I think this is pretty good

[MagickMan]

E7200 @ 3.51GHz, 1.36v (see sig)
32C idle, 46C load, 54C IBT/Linpack

with an AC Freezer 7 Pro, good ventilation, and a ~72F room

If I went with a heftier cooler could I get lower temps? If so, any guesses on how much lower? Would it be worth it?

Also, I can get the thing up to 4GHz but it takes >1.4v, like in the neighborhood of 1.45. How much would the extra juice shorten the e7200's lifespan (just a guess)? I'm not a frequent upgrade guy when it comes to processors, I like to get something and stick with it for a couple years.

thanks

 

[Corporate Thug]

Those temps are low enough where I wouldn't consider a beefier cooler IMHO.

 

[ther00kie16]

Yea, 50s is fine. I'd suggest doing some research and testing to lower the voltage though. There are people who get 4ghz on less than 1.3V so I'd think 3.5ghz shouldn't need 1.36V.
If you succeed in lowering the required voltage, the temperature will decrease and then you can overclock a bit more without the need for a bulkier heatsink.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Definitely don't run it at 1.4v. Error8 says so.

 

[Zepper]

There's still a good safety margin at 54.

.bh.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

you might not see much real-world improvement clocking higher. Def. stay below 1.4V in the desktop- so it could be set higher in bios if vdroop brings it lower. Having a better cooler could allow you to reach 4ghz w/ less voltage.

 

[MagickMan]

thanks for the input. I already tried lowering the voltage, but it's not 100% Linpack stable below 1.35v (though it will run OCCT for hours at 1.32v). The highest I can go with this setup, below 1.4v, is 3.8GHz. So I backed it off a bit for the time being. I have lots of time over the next couple days to tweak, so I'll be spending more time finding how far I can push it and stay under 1.4v at full load.

Another issue is the pin based clip. I have to admit that it makes me nervous. Took a couple tries, but I got it to mount properly, I just have this nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that the thing is just going to fall off. :lol: Maybe I'm being unreasonable, how knows.

 

[MagickMan]

Update, after fiddling with other settings, I'm able to get "Linpack stable" at 3.51GHz @ 1.32v and my temps dropped by 2-4C across the board. However, there seems to be a wall there that requires a substantial voltage increase, and thereby a noticeable temp increase. I guess I can live with 3.5GHz, it was my actual target when I bought the chip.


Final temps:
32C Idle, 42C load, 52C Linpack