Q9300 running much too hot

[mynameisham]

I just built my first PC, and I'm getting some really worrying temp readings from RealTemp 2.7.

With the stock HSF I was idling at 60c, and at one point it somehow managed to get up to 93c without melting. So I went and got myself the #1 rated HSF on Newegg (Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro), and I'm still idling at 50c, with loads up to 77c (Prime95).

I was really excited to set about on my first overclocking journey, but this heat is making that seem like an impossibility.

I'm using a CoolerMaster Centurion case with 1 120mm intake fan and 1 120mm exhaust fan. The HSF is mounted with some Arctic Silver 5 (and the stock thermal paste was removed beforehand), with the fan blowing across the fins and right out the back exhaust port. All other components are mounted securely and properly (i've quadruple checked) and I can't for the life of me figure out any other reason besides a bad CPU that this could be happening.

Reviewers on Newegg got this HSF to keep their overclocked systems under 35c load! Why is mine pushing 50c idle?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm a little hesitant to work on a 3D project that I *HAVE* to get done for a client soon, but this is my only machine capable of doing work and with Maya and Photoshop open it makes me very very nervous to see the temps climbing to the 60s.

 

[OCGuy]

How are you applying the paste? What are your ambients?

The AC7 is awesome for duals, but quads get much better results from something like a Tuniq Tower. However, those idles are way too high, even for a AC7.

 

[Markfw]

First, welcome to the forums !

What does cpuz say the vcore is ? I wonder if your motherboard is overvolting. Have you upgraded to the latest bios ?

 

[mynameisham]

The paste was applied per the instructions in the PDF on the Arctic Cooling website... a small amount about the mass of a grain of rice put in a thin line horizontally across the heatspreader over the 2 underlying die. Also, the AC7 was rated at .9 sone, and it sounds a lot louder than even the stock Intel HSF. Does that indicate anything?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

my Q9300 idles at 50c - i think its normal for those temps as I've tested at 3.4Ghz and 2.5Ghz and still get the same readings with Core temp & Real Temp ... i'm going to H20 cooling from this experience (for my new Q9650 quad)

 

[mynameisham]

So even @ 3.4 you're getting the same temperature readings? I'd be pleased as punch just to get mine to 3.0 without meltdown. I suppose the only way to find out is to give it a shot.

Your rig is at 3.4Ghz with core voltage at 1.224? My stock voltage is 1.296... could I try and dial this back to see if that cuts out some heat, or would that be a bad idea?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Dial it back and see what happens. Enable Load Line Calibration to minimalize v.droop. I had to set my NB to 1.55v btw & I'm at 450fsb as of right now which is something like 3375Mhz or 3.37Ghz

EDIT: what are your ambient temps btw (room temps)

 

[mynameisham]

Do you have any suggestions on a decent vcore setting? I'm all new to this, so I don't know if I should drop it by .01 or .1 or where to start. And can I get away with decreasing the voltage and not having to mess with anything else?

I'm not familiar with v.droop, but it sounds like something I'd want to minimize. I hate to ask you to hold my hand through this, but I'm just new and afraid of killing a brand new $1k investment.

Oh, and room temps are at 23c.

 

[Foxery]

Originally posted by: mynameisham
My stock voltage is 1.296... could I try and dial this back to see if that cuts out some heat, or would that be a bad idea?

There's your trouble - the default voltage for these chips is only 1.16 to 1.21. Make sure your motherboard's BIOS is the newest possible, and turn this down. You'll go back up this high for overclocking, but achieve some piece of mind from watching your temperatures drop first

As Ocguy said, the AC7 cooler can't keep up with quad-core chips when you get serious about overclocking, but it can certainly keep your temps reasonable at stock speeds.

Make sure to check out the sticky at the top of the forum for more details.

Also, link is Intel's official sheet of recommended safe operating conditions for your chip.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Try it at 1.2500v - there really is no such thing as a decent vcore setting, either it works or it fails/errors and to test things, use Prime95 or OCCT or some other suggested cpu stability tester.

EDIT: Yeah, don't go above the safe vcore settings 0.85V ? 1.3625V

 

[mynameisham]

Well I found a BIOS update, installed it, and went back in and manually set vcore down to 1.125, but now CPU-Z is saying my core's only at 1.088v, and my temps are still at 50c idle. Any more suggestions?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I think the heat is there to stay unless you go with a H20 cooling setup

 

[mynameisham]

Water cooling is out of the question at this juncture, but as long as I'm not going to be hurting my hardware I can live with 50c, I guess.

I ran a quick prime95 test for 15 minutes and never went over 60c, so that is definitely an improvement over last night's 77c, though I ran that test about twice as long.

I'm going to get back to work now and hopefully power through this project. Expect to see me back on here in another week or so to tackle some overclocking. Thanks for all the help and support so far, gang!

 

[clarkey01]

same thing with my Q6600 Idle was 45C and not matter what I did to the OC and voltage it never went over 60.

I just got an antec ultimate game case and added a tiny bit more thermal paste, it now idles at 29C.

 

[Gillbot]

Verify your mount, did you pull the mobo to mount your HS? The ACF7Pro can APPEAR to have the pins fully seated when in fact they are not. Pull the mobo and remount to ensure proper pin engagement or replace the pins with the Thermalright 775 mount kit: http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/lgbowiscsp.html

I had a heck of a time with my ACF7Pro and those blasted pushpins. You need to be 100% sure the base of the pin is against the mobo before you push the lock down, otherwise it may not seat right. To do this, 95% of the time you need to do it with the mobo out of the case.

 

[mynameisham]

I got pretty lucky somehow. I agree that the pushpin system sucks, but all of the pins are flush with the mobo and I didn't have to remove it to get them in. The first couple tries I didn't take the fan off first, and that made it all but impossible to get it on. Once I realized the fan detached easily I was able to ensure that it was seated well.

I'm still quite dissatisfied with the fan noise, as one of the main selling points of the product is how quietly it performs. Of course the other selling point is it's ability to bring temps down by 20c-30c and I'm also not seeing any of that.

 

[Gillbot]

If you put it in with the mobo installed, they may NOT be in all the way even though it looks like they are. I had the same EXACT problem with mine.