Heat Problems with Q6600
Hello, coming here again for the rescue. 
I've got a new computer with a Interl Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU with the stock fan that came with it. I noticed that the temperatures are 60-80 degrees for each core, which certainly is too much. Today I went to the retailer that sold my computer and asked for advice.
They suggested buying a new sink/fan (Duh).
They basically gave me two alternatives:
TheZalman CNPS9700 NT or the Nexus LXM-8200 Intel Heatpipe.
The Zalman goes at 65€ and the Nexus at 50€. However the Zalman is available in about 2-5 days (as off today) while the Nexus arrives on the 5th of October (not a long time, but still...)
Which one should I go for?
The Zalman says that it is "Compatible with all single and dual core CPUs for Intel Socket 775" (and AMD sockets). Does this mean that it is incompatible with Quad Cores, or do they just mean Core 2 Duo's? From the manual.
The Nexus goes at 700-1500 rpm, and the noise is 17-25.5 dB. Zalman goes in silent and normal modes; 1,250RPM and2,800RPM. It is certainly much more effective, but also louder; 19,5 and 35dB! (One thing I want to achieve is a quieter computer, I have all fans on max currently because the CPU is so hot, and the noise is very loud). Also, can you adjust the speed between those? To find an optimal level of heat and noise.
I bought some very cheap thermal compound today too. Should I reset the fan now, removing the pad and applying the compound, or just wait for the new cooling system? (BTW just noticed that Nexus come with HQ silver thermal paste. What a waste of 2€!)
Also, how do you remove the melted pad? I've heard it is very difficult
.
And then, how much should you add of it? The official guides suggest just a horizontal line across wher the cores are, but some say that I should spread it across the whole CPU like you put butter on bread (I put a very thin layer of butter)??
BTW, here's the rest of my system:
Asus P5K Deluxe Wifi/AP
Corsair HX620W PSU
MSI 8800GTX
Antec P182
M$ Windows Vista 32bit OEM Finnish
The case has got 3 fans by default, one at top (PSU is as bottom), one back and one at bottom between PSU and HDD cage. How does the air come in to my case? I have a feeling that both the upper fans blow the air out...
On the front of my case (when opening the door) there are 2 filters that I just washed yesterday. Do you think the air comes in from here?
Also there's optional fan installation places. Should I install something here? Will it be more effective and quieter? And will it suck the air in?
I've got a new computer with a Interl Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU with the stock fan that came with it. I noticed that the temperatures are 60-80 degrees for each core, which certainly is too much. Today I went to the retailer that sold my computer and asked for advice.
They suggested buying a new sink/fan (Duh).
They basically gave me two alternatives:
TheZalman CNPS9700 NT or the Nexus LXM-8200 Intel Heatpipe.
The Zalman goes at 65€ and the Nexus at 50€. However the Zalman is available in about 2-5 days (as off today) while the Nexus arrives on the 5th of October (not a long time, but still...)
Which one should I go for?
The Zalman says that it is "Compatible with all single and dual core CPUs for Intel Socket 775" (and AMD sockets). Does this mean that it is incompatible with Quad Cores, or do they just mean Core 2 Duo's? From the manual.
The Nexus goes at 700-1500 rpm, and the noise is 17-25.5 dB. Zalman goes in silent and normal modes; 1,250RPM and2,800RPM. It is certainly much more effective, but also louder; 19,5 and 35dB! (One thing I want to achieve is a quieter computer, I have all fans on max currently because the CPU is so hot, and the noise is very loud). Also, can you adjust the speed between those? To find an optimal level of heat and noise.
I bought some very cheap thermal compound today too. Should I reset the fan now, removing the pad and applying the compound, or just wait for the new cooling system? (BTW just noticed that Nexus come with HQ silver thermal paste. What a waste of 2€!
)Also, how do you remove the melted pad? I've heard it is very difficult
.And then, how much should you add of it? The official guides suggest just a horizontal line across wher the cores are, but some say that I should spread it across the whole CPU like you put butter on bread (I put a very thin layer of butter
)??BTW, here's the rest of my system:
Asus P5K Deluxe Wifi/AP
Corsair HX620W PSU
MSI 8800GTX
Antec P182
M$ Windows Vista 32bit OEM Finnish
The case has got 3 fans by default, one at top (PSU is as bottom), one back and one at bottom between PSU and HDD cage. How does the air come in to my case? I have a feeling that both the upper fans blow the air out...
On the front of my case (when opening the door) there are 2 filters that I just washed yesterday. Do you think the air comes in from here?
Also there's optional fan installation places. Should I install something here? Will it be more effective and quieter? And will it suck the air in?
0
Comments
But the same store has only got one Thermaltake for CPU's and that one comes without a fan..
http://anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3068&p=4
They are down the page a ways.
Of the two choices that you listed I would go with the Zalman.
The pad isn't that bad to remove. An old credit card, some time, and at the end some alcohol to remove the residue.
Will any plastic card (of credit card type) do? Let's see if I have some old somewhere... Oh and what kind of alcohol do you need? I'm not a native English speaker so I'll need a bit of detailed advice here.
My main concern is that it is/can be very loud. So if it isn't cold enough, I need to have it on high and then there will be, once again, much noise.
Or can you adjust the speed of the fan between those two?
There are fan control settings in your BIOS. You should be able to set how the fan speeds up with increasing temp.
I like to use a nice quiet low speed fan in the front of the case. It helps keep the air moving without resorting to having exhaust fans blow too hard and make noise. It also keeps my drives nice and cool.
CoreTemp reads the temperature right from the diode that new processors have build in, so is much more accurate than most other programs.
What does the Tjunction mean? It is 100 degrees. Also, something called "aux" (Auxiliary?) was 125 degrees with SpeedFan...
EDIT: Oh damn, sorry for bad spoiler use. :P (The now quoted tags were spoiler tags as I thought you could expand/hide them..)
Are you currently using CoreTemp? I'm not familiar with that log design.
It generated a log file from which I copied those.
I have a feeling your case ventilation is terrible, as even when the room my PC is in approaches 28C, my chip barely exceeds 32C idle. Granted, we have different CPUs, but the quad @ idle is not <i>that</i> much warmer.
BTW, the temperature usually rises to 25 degrees when the computer is on and the window is closed. Leaving the computer idle and the window open, it just fell (in an hour) to 22 degrees. However on evenings I have seen my room temp falling down to 20 degrees. Needless to say, it is my computer that warms up my room and makes the air bad in it. :P
There's one image. You can see one of the fans at the upper end of the backside. Just above it, where the case is a little higher, is another fan. I think these two blows the air out. At the bottom front you see the HD cage. Behind it is a fan. And at the other side is the place where the PSU comes.
Here's another pic:
I have ordered the same fan that I will put into that optional space.
Damn, found this thumbnail with google, unfortunately the pic is not there, neither is the site. Anyways, there's a complete computer there and the PSU is the same except 100W worse (I have Corsair HX620W).
Anyways there are alot of large cables and space is really tight inside. I could barely fit the gian MSI 8800GTX, the upper (unused, the optional fan will come there besides) HD cage was in the way.
My CPU cooler has already arrived, just waiting for the fan 'til I go pick 'em up.
And the Antec is supposed to be especially cool! Well, I'll see what happens when I get the fan and the heatsink. Will try to rerun my cables too. Maybe if they're long enough I can get them through the backside of the MoBo? (There's plenty of room there, it's engineered so..)
BTW, what is Aux in SpeedFan? Is it the same as Tjunction? Because it is also stuck at 120 degrees...
Here's the log of CoreTemp:
My logic says this is a little strange and im not sure why any manufacturer would design a case that way. The PSU has to be be one of if not the biggest heat generator. Working on the principal that heat rises all of the heat from your PSU is going to go up through the case and over the motherboard before being exhausted.
Clearly Antec know more about case design than me but I would have thought it would make more sense to put the PSU in the top and have the mobo in the bottom?
Your post was right on, DanG.
As for the quad and heat, i totally agree. The built in design of vdroop protection will hinder a good overclock unless you have really good cooling. You'll definitely notice this on the cheaper P35 and X38 boards. I am on the last parts of testing what this chip can do totally stable, and even if it is totally gaming stable at 3.6 ghz, folding or Prime 95 isn't stable above 3.3 ghz.
If i set vcore to 1.5 in bios, it idles to a real vcore of 1.42. As soon as i start Prime 95, it dramatically drops to 1.306. That's quite a lot from idle to load, and incredible from the set vcore in bios. Cooling is as good as aircooling goes, Scythe Infinity and a Yate Loon fan, idle temperatures are pretty good, 35c, but coming up on 70c load in coretemp. Delta T is humungous on these Quads i'd say. However, these chips is awesome at very low vcore. My chip does 3ghz totally stable at 1.2 volts and temperatures never touch 45c. At stock clocks, i'd bet you can run these passively cooled at 1.1 volts.