stock hsf for e6600?

Cthulhu

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 1, 2003
Messages
413
i'm putting together a new machine and will be getting a e6600. i don't want to overclock a whole lot, but was wondering if the stock hsf will suffice for 3ghz? won't be going any higher than that. or should i just go ahead and get a better cooling solution?
 
I would suggest you pick up a decent cooling device. Just grab a Zalman or Thermaltake V1 and would be more than fine...
 
I'd have to agree. You just spent at least $200 for a CPU, it's worth spending another $35-$50 for a good cooler.
 
At 3.0 GHz and default voltage of 1.325 volts the stock cooler will be more than adequate for the majority of users even in a hot room during the summer. When you control it using SpeedFan it can also be nearly silent when lightly loaded and even while gaming. I'm running mine at about 900 rpm and when the cpu gets hot I boost that up to its maximum of ~1750 rpm.

Why not build your system first and see if you actually need one. I'm up to 3.4 GHz on the Intel cooler and still haven't found a reason to upgrade.
 
thanks for the replies. well, i'm trying to save a little money on the build so i can get a better video card...and if the stock cooling will work for 3ghz then i don't want to spend the extra cash on it. any other opinions? :D
 
At 3.0 GHz and default voltage of 1.325 volts the stock cooler will be more than adequate for the majority of users even in a hot room during the summer. When you control it using SpeedFan it can also be nearly silent when lightly loaded and even while gaming. I'm running mine at about 900 rpm and when the cpu gets hot I boost that up to its maximum of ~1750 rpm.

Why not build your system first and see if you actually need one. I'm up to 3.4 GHz on the Intel cooler and still haven't found a reason to upgrade.

You're at 1.45 vcore (BIOS) as stated by your sig? I'll bet your chip is sitting at a nice cozy 80C as we speak.

@OP, go for an aftermarket cooler. It will extend the longevity of your chip regardless. 35 bucks not too much $ for a good investment. :) (btw, that Ninja that I listed a couple posts up ^ is one of the better HSFs out there too ;) )
 
There's a good old saying: "doing it right the first time."

We know that you're going to be conservative with OC for your E6600 but I've seen many c2d owners reported that their stock Intel HSF is doing a mediocre job cooling their CPU even at stock clock speed. That's idle at 40s and ramp up to 60s. Keep in mind that summer time is near, ambient temp plays a big role in air cooling setup.

If you ever want to bother with OC , it's highly suggest you grab a decent aftermarket cooling that's still fairly cheap but offers better cooling solution than stock.

As another guy has mentioned, Scythe Ninja RevB is good cooler and comes with 120mm Scythe fan and it's only about $30 or less when goes on sale. It has 12 heatpipes and the heat dispensing capability should be more than enough for you to bring it up to 3000mhz (on stock volt hopefully) or up to 3.2~3.4 with minor volt boost.

:D
 
grrrr... you're supposed to be saying that the stock hsf will be fine. :mad:

okay, fine... i'll get a better cooling solution. :(
 
You're at 1.45 vcore (BIOS) as stated by your sig? I'll bet your chip is sitting at a nice cozy 80C as we speak.
At my load voltage of 1.392 volts while running Orthos at 3.4 GHz things do get kind of hot with core temps probably up around 75C these days.

The apps I run never load my computer anywhere near what Orthos does and my gaming temps are typically under 55C at these settings which is pretty leisurely for a Core 2 Duo.

Cthulhu asked if the OEM heatsink & fan would suffice for 3 GHz and the answer for that is yes, easy. You can run that speed with default voltage or less which will probably drop his Orthos load temps by 10C or more compared to my temps.

A better cooler will definitely make a computer display a lower temperature number but at 3.0 GHz it won't make a computer run more reliably in any application. Heat is not an issue at this speed.

I'll do some testing tomorrow with the crappy, though adequate, Intel heatsink and fan at the speed he is interested in running.
 
That's 15C over Intel's given maximum.
That's the problem most people are having. They start comparing their core temperatures to the Intel Core 2 Duo published maximum which is a case temperature. The two numbers are completely different and can't be compared.

The Core 2 Duo for laptops are guaranteed by Intel to be 100% reliable up to a core temperature of 100C and most of the desktop processors are rated to be 100% reliable up to a core temperature of 85C. Some of the E4300 and some of the new E6600 processors also have a Tj(Max) temperature of 100C.

I set the bios voltage to 1.35 volts for the following test. That equals 1.328 volts while idle in Windows which is about equal to the Intel default of 1.325 volts and under load while running Orthos that dropped down to 1.296 volts. Room temperature is a cool 20C today.

orthos3200mhzkg0.png


A core temperature of 62C. Big deal. Even with a summer room temperature of 30C ( 86F ) you have enough head room to run Orthos at 3.2 GHz with the Intel OEM heatsink and fan. I don't know why anyone would want to run this program while it is 86F inside but you could.

Most real world applications don't create nearly as much heat as Orthos. Gaming, for example, runs about 15C cooler than Orthos with the OEM cooler.

If you don't feel comfortable running your new chip within the Intel specification then buy a better cooler but you and your cpu will survive and work reliably at full speed even if you don't.
 
We know that you're going to be conservative with OC for your E6600 but I've seen many c2d owners reported that their stock Intel HSF is doing a mediocre job cooling their CPU even at stock clock speed. That's idle at 40s and ramp up to 60s.

idle 40s and 60s loaded are perfectly good temps. people only say they are mediocre because they dont know better and assume these temps are high because they are used to AMD or other processors (which you cant compare to core2duos), or because they didnt mount it correctly and get idle temps in the 60s. can you get lower temps by spending more money on a nice cooler? yes but theres no reason to unless you have money to burn or need the extra headroom for overclocking. 3ghz is reachable 80% of the time with the stock HSF. believe it or not intel actualy did some research on cooling, which is why it comes with the processor.
 
I would get a good aftermarket cooler. This way you KNOW its going to cool enough. You might even be able to overclock more. :)

The stock HSF is just like anything given with a product. It works and will at best keep the product within guidlines. Why take chances with your cpu/mb.
 
thanks a lot for the replies... i keep my computer room very chilly. (i have a window unit for that room even) i think i'm going to go with the stock cooling solution for now. i'll start off at 2.8ghz and see how it goes. that will give me a little more spending room for the video card. thanks guys! :D
 
Extra MHz when overclocking doesn't create nearly as much heat as when you have to start raising the core voltage to maintain stability.

When you lock your core voltage to the Intel default of 1.325 volts, a good E6600 should have no problem running reliably at 3200 MHz, as long as you have it on a good motherboard / chipset and you're using some good memory.

There are people still setting their core voltage to AUTO in the bios thinking that setting will get them default voltage. When overclocking, some motherboards automatically add extra voltage to the cpu so watch out for that.
 
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