Concerned about my i7 temps

[Foxrunner]

I recently completed my build and loaded up Windows 7 Beta since it was the closest free OS I had here at work. My plans for this build was to obviously OC my i7 920. A friend of mine essentially has an identical build except he used the Thermalright 120 or whatever it is and he runs at 3.8Ghz. All of my idle temps appeared to be within an "acceptable" limit. I didn't tweak anything in the BIOS yet so things are still at Auto.

I am using the latest version of Prime 95 and Realtemp. I will only be using my build for gaming so nothing crazy. My idle temps are around 40-45C which didn't seem awful. But when I fire up Prime 95 im sitting at around 74-80C at stock speeds? I guess Realtemp records the CPU running at 2.8 Ghz but still. Am I looking at a reseat of my V8? To be completely honest I don't really know anything about OCing so I didn't even attempt to mess with it I was going to have my buddy help me with that. But with my temps already around 74-80C at stock speeds I can't help but wonder if something is really, really wrong here. I applied the thermal paste (AS5) with the "spread it with a credit card" method and tried to get it even.

Also when torture testing with Prime95 I noticed these 74-80C temps only when I run the test that states (max power and heat). When I run the blended test or the other one my temps will typically fall into the 70-75C area. At one point I was curious and removed the side door off my Antec 900 case and applied some pressure to the top of the V8 and the temps dropped about 5-10C?

Again forgive me as this was really my first attempt at a custom OCing build with aftermarket cooler but in all the years i've been working on computers and building my own i've never had an issue with a cooler not seating right but I guess there is a first time for everything. I've always ran stock speeds on my processors so always ran the stock coolers but I wanted to really get as much performance as I could out of the 920 so I went with the V8 cooler to help with my temps. I'm just concerned as to what im seeing at this point.....

What temps should I be expecting to see for idle and 100% load? I was hoping to land my 920 at 3.6Ghz by the time it was all said and done. My friend that runs at 3.8Ghz was saying at times during the torture test he was in the 80-85C area but I don't really feel all that comfortable running that high......

Any suggestions from the pros on what I should do to get my temps down? What about proper thermal paste application to the i7's? Thank you very much ahead of time for your help and thoughts!

 

[TuxDave]

I would point a finger at the heatsink again. How did you apply your thermal paste and which type do you have?

 

[Foxrunner]

Arctic Silver 5. And I used a credit card to spread the paste.....

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: Foxrunner
Arctic Silver 5. And I used a credit card to spread the paste.....

For what I did on my Core i7 965 and artic silver 5, I ran a line from top to bottom (assuming the triangle is pointing down left) since that was what was instructed on the website.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/in...ute_step2intelas5.html

Pay special attention to the note about core i7's. My idle temp at stock (3.2GHz) is sitting around 30C and so you should be in that ballpark or lower. My first attempt was pretty terrible as I didn't read the directions and the HSF slipped off once (causing a bubble) which made me have temps similiar to yours.

 

[ShyGuy69]

im currently at 3.8ghz running prime which is at 76c so i think there might be a problem

 

[videogames101]

follow the directions on arctic silver's site, spreading the stuff with a credit card is not a good idea.

 

[alcoholbob]

Well if your talking not about overall core reading but individual core readings, then its typically about 15C higher so its not exactly out of the ballpark. I have a V10 and even with the case open, an ambient of 60F, I'm looking at 75C per core with prime95, this is at 3.6 + turbo although honestly at stock its not a major difference (still about 70C). Idle temps are about 35-38 per core.

 

[Foxrunner]

I am definety going to try and reseat my heat sink then. I thought that the temps didn't quite look right at least not for a stock speed processor with a V8 cooler on it. I will attribute the failed attempt to myself not knowing the proper AS5 application method. Just to be 100% sure I know exactly how to apply the paste would anyone be able to post up a picture of how it should be done? I would like to avoid having to tear it apart a 3rd time

Pictures do wonders for me but from my understanding for the i7 you orient the CPU infonr of you so that the corner with the triangle marker on it is in the upper left hand. Then you apply the thin line of AS5 across the center of the chip from left to right?

Oh and thanks for everyone's help so far!

 

[Foxrunner]

I should have also put in there that when the CPU was running Prime95 and was around 80C or so I touched the base of the heatsink and some of the heat pipes and there was only a little warmth there... I mean like washing your hands under warm (not hot) water temperatures. So is it safe to assume that maybe by applying too much AS5 the paste is acting like an insulator? Because after looking at a few pictures of paste applications I look back and realize I had much more paste on there then what some of these others are showing.....

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: Foxrunner
I am definety going to try and reseat my heat sink then. I thought that the temps didn't quite look right at least not for a stock speed processor with a V8 cooler on it. I will attribute the failed attempt to myself not knowing the proper AS5 application method. Just to be 100% sure I know exactly how to apply the paste would anyone be able to post up a picture of how it should be done? I would like to avoid having to tear it apart a 3rd time

Pictures do wonders for me but from my understanding for the i7 you orient the CPU infonr of you so that the corner with the triangle marker on it is in the upper left hand. Then you apply the thin line of AS5 across the center of the chip from left to right?

Oh and thanks for everyone's help so far!

Yup, if triangle is to the upper left, stripe goes from left to right.

 

[Elganja]

I have the same case as you, but different cooler... TRUE Ultra Lapped w/ the exact same TIM. I most defiantly used the method of spreading out the TIM all over the CPU in an even coat.

you can see the details of my i7 in my sig. my temps are around 60-63 (varies per core) during the prime test.

also look into your case ventalition. It can go a long way in helping.

 

[Foxrunner]

I'm a cabling Nazi so all of the cases that I have done in the past are always very clean and tidy. I took extra care in this box to make sure the front fans were not obstructed by anything. I also removed the foam backing on the top 5.25" blanks that would have normally blocked the bays. (I did this because my V8 is basically right in line with these bays and figured it couldn't hurt to open these up. All my case fans are on high.

I did not do any lapping though. I will try and reapply my AS5 and report back here with my results. I'm hoping this solves my problem.... I hope to get around to this either this evening or tomorrow. Have a lot of real life stuff going at the moment and as much as the anxiety kills me I have to wait to tinker with my rig

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Elganja
I have the same case as you, but different cooler... TRUE Ultra Lapped w/ the exact same TIM. I most defiantly used the method of spreading out the TIM all over the CPU in an even coat.

you can see the details of my i7 in my sig. my temps are around 60-63 (varies per core) during the prime test.

also look into your case ventalition. It can go a long way in helping.

Those temps and voltages look great, I'd certainly be happy with them. Do you remember what the batch/pack date is for your i7 920? Trying to decide if I should keep this C0 or wait a few days and see if D0 hits the channel.

 

[Elganja]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: Elganja
I have the same case as you, but different cooler... TRUE Ultra Lapped w/ the exact same TIM. I most defiantly used the method of spreading out the TIM all over the CPU in an even coat.

you can see the details of my i7 in my sig. my temps are around 60-63 (varies per core) during the prime test.

also look into your case ventalition. It can go a long way in helping.

Those temps and voltages look great, I'd certainly be happy with them. Do you remember what the batch/pack date is for your i7 920? Trying to decide if I should keep this C0 or wait a few days and see if D0 hits the channel.

it says it in the spreadsheet

3839A

 

[Foxrunner]

Where can you find the batch/pack date? Is it on top of the CPU?

 

[Elganja]

Originally posted by: Foxrunner
Where can you find the batch/pack date? Is it on top of the CPU?

It's on the box of the CPU (not sure if it is on the CPU):

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2184/img0772h.jpg

 

[Foxrunner]

I just wanted to load the OS I was going to be using over lunch since I had 30 minutes to burn so I loaded up Vista Ultimate 64. Got all my drivers installed and stuff. Out of curiosity I ran Realtemp and Prime95 again for a while. The highest temp recorded was 73C which is still high for stock speeds considering I have a V8 cooler. I have consistently read at 3.6Ghz OC people are getting around 68-73C max temps during Prime95.

Either way when I have time I will be reseating the V8 to see what kind of performance increase I get. At this point running at 73C stock speeds IMO leaves me no room for OCing so something isnt quite right if my stock speed with a higher end cooler are landing me where the stock cooler at stock speed does according to some of the reviews ive read

 

[IanY]

You really should be watercooling if you want to toy with 4 Ghz. A proper, well planned water cooling system will net you in the low to mid 50s fully loaded on all four cores with eight threads at 4 Ghz, with 4.2 Ghz possible and 4.4 Ghz (the highest I've heard) imaginable.

 

[exar333]

73C @ stock speeds with a V8 cooler is very high. You should be somewhere in the range of high 50's with that cooler at stock speeds.

 

[1ManArmY]

Originally posted by: Foxrunner
I just wanted to load the OS I was going to be using over lunch since I had 30 minutes to burn so I loaded up Vista Ultimate 64. Got all my drivers installed and stuff. Out of curiosity I ran Realtemp and Prime95 again for a while. The highest temp recorded was 73C which is still high for stock speeds considering I have a V8 cooler. I have consistently read at 3.6Ghz OC people are getting around 68-73C max temps during Prime95.

Either way when I have time I will be reseating the V8 to see what kind of performance increase I get. At this point running at 73C stock speeds IMO leaves me no room for OCing so something isnt quite right if my stock speed with a higher end cooler are landing me where the stock cooler at stock speed does according to some of the reviews ive read

my core i7 idles @ 32-36 and averages anywhere from 56-60 when running prime 95 and measuring with real temp. Core i7 920 is still at stock with original bios, was letting the cpu burn in then I plan on updating the bios and doing some overclocking.
I have an ASUS P6T Deluxe V2, what bios are you running?

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Elganja
it says it in the spreadsheet

3839A

Ah yep, I missed it. I have a 3842A567 sitting here, pack date 1/29/08. But I know the D0s are hitting the channel this week, so I'm trying to decide if its worth the wait.

 

[Foxrunner]

Ok guys i'm still not sure if I am where I should be but here I go... After reseating my V8 and using the line method from Arctic Silver's site here is what I have:

Idle temps are 36-39C (aside from the hottest core the others run around 32-36C)

Load temps are peaking at 67C or so? There is one core that is running hotter then all of the others by at least 3-4C. Excluding the hotter core typically the other cores are all running at a max of 62-63C under full load in Prime.

Now I apologize for the misrepresentation of information but I checked my BIOS and saw that I had forgotten I manually set my RAM speed to 1600 mhz.... Upon switching it to Auto (it now detects it at 1333mhz) this furthermore changed my temps.

So at the DRAM set to auto here is what im getting:

Idle 33-35C

Load temps on the hottest core peaks at 62C and ranges from 56-62. The other cores are averaging 54-58 under full load.

My memory is Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 (or so its advertised) here is a link to it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145222

Any comments about where im sitting now? Should I attempt to OC or am I still running too hot?

Oh just as a random side note I took down my batch number... 3841A574

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Foxrunner
Arctic Silver 5. And I used a credit card to spread the paste.....

I hear when your credit card expires temps go through the roof!

 

[Foxrunner]

Any comments on those temps and if I should attempt to OC?

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Foxrunner
Any comments on those temps and if I should attempt to OC?

Go ahead and o/c gradually and watch. If you o/c AND jack up VCORE then expect temps to SOAR.