proper contact with the CPU?
 
it's possible that they're not making great contact, but even so those temps do seem a bit high for stock.

did you do a few test applications to make sure the thermal compound would spread evenly? normally the ihs isn't flat, so even after lapping your heatsink you may not get the best contact.
 
Ugh, something is definitely wrong.

I just used the "dummy overclock" just to test in an OC'ed senario and this is ridiculous.

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I just lost a processor to a leak from my water cooling. It idled it in the low 60's with stock speeds and stock HSF.

I got a replacement and the temps are under control now, so while it's possible that maybe you just got a bad processor, it's probably more along the lines of poorly seated/not good contact with your cooler.
 
This is what the contact looked like when I pulled the cooler off (bb sized dot in the center of the IHS:

IMG_0005.jpg

IMG_0006.jpg


That looks awful. Horribly warped IHS? This has happened with 2 coolers now....

Get a replacement?
 
Talk about bad luck... I may be RMA'ing the EVGA motherboard as well because of this.
 
instead of using the pea size drop in the middle just do a line across the processor.. ive never had any luck just doing the pea size drop shit..

as far as the other thing its possible you damaged the board by over tightening the processor.. intels poor design with the cpu socket and ram slots is very picky about pressure..
 
Ok, i've had the cooler on and off about 10 times in the past 12 hours. I've tried EVERY type of TIM application method on the internet and every position of the "pressure screw" on the VX.

I still can't get the idle temps below 41c in my well air conditioned room. And this is with a push/pull setup.

Every time I pull the VX off, the TIM distribution looks like it does above; thin down the middle and all pushed to the sides.

It seems like either the VX (although the temps sucked with the H50 aswell) or the CPU's IHS is misshapen and is causing this. Any thoughts?
 
I am getting the same tim spreading issue with an i7930 and a Noctua Dh14. Temps are about 10-20 higher than they should be and when I pull off the heatsink it has that tight trench along the center. I am going to try and turn the heatsink 90 degrees clockwise to see if that helps.

I also noticed that the bottom of my heatsink has some fine markings along the outside, almost like someone held a cpu up to it and traced it. i am thinking the i930 is a bit too concave or something.
 
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I turned my heatsink 90 degrees and it didn't help... now the trench is just turned 90 degrees as well.
 
I turned my heatsink 90 degrees and it didn't help... now the trench is just turned 90 degrees as well.

Sounds to me like it is time to lap your heatsink so it is flat.

It could be that the IHS on the CPU is a lot higher in the coreners then in the middle as well.

Put those two problems together and it will give you horrible temps.
 
Be honest here... How can the temps be this bad at stock clocks...? Right now its idling at 47c according to CoreTemp. I just hit almost 80c in LinX. I'm absolutely baffled as to how either the IHS or the heatsink ($65 Thermalright Venomous-X no less!) could be so badly designed.
 
What is your RAM clocked at? I remember setting it too high once and my cpu was idling at 85C for the few secs it was on (I turned it off as quick as I could).

Actually IIRC it was at stock speeds with 920 and I set the RAM to 1600 and didn't change anything else.
 
This is the kit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

At 1066 and 1600, there is no difference. I have now turned the cooler to point in every single direction. Completely disassembled the mounting hardware/backplate and reinstalled the VX.... Nothing. Still hitting almost 80c at load.

I REALLY wish I knew which part to replace. Something tells me I'm going to impulse buy another i7 930 tomorrow and RMA this one for a refund. I'm not having a week of downtime for this.
 
just a quick note; tower style heat-pipe heatsinks normally do best in a horizontal (fan blowing upwards) mount by design (although there are a few that don't show this characteristic and show better performance in a vertical mount), the only problem is that you really need a blow-hole to take advantage of this mount position.

The More You Know~
 
just a quick note; tower style heat-pipe heatsinks normally do best in a horizontal (fan blowing upwards) mount by design (although there are a few that don't show this characteristic and show better performance in a vertical mount), the only problem is that you really need a blow-hole to take advantage of this mount position.

Like I said, I've had the Venomous X facing all 4 directions.. no change. Something else is seriously wrong.
 
Like I said, I've had the Venomous X facing all 4 directions.. no change. Something else is seriously wrong.

yeah, I saw the post before typing that, just throwing a bit of info out there. that reminds me, another possible problem is that the ihs isn't properly mounted on the chip (it's not that uncommon), unfortunately the only course of action to remedy this is to have it replaced (if I remember right the i series ihs are either soldered or epoxied to the chip making it just about impossible to remove w.o causing damage).
 
Here is the wierd thing on mine. I laid a razor blade at multiple angles on the heatsink and the cpu and both appear to be perfectly flat.

My issue isnt as bad as yours, but still concerns me, so I will be interested to see your results. With a 4ghz OC i am hitting 89 degress (76 without HT). Also noticing a 6-8 degree range in-between the hottest and coolest cores.
 
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Just got back from Microcenter and installed the new 930. That did it!

Load temps at stock are not down 15c
 
So, what was the deal? You just stuck in a new chip and stock temp is 15 degrees lower? No other changes?
 
Hmm. I might have to RMA mine then. I just dont know if newegg will accept an RMA because the "heatsink and cpu don't make optimal contact'.

Glad yours worked out criccio.
 
I'm so happy that did it. I'm now sitting comfortably at 3.7GHz with a simple BCLK to 180MHz. Hitting 62c running Prime95.
 
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