Q6600 B3 Running High Temperatures at Stock

[SiNeX]

Q6600 B3 Running High Temperatures at Stock Speed

Hi guys,

I have read around alot of the threads on the forum regarding the Q6600 and generally see that it looks like I have some serious temperature issues with my setup.

My system specs are as follows:

Q6600 Revision B3
4GB HyperX DDR2-800 RAM
Asus P5K Deluxe Motherboard Bios Rev. 505 Beta
XFX 8800GTS 640MB
Antec P182 Case (1 Top, 1 Rear Exhaust, 1 Lower, 2 Central (cooling graphics card)
- Tested with original Antec Tricool Fans on High Setting in all fan locations
- Tested also with 5 replacement Noctua NF S12 in all fan locations
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (lapped to a mirror finish) with a Scythe S-Flex SFF21F
Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (have Shin Etsu X23 7783D and Liquid Metal Pro on order)
Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit

Tested using Core Temp 0.95, Speed fan 4.33 (offset +15c) and Prime95 v25.5 for minimum of 12 to 24 hours at a time over several weeks. There was no overclocking done just ran at stock speed with Speedstep off.

Temperatures are as follows (Ambient room temp 23-25c)

Workbench (no case):

Idle: 36-42c
Load: 56-65c

Case sides removed:

Idle: 38-45c
Load: 56-63c

Case closed

Idle: 44-48c
Load: 62-70c


I have seen alot of people overclocking this processor to 3ghz with lower temperatures than I get with a stock setup so I know there must be something wrong somewhere.

What I have considered and tried to look it to was the mounting of the Mounting Ultra 120 - I have tried a penny, a coin that I drilled a hole out big enough for the screw head, metal washers and also a teflon and rubber washer still with not much difference with the temps above (these were probably the lowest achieve so far).

I have tried differing amount of AS5 from the thin line across the middle as suggested by AS to rubbing it into both surfaces to minute traces to a thick layer. The heatsink itself is lapped to a mirror finish and is flat, although I am sure the Q6600 is not with the razor blade test so I have considered lapping that also but am relectant to void the warranty.

I have a few options left - I still have the stock Intel heatsink, I have another Ultra 120 extreme on order for another machine which I will try unlapped to see if it makes any difference with the concave / convex issues. I have a boxed Zalman CNPS9500 that I could try or I considered a Tuniq 120 Tower - I also have some Shin Etsu X23 7783D and Liquid Metal Pro on order but expect that the issues won't be fixed by a new thermal compound.

Any more ideas or comments would be appreciated as I am running out of things to consider

TIA

SiNeX

 

[Tedster]

you did mention you're running stock. Get a better cooler with some good thermal grease like arctic silver.

 

[SiNeX]

'Stock' speed

with Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (lapped to a mirror finish) with a Scythe S-Flex SFF21F

Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

 

[Phil Harris]

The two most obvious possibilities are that your temperature reporting is wrong, or that your cooler is not making good contact.

You can eliminate the first by checking the temp in the bios, which should settle to something like your idle temp. If it doesn't match, then try downloading Intels thermal analysis tool, (google Intel TAT). That will give you an accurate result in just about every case. It's possible that your version of coretemp might not work correctly with the P35 chipset.

Lapping a cooler will usually not make a huge difference, unless it's poorly manufactured in the first place, which would be rare with that one. It is possible to lap those things badly, and it might be that the contact is worse than standard. I would suggest you try the stock cooler, which will prove or disprove any possibility of the cooler being the problem.

Stock temps should be in the region of 35 idle to around 50 to 55 load.

 

[Percycopperboot]

I've got a very similar problem myself. I recently(last week) put this system together.
Q6600 Revision b3
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35
Geforce 8800gts 640mb
2x1gb crucial balistix ram ddr800
Antec p180 case, with one extra 120 mm fan, and I'm using a Scythe SCINF-1000 120mm CPU Cooler.

I was hoping I could oc the processor to 3.0ghz or so on air, but I'm just testing it at stock right now and the core temp is in the mid-high 60's load. That seems pretty high considering the heat sink I'm using and that I haven't even oced it yet. The cpu temp seems fine at a nice 39C load, but why are the cores so high. I was under the impression that the cores are usually around 15C hotter than cpu temp, that would put them at 55C, but instead they're at 66-68, Any ideas?

 

[ChrisLam]

SiNeX: You mentioned you are running Vista 32-bit. I think the limit is 4 gigs of RAM yet you have 4.7 gigs (including video RAM). I have read around these forums that 32-bit Vista only support max 4 gigs so your 4 gigs will only show up as 3.3gigs. Is that so for your system?

SiNeX and Percycopperboot: I don't know, but it could be that your case fans and/or CPU fan is backwards and that its blowing air when it is supposed to be sucking air or vice versa. Also, you are not supposed to put a huge blob of thermal grease on the processor I believe. The Zalman CNPS9500 is pretty good I believe, lowering your CPU temperature usually by at least 5'C. I read a review, and the Liquid Metal Pro is hard to apply and has a slight difference in temperature maybe of about 1'C, but everything helps right?

Chris