Temperatures of Q6600 G0 and Northbridge chip

[kallekill]

I just build a new computer with an Intel Quad Q6600 stepping B0 CPU but it seems to get a little too hot. My CPU fan is a Tuniq Tower and I am currently running the CPU at 3 Ghz at stock Vcore of 1.25, but it gets hot even at the stock 2.4 Ghz. At idle the temperature is around 40 degrees C, but when I start up two instances of Orthos and run a 3D application at the same time the temperature of the CPU rises to 70 C if I close the case. With the case door open the temperature drops by almost ten degrees. I have heard that the B0 Q6600 should stay below 60 C, but how about the G0s? I have one intake fan at the bottom of the full tower case and the Tuniq fan blows air out of the case at the back along with the PSU fan.

Is this temperature normal or have I applied the thermal paste incorrectly? I made a line like the artic silver manual said and applied the heat sink turning it a few degrees clockwise and counter clockwise. I tightened the screws, but I noticed that two of the screws on one side of the heat sink could be tightened more than the other two on the other side without much force, but I did not tighten them as hard as I could. I tightened all screws equally. Could this be because the CPU isn?t perfectly flat?

The case I am using is an old Chieftec case that doesn?t seem to have optimal airflow. The air that doesn?t get sucked out by the CPU fan or PSU rises to the top of the case where it has nowhere to go. I had to remove the top front slot to make the air go out that way. I also plan to drill holes at the ceiling of the case and mount a fan there. I will also buy a fan that I will place in the front were the hard drives are that blow air at the CPU heat sink or slightly below. On the other hand, my harddrive is already below 35 C which seems perfectly fine.

I am also a little concerned about the Northbridge temperature. I don?t know which temperature in speedfan that is the northbridge, but one of the temperatures is pretty high with a burning flame besides it.

 

[SniperDaws]

how is it with the case side off? if it drops in temp then you have an airflow problem, basically you want cool air coming into the case from bottom front of the case and the warm air to be blown out at the top rear of your case, you definitly need to get rid of the hot air in your case because you can have the best fan in the world blowing nice cool air in from the front but if you cant get that warm air out then itll just circulate round and round warming all your parts up creating a vicious circle.

 

[Hauk]

It *sounds* like your heatsink mounting is okay. Idle temp seems okay but could be improved. Dual Orthos temps can be improved for sure.

Seems you have an airflow problem. IMO a case for Q6600 oc'ing should have two 120mm exaust fans or something close. An 80mm fan and a psu fan are not enough.

Many people are jumping on the Q6600 bandwagon without looking at case airflow. What may have worked for a dual may not work for quad. If situation calls for a new case, look at ones with PSU on the bottom. Antec P180 series, 900 series, and others...

 

[SniperDaws]

Have a read and click on some of the pics http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=1846069&enterthread=y

 

[kallekill]

Thanks for the answers. I really appreciate it.

With the case side off, the temperature drops by 10 C. I moved the intake fan in the front of the case from the bottom up to the diskette station slots, so that it blows air directly at the CPU heatsink. That also dropped the temperature by 10 degrees with the case closed. I still got warm air at the top of the case and if I place a harddrive there it gets a little hot. I plan to drill a hole at the roof of the case and mount a 140mm fan. Right now I only have the Tuniq tower 120 mm fan and the 120 mm fan in the Corsair PSU removing air from the case, besides the fan on the graphic card. I am also thinking of buying a PCI fan to mount below the Northbridge chip because it gets pretty hot too.