SP-97 vs. SI-97

[Neo_Cloud_99]

Has anyone used both of these and noticed any differences? I just got my SI-97 in and tried it against my SP-97 I've been using for quite a while now. Running the Prime95 Large FFT causes temperatures to rise drastically and eventually BSOD's... on the SP-97 I dont have that problem. I'm using the same fan for the heatsink and using the same RPM's.

I may have installed the SI-97 wrong so I'm going to clean and reapply AS5 and double check I installed the SI-97 right.

 

[ST|FFY]

are the idle temps about the same?

 

[Neo_Cloud_99]

Idle temperatues are the same yes... almost EXACTLY the same it seems.

I just got finished very thoroughly cleaning the CPU and HSF and then reappling AS5... I also put a thin layer on the Heatsink instead of just the usual rub some of it into the Heatsink with a plastic bag.

I'm still getting Prime95 Large FFT crashes in less than 1 minute and getting Windows BSOD's.

For testing purposes I cranked up my 92mm Tornado and still got crashes and the idle temps didnt change and it still took longer to cool down the CPU than my SP-97.

I think while this Heatsink is good and definately a nice replacement for anything other than a copper thermalright it still isnt as good as the SP-97.... unless of course I'm just doing something terribly wrong on the installation :\

 

[DanK]

Just to be sure, you did use the shim that came with it, right? Not using it could make the heatsink / die contact uneven. Other than that I wouldn't know... I had read that the SI-97 was even better than the SP-97. Maybe you could try what red_dragon did?

 

[Neo_Cloud_99]

Yeah I used the shim it came with and its on there just like the pics in the installation instructions on the website. I've checked and re-checked everything... I think this thing just isnt as good as the SP-97 :\ .. or I got ahold of a REALLY good SP-97 or I got ahold of a REALLY shitty SI-97 ... lol ... which neither of course is possible I dont think

 

[_Korruption_]

You should be getting performance comparable to the SP-97, that's for sure. My SP-97 (specs in sig), with a case temperature of around 24C, manages a full load temperature of 40C.

Now performance? Well, it's awesome. I was running a volcano 12 before this. I had temps around 43-45 idle and 50+ load. Now temps are at 37-38 idle and 45 load.

 

[ryuji]

hmm this makes me wonder if the si-97 with low cfm (compared to tornado)would actually beat my slk-800.. i think im gonna hold off on my purchase

 

[Neo_Cloud_99]

Reinstalled my SP-97 and for testing purposes I left the shim on the socket that came with the SI-97.

System idle temperature: 24C
Prime 5 minutes System Temperature: 25C
Idle CPU Temperature: 46C
5 Minutes Prime95 CPU Temperature: 53C

So now that I know the socket/cpu are ok and that the shim isnt having any adverse affects on the heatsinks my conclusion is that the SI-97 is a good heatsink but the SP-97 out performs it by a large margin.

I know I only ran Prime for 5 minutes but keep in mind that with the SI-97 installed Prime wouldnt even go passed 1 minute and temperatures sky rocketed above 55C and usually caused a BSOD.

Update: Just wanted to come back and say that the load temperatures listed above have not changed after 20 minutes of Prime95. Just for reference this is 245x11@2.7ghz - 1.9Vcore - 92mm Vantec Tornado@2200 RPM.

 

[Aris]

do you have idle and load temps for the si-97 also?

 

[Neo_Cloud_99]

Idle temps were pretty much the exact same. Full load is hard to say... I saw it go as high as 60C but thats where I have my MBD shutdown... definately nowhere near as good as the SP-97.