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Noctua NH-U12P SE2 w/ Core i7 860 Temps

B

brentpas

Junior Member
Okay guys I need some input here.

Using Prime95, I'm sitting at mid 40's idle and up to mid 70's with 100% load. I'm thinking this is way too hot for this chip (not OC). I would think these are the temps I would get with the standard Intel cooler.

  • Fans are all working and aligned properly (2 fan push pull setup out the back of the case).
  • Everything is tight.
  • Thermal paste is applied correctly. (Used Noctua's thermal paste)

Thoughts?? I'm ready to toss this thing and get the H50 when Corsair gets the 1156 mount ready.

System Specs
Cooler Master HAF 932
Asus Maximus III Formula (1156)
Intel Core i7 860
G.Skill Trident DDR3 2000Mhz 8gb total (4 sticks)
Corsair HX850W PSU
EVGA 8800GTX
 
I'm assuming you're not overclocking?

I have my i7-860 with a CNPS10X Extreme - by all means I should be seeing worse temperatures than you. I have the i7 set to 3.67GHz/1.28V, and I idle in the low 30's; under Prime95 load I see mid 60's.
Is the heatsink getting warm when you run Prime95?
 
Nope not overclocking.

I haven't actually checked the heatsink to see if it's getting warm. I would assume it is.

From what I've read, Noctua's thermal paste doesn't require any "set in" time so I'm assuming the fact that it's only been running for roughly 24 hours is plenty of time.

I've always used Arctic Silver in the past.

I'm honestly out of ideas. I've removed it and reapplied the paste (tried their 4mm dot method as well as spreading it out very thinly). Same results.
 
On a semi-related note, I would REALLY like to see pictures of how you got the heatsink + fans to fit over the top of Trident RAM sticks. I thought from the space issues that Tridents would basically be out of the picture.
 
I have several on my camera, I'll get them uploaded when I get home.

The temps are going down a little but I'm still not completely satisfied. Maybe after a week the thermal paste will settle in even though Noctua claims their paste doesn't require time to do this.
 
I would think there's definitely something wrong. If you still haven't, make sure the heatsink is getting warm under load... And although it's probably completely obvious, make sure the motherboard is supplying the 'right' VCore 🙂.
 
Well the temps are going up and down like crazy.

Here are some pictures

Before with only 1 fan

http://i562.photobucket.com/al...mputer%20Build/055.jpg

Showing the offset of the fans

http://i562.photobucket.com/al...mputer%20Build/076.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/al...mputer%20Build/077.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/al...mputer%20Build/080.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/al...mputer%20Build/081.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/al...mputer%20Build/082.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/al...mputer%20Build/083.jpg

And some temps

Full Load Case Closed
http://i562.photobucket.com/al...FullLoadCaseClosed.jpg

Full Load Case Open
http://i562.photobucket.com/al...d/FullLoadCaseOpen.jpg

Idle Case Closed
http://i562.photobucket.com/al...ild/IdleCaseClosed.jpg

Idle Case Opened
http://i562.photobucket.com/al...Build/IdleCaseOpen.jpg



 
and the heatsink is fairly cool which is troubling. I know I don't have too much thermal paste on there. I applied the recommended 4mm dot. Maybe I should go a little less??

I'm ready to just return this thing and wait for the H50 mount.
 
4mm is not enough imo.

When I was installing my cooler I first put a dot in the middle as i have done in the past and removed it after to see that most of it didn't spread out to the edges. So I put 2 thin parallel lines across the CPU heatspreader the 2nd time around. This covered the full base of the Megahalems.

Also make sure the cooler is sitting tightly and flat against the CPU heatspreader. Maybe use a ruler to check that the base is flat on the Noctua.

Are your fans workings at 1300rpm?

Because you have a large top case fan, and because hot air rises, I think you will get better results if you orientate the heatsink with fans blowing towards the top of the case. It doesn't hurt to try this method.
 
The first time around I did the 4mm dot, currently I have the spread method where I covered the CPU (almost to the edges to allow for extra spreading). I can't point the fans up/down due to the GSKILL Trident's Heatspreaders.

Also already checked the measurements with a ruler. I've seriously tried everything I can think of and everything the other techs in my dept have thought of.
 
So when you carefully lift the heatsink from the CPU, you can clearly see that the thermal paste spread evenly and covered a large area on both the CPU heatspreader and the heatsink?
 
when I removed it after the 4mm dot yes there was good coverage but it was a little thin on the edges, granted the main heat is in the center of the core, I still wanted full even coverage which is why I cleaned and reapplied.

I'm tempted to take out 2 of the 4 sticks of memory and turn the directional flow up/down to take advantage of the larger fan out of the top of the case.

I just want to be under 40 idle and under 70 max on the standard clock and under 80c OC'ed but I'm losing faith in this cooler and I can't return it to the vendor.
 
I'm wondering if there's a major problem with the heat transfer (but I can't imagine what) the pipes at the base of the heatsink are not even warm after running it at full load for 45 minutes. It has complete full contact with the CPU there's absolutely no way it doesn't.

These fans are rated at 56cfm...wonder if something closer to 80 would be better?
 
Given the reviews I've read and what you're saying about the heatpipes, I would doubt that that's the problem here. That should be plenty of airflow to get you into the 60's at least (stock). I dunno, though, I'm out of ideas... I remember reading once about somebody receiving a HSF without any fluid in its heatpipes, but that seems like a long shot.
 
Are you still using the AI suite to monitor your temps? Try using something like Real Temp 3, or core temp. Then you can see what each core is doing as far as temperature goes.
 
Those were my temps with the intel stock hsf. I switched to a Prolimatech megahalem rev b and now my temps are

26 idle
50 load

i have one Sunon fan attached.
 
I had the Noctua NH-u12P on my overclocked i7 920 (3.8ghz).
Idle was in the upper 30's, load in the upper 70's/low 80's.
I know we're talking about different processors, but the 860 is supposed to run cooler, isn't it?
 
Hey Brent,

Understand you created this a while ago, but I too was having issues with that Noctua heatsink on my 860.

I noticed you have first fan offset on the top by about 1-2 inches. I would say lose the ram cooling and put the fan on correctly -- there will be more cooling towards the BASE of the heatsink, where all the heat is coming from in the first place. The second fan is just an exhaust and not cooling off the heatsink as much as the first one, so this would probably help by a large margin (even if it's not responsible for your very high temps).

In regards to the RAM cooling, just fan to blow cool air into your case from the top, as you have a PSU on the bottom. It will be running right over your ram.

If you don't care for that you could also orient the heat sink to run north/south instead of east/west.
 
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