E6600 High Stock Temps

[imported_Alamei]

I built a C2D system on the ASUS P5N32-E SLI (nForce 680i) backbone a couple of months ago with an E6600 cooled by a Zalman 9700/AS5 Thermal Paste. The case is an Antec P180, and I am using 4 120mm fans. Despite what I would generally consider a strong level of cooling, the CPU idle temps (measured several different ways to check for accuracy) seem to net out around 60C with the Zalman on max speed. Has anyone else had a similar experience with this mobo/CPU combo?

Notes:
Processor is running at stock (2.4GHz) speeds.
Yes, the Zalman is facing the right direction, although I even tried flipping it around to see if I saw a difference in temps -- only ended up minimally hotter.
I've reseated and reapplied thermal paste a couple of times, with no luck, so it doesn't just appear to be a bad seating.

I've already had to RMA one of these motherboards through ASUS after it began to refuse to POST, so I'm wondering if it's something to do with the default settings the motherboard tries to use.

Any input would be most helpful.

Thanks,
Alamei

EDIT: Airflow problems with Antec P180 Case? I was able to lower temperatures about 5-6C by leaving the side-panel off the case. Anyone with similar experiences?

 

[Binky]

Can you try the stock intel cooler to rule out mounting problems with the Zalman?

I'm sure you know this, but with that cooler at the stock 2.4ghz you should probably be seeing idle temps of maybe 35c-45c unless you live in the Sahara desert without air conditioning.

 

[imported_Alamei]

I will try the stock cooler again tomorrow, after I'm finished running some tests this evening on various system temperatures. As another note, at full burn (running Prime95+Toast), the processor gets to around 70C, but I notice my GPU (GeForce 8800 GTS) is also running around 75C, even though it is not rendering anything but a webpage. The "system" temp is 45C. Does this just suggest generally inadequate airflow? I can definitely feel a heat wave coming from my computer, so it doesn't appear to be just a failure to dissipate heat.

EDIT:
System Specs:
Antec P180 (4x 120mm Case Fan)
OCZ GameXStream 700W
ASUS P5N32-E SLI (nForce 680i)
Core 2 Duo E6600 (Stock 2.4GHz)
Zalman CNPS 9700 HSF
2GB (2x1GB) Corsair 6400C4
ASUS GeForce 8800 GTS
Creative X-Fi Professional
6x Seagate "7200.10" 320GB
2x RAID 0 on Mobo Controller
4x RAID 5 on ARECA ARC-1210A PCI-Ex8 Controller
2x Optiarc 7170 DVD-RW
Generic Sony Floppy

 

[CloE]

my E6600 chip with stock HSF reached 79C loaded at 3.1ghz speed, voltage 1.3. it's just the stock HSF not designed for OC and it runs hots. do you have the L6xx A batch? i hear the A batches run hotter

 

[wgoldfarb]

Your temps are definitely too high. I have the same case you do (p180) with an E6600 and Intel's stock HSF, and I am getting idle temps in both cores (according to TAT and Speedfan) of 39C with a room temp of 20C. The CPU is at stock speeds (2.4 GHz) but I have relatively low Vcore at 1.1625V. If your Vcore is higher you may get a couple of degrees more, but with your cooler you should definitely be lower than me.

When I put my hand in the back of the case the air coming out is mildly warm, at best, certainly not as hot as yours seems to be. Thus, it does sound as if you may have air flow problems. In my case I have the two stock Antec 120 mm fans in their default locations (at the rear of the case and at the top). Both fans are set to low, connected directly to the PSU (i.e. I am not allowing the Mobo to change their speeds). So, assuming no defective components and assuming the cooler is mounted correctly, I can see some possible things to try:

- First of all, what is your actual Vcore? Not the value set in the BIOS, but the "real" voltage after any Vdroop, as read by speedfan or a similar program. If this is too high you may get high temperatures (although if you are at stock voltages and speeds this is an unlikely problem).

- Are your case fans connected directly to the PSU, or are they connected to the MoBo? Maybe the MoBo is slowing down the fans too much? If you connected them to the MoBo, do you know at what speed they are working?

- What is the room temperature?

Finally, I don't think it made much of a difference, but I have the upper HDD bay completely empty, some relatively good cable management (although not perfect) and I removed the air filter in the upper intake on the front of the case to allow for slightly better airflow.

Edit: I just noticed you have four fans. How many of these are in the upper compartment? How and where do you have them mounted? I only have the two fans I mentioned in the upper compartment, and NONE in the the lower -- I am relying on the PSU's 120mm fan to cool the PSU and the single HDD in the bottom drive cage. Maybe the configuration of your fans is somehow screwing up your airflow? I also noticed you have 6 HDDS, how are they mounted? How many in the top cage? Maybe they are restricting your airflow?

 

[imported_Alamei]

Vcore from Speedfan: 1.25V, CoreTemp: 1.23V.

Three case fans (Antecs) are connected directly to PSU and are running @ medium speeds. These fans are located at the rear, top, and in the bottom compartment (in front of the PSU).
One case fan (Scythe S-Flex) is connected to the mobo and is in the mid-front of the case (in front of HD compartment).

Good call on checking fan configuration: If I turn off the case fan near the top of my machine, I get a cooler processor (3-4C), but hotter video card (which makes sense, given that it's essentially pulling the heat from lower components up over the CPU). Turning off the bottom case fan, I get another 2C or so cooler processor, but the lower components get slightly hotter as well (a trade I might be willing to make).

Of my HDs, two are mounted in the top bay, with the remaining four lying in the lower containment area.

I'll admit, due to the number of components in the machine, my cabling isn't as clean as I'd normally like it, but I've never had cabling make 20C difference either. I think it may be making a 5-6C difference, which is captured when I leave the case side-panel off.

The room temperature is 21-22C, so I don't think that's a large contributing factor.

I will attempt swapping out the Zalman for the retail HSF later today just to check on that, but I'm getting the feeling that some of these components are just running hot.

 

[IsDanReally]

I have a very similar setup to you P180, 4 fans all on flow, but I believe my cooler is the Ninja with the CPU fan on low (about 1300 RPM). My temps are almost always 1 degree below ambient, and peak under load at about 6 degrees ambient. Touching the base of the heatsink, these temps seem about right.

 

[wgoldfarb]

Here are some random thoughts, maybe one of these will help.

Your setup should be COOLER than mine. I have only 2 fans at low speeds, at the rear and top of my machine, with the stock Intel HSF.

The only other significant differences I can see from our systems is that my top HDD cage is empty and my cables are all out of the way, but this should not make a 20 degree difference, specially not with the extra fan you have and your fans set on medium. Somehow it sounds like you have an air flow bottleneck somewhere, but I don't know where it might be.

The fact that turning fans off reduces the CPU temperature makes it sound as if, somehow, the more air you provide, the hotter your CPU gets, which suggests that the air flowing through your Zalman is hot, and is not helping the Zalman cool effectively. Silly question, but I assume your Scythe is set to blow air into the machine, right? It might also be related to the size of the Zalman. You have 3 large fans all blowing air in different directions very close to each other, and maybe it is somehow screwing up the airflow inside the case. If nothing else works, maybe try setting one of the rear/the top fans to blow air into the case, directly over the Zalman. I think this is normally not very effective, but it might work in you case: cool air would flow in, go through the zalman, and out the other fan. The rest of the system would be cooled by the air from the Scythe.

The only way I can think of to eliminate air flow as a cause for certain is to take the side of the case off, set up a large fan next to the system (household fan?) to blow air into the case from the side, and see if that lowers the temps. I it does, you have an airflow problem. If it doesn't, the problem is probably elsewhere.

Other ideas: Do you have Q-fan enabled on your Mobo? Maybe it is lowering the voltage to your Zalman, making it run too slow?

Also, I have heard that on some Core 2 Duos the heat spreader is not perfectly flat, which may cause high temperatures. I don't really know much about this, maybe someone more informed can provide some more info on this? I would guess that if this is the case and the heat spreader is not flat you might be able to RMA the CPU?


Edited for clarity and to add some more thoughts...