I made the mistake of downloading Intel TAT, and finding out a couple of things. First I had to slow my CPU down to handle the 100% thermal load test. Second the temperature got too hot for my liking. The core temps were hitting 75 C+ in only a minute or so.
So I put in the Scythe Ninja expecting a big improvement. The result was a very marginal improvement from the stock Intel HSF, and in short very disappointing - not at all worth the $$ and effort to change it. At idle there is no measureable difference between the Intel HSF and the Scythe Ninja. Under TAT full load it still hits 75+C but it takes 3-4 minutes - but it still is not fully leveled off. I shut it down at that point.
So did I miss something? I used Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound carefully applied using the process in these instructions from Acrtic Silver. I was very careful to clean both the CPU and HS. I see the notes about it taking 200 hours for the thermal compound to reach peak performance, but am thinking this is just to put me off until I forget about what I paid for it, and the performance I did not get.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_intel_dual_wcap.pdf
The only thing that I can think of is my Antec Sonata II case. I was using the cooling air ducting to bring fresh cool air directly in to feed the Intel HSF. There was no room for this with the Ninja, and I had to leave it out. It would seem the benefit of this ducting is not trivial, and almost makes up for the much smaller Intel HSF. Now makes me wonder if the ideal solution is a lower profile HSF that can still use the intake ducting. I'm running the case fan on low, same as before. Possible that a higher speed and noise will improve this cooler more than it did with the Intel.
So I put in the Scythe Ninja expecting a big improvement. The result was a very marginal improvement from the stock Intel HSF, and in short very disappointing - not at all worth the $$ and effort to change it. At idle there is no measureable difference between the Intel HSF and the Scythe Ninja. Under TAT full load it still hits 75+C but it takes 3-4 minutes - but it still is not fully leveled off. I shut it down at that point.
So did I miss something? I used Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound carefully applied using the process in these instructions from Acrtic Silver. I was very careful to clean both the CPU and HS. I see the notes about it taking 200 hours for the thermal compound to reach peak performance, but am thinking this is just to put me off until I forget about what I paid for it, and the performance I did not get.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_intel_dual_wcap.pdf
The only thing that I can think of is my Antec Sonata II case. I was using the cooling air ducting to bring fresh cool air directly in to feed the Intel HSF. There was no room for this with the Ninja, and I had to leave it out. It would seem the benefit of this ducting is not trivial, and almost makes up for the much smaller Intel HSF. Now makes me wonder if the ideal solution is a lower profile HSF that can still use the intake ducting. I'm running the case fan on low, same as before. Possible that a higher speed and noise will improve this cooler more than it did with the Intel.
