Really poor temps with Thermalright ultra 120-extreme 1366 rev C

[gothuevos]

Ok now that I got that mouthful of a title out of the way...

I'm getting really poor temps with this cooler on an i7-930 on a Gigabyte x58a-ud3r board. Idle temps are 36-37 and full load under Prime95 puts me at like 61-62. That's like a 5 degree improvement over my stock cooler. This is all at stock settings/voltages. Ambient room temp here is probably 70. I haven't tried to o/c yet because I'm worried about the temps as is.

I applied ArcticSilver 5 and "tinted' both the HS and CPU as per the instructions on the website. Took care to use a lint-free cloth, proper handling, etc. The only thing I didn't do, which I know some people have commented on with this cooler, is lap the heatsink. The reason I held off is because all the reviews I had seen online had apparently reviewed this product WITHOUT lapping it and they were getting stellar results.

Would lapping really make a difference? I have already re-seated the thing twice, I followed the instructions perfectly and without difficulty. Any other thoughts? Thanks.

 

[faxon]

uh those temps are just fine and right within the expected range. you could definitely improve your temps by lapping the sink though, but what i wanna know is why you bought a TRUE without already having the stuff to lap it when it would otherwise have been cheaper to get a venomous X (which has a properly finished base), netting you a better cooler to begin with.

 

[GLeeM]

My TRUE "wobbled" in one direction when I got it!
I lapped it. That helped reduce the wobble, but didn't help the temps noticeably. Oh well.

If you OC, lock the vcore at stock or lower to help keep temps reasonable.

Under load 24/7/365 my temps are 80+ on a hot day (no AC) and mid/low 70s in winter.

 

[zagood]

What fan? Where do you have it plugged in? If you're running it off the CPU header and you didn't change the fan speed settings in the BIOS, it's going to perform (like you're seeing) about the same as your stock cooler. Increase fan speed or get a better fan and your temps will probably go down.

Temps will also depend on your ambient case temperature and what kind of airflow you have through the case.

In addition, you should try overclocking, that's how you'll tell if there's something "wrong" with it.