Zalman CNPS10X Extreme Temp Question

[HiTek21]

I just built my first new desktop in about 12 years and I'm not really sure what's good anymore. I recently put together a Asus P8P67 Deluxe paired with an i7 2600k and this Zalman CNPS10X Extreme cooler. I applied a thin layer of Shin Etsu thermal paste

This thing is massive but I'm not sure if the temps I'm getting are normal. If I feel the heatsink it feels a little warm

I ran prime 95 for about 4 hours and it seems to be running at around 70-71c with mobo temps of about 30c. I have the Asus AI Suite II running and the strange thing is when I start up Prime95 the temps shoot almost immediately up to 65-70 and the fan goes full speed then as soon as i stop it the temps drop back down to 35c idle and the fans go back to low speed. When I'm in the bios the temps shown are about 40-45c so I'm not sure if this is right.

I have a Lian Li PC-P50 case with the dual top 140mm fans, rear 120mm fan and front 120mm fan all going.

ambient temperatures are 65-70f

 

[NYHoustonman]

Are you overclocking at all?

That may be about right, I don't remember where temperatures were for me on my i7 860 at stock... but @ 3.675GHz, I hit the low 70's at full load.

 

[HiTek21]

Right now no overclocking, but maybe later. I was thinking of switching to a watercooling solution or if this current heat sink can handle overclocking a little more quiet.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Right now no overclocking, but maybe later. I was thinking of switching to a watercooling solution or if this current heat sink can handle overclocking a little more quiet.

I don't think temperatures increased for me very much simply because I didn't have to fool around too much with increased voltage - and it's quiet the vast majority of the time. Depending on how you're controlling the fan speed, of course. It's only ever noisy when I run Prime95, etc.

That being said, there are a ton of other (better) options out there, and I've considered upgrading as well. Ultimately not worth it for me yet.

 

[BoomerD]

For a stock processor, those temps seem a bit high to me. Probably not to the point of concern, just higher than I'd expect.

Try stress testing with the Intel Burn Test. That seems to put a much heavier load on the CPU...and will test your cooling solution.

I tried one of the Zalman 7700 CPU coolers a few years ago. It did a good job cooling the processor at stock speeds, but not so good at overclocked speeds. (P4 3.06)

You may just need to re-apply the TIM and re-seat the processor...

 

[HiTek21]

Upgraded the Zalman with a Noctua NH-D14 the other day and it dropped my non overclocked load temp from 70-72c to about 50-56c.

I overclocked to 4.4ghz and its running 66-70c, this thing is amazing. Its a lot quieter than the zalman too.