Have I got a really good chip?

[Marmion]

I've just recently gone out and built a C2D system (see sig).
I'm currently orthos priming, and my temps are ~53-57C SpeedFan/Gigabyte EasyTune, and 64-65C/60-63C for my two cores using Core Temp. I'm using the good old stock cooler, with EasyTune adjusting the speed of the fan as temps rise (at ~2160rpm @ 57C which is its max).

Questions:

a) Are my temps too high?
b) I've basically reached the max potential of my Value Ram, so would an after market cooler realy be worth it? eg, a Scythe Ninja is ~NZ$125 (your US$60 mark)
c) My CPU voltage is 1.216v CPU-z (1.23v EasyTune) under load and yes, I deliberately set my voltage under stock - do I have a real good chip?
d) Is a system temp of ~33C good? Is there really a need for more case fans with that? I've just currently got one 120mm rear fan and stock Intel cooler.

Cheers, :beer:

Marmion

 

[AndrewL]

Why not just overclock it more, does your board offer dividers. Seems like a good chip with those speeds at those low volts.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

a) although i dont know much about the avg temperatures of intel, i would say yes it is a bit on the high side.
b) from what i've seen, 3.22ghz on an E6300 is good. but as for your temps, yes i would get a third party hsf
c) from what i'm seeing, yes
4) yes, but depends on other factors if youre aiming for that. not rly if you don't want to deal with the noise. my two 12cm fans arent that bad in terms of noise level.

your undervolted e6300 at 3.22ghz is like it's on steroids. dividers, like andrewl said, would help if your board has it.

hope this helps a bit, coming from an intel noob

 

[Marmion]

Thanks.

Unfortunately, being a P965 board, I can only go 1:1 and above (2x multiplier for ram), which means I can't take it any higher without wasting my money on my current ram and spending an obscene amount on DDR2-800, or -cough- DDR2-1066 chips, which I'm not prepared to do (yet... )

With the case fans, I'll probably see what summer bring in terms of heat. I don't really want heaps of noise, because at the moment this is in my room, although that may change.
I'll look into the CPU cooling a little more, still not really wanting to spend another NZ$100. One of the reasons why I undervolted was to lower temps

 

[AndrewL]

Yah screw the ram, performance boost from it would be negligable. As funny as it is youd be better off buying a board that has multipliers performance wise (im not aware if their are any for conroe) than you would be buying new ram sticks (assuming you could get to 3.4-3.5ish ghz).

 

[Marmion]

I've heard that running less than 1:1 FSB:RAM hurts performance though, and its only available on the 975X mobos, which are at least double than what I got the Gigabyte for

Its a shame such a good chip ended up with such cheap sticks (Although the ram has overclocked very nicely too, considering its value ram and only rated at DDR2-667 Cas 5. Basically all I did was up the volts. Ram is stable at these speeds and voltages, I'm now just playing around with the CPU voltage, seeing how low I can get it )

If someone wants to ship some DDR2-1066 sticks down under to New Zealand that'd be nice of them :beer: (note: I'm not offering to pay for them :laugh: )

 

[NoStateofMind]

Looks good , but one thing is bothering me about that. Your temps are too high for that OC. Are you using stock HSF? If so, it may not be too outlandish to say those temps are right on. Otherwise, if using an aftermarket cooler, those temps need adjustment. Maybe reseat the heatsink. Make sure the pastse you used is covering the whole chip. Check air flow.

The reason I say these things, is that my E6400 runs at 3.2GHz with a little more voltage (1.28) and has lower temps. I use an Infinity. Loading @ about 46C and 31-36C idle.

 

[Marmion]

Yeah, it is the stock cooler. Unfortunately I might have got a bit excited with the voltage, just errored in orthos after 2hrs 45mins. Ill give it another boost.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

the infinity will beat up the stock heatsinks left and right. my freezer pro beats up the stock amd heatsink. i don't rly think you can compare a high-end air cooler to a stock piece of crud.

you could always clock it down to maybe 2.8ghz with a little less voltage, and hang out till the ddr2 prices fall back down from the sky. great chip you got there, may make me consider buying one instead of an e6600. lucky. lol

 

[Marmion]

Update: Even though I upped the voltage in the BIOS, CPU-z still reports it under load as 1.216-1.232v. EasyTune reports 1.23-1.25v
Temps are showing ~45C EasyTune, 56/56C Core Temp, stock intel cooler at full speed. Orthos prime stable 13hrs+ so I'm satisfied with that.
I think I'll hold off on buying a new cooler for the mean time.