Intel C2D e6600 running at stock with stock HSF ASUS P5B Deluxe Sapphire X1950Pro 256MB Corsair HX520 2 80mm intakes at front, 1 outtake at top and one at the rear. I've finally got my new build working (faulty graphics card) however while I was checking the BIOS I noticed that the the CPU temp is slightly under 60C, which seems quite high for at idle. The MB temp is also reported as 35C (not sure if this is the actual temp in the case or inside the heatpipe on the MB). I'm currently using the stock intel heatsink (which has the thermal compound stuff preattached correct?) so is just not seated properly or should I purchase a third party HSF to replace it?
Is the heatsink hot? If it is, that means that the temp's probably accurate. If it's not, see if you can feel around the socket, possibly even touch the IHS if you can manage - if that's hot, and the heatsink's cold, then you're getting bad contact between CPU and HS. Reseating it again to be sure it's on will tell you if it's broken or not. If it's still cold, it's worth trying a 3rd party cooler, but you might just have a really hot-running chip.
My mate had the same problem with his. try re-seating the HSF, if that still persists, take it off, clean off the stock thermal compound, get some AS5 on there and re-seat it again. Make sure the pins are locked in though, if you tighten them by morning turning them you will most likely loosen it.
Thanks for you replies. I removed the HSF and cleaned the stock thermal compound off it. I only had some Zalman thermal grease that came with a flower cooler on my brothers' system (it seems to have worked fine on his) on hand but I tried it anyway. I have tried reseatting the HSF a couple of times but it doesn't seem to make much difference. I also checked the room temperature: 20C. With the computer lying flat on the table and the side off it idled at 50C, placing the side on it increased the temp to 55C and finalling standing it up, the temp increased to 70C! I've already ordered some Arctic Silver 5 as I need it for another computer anyway, and am also considering picking up an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro to replace the stock intel HSF. Any other advice?
I would say its an incorrectly installed heatsink. Happened to me the other day. Had good coverage of thermal paste (AS5 way of drop in center) But didn't have good enough contact. Dropped 30C off the temperature. Make sure that the HSF is actually clicked in all the way, takes a bit of force to get all the pushpins in properly.
Urrgh... That scares me, takes a bit of force to push the pins in. I had a similar nightmare with my HSF, though I almost cracked the motherboard with pushing.
Yeah, I much prefer screws with springs, much easier and easier on our conscience. I really don't like putting so much pressure, your sure its gunna crack.
well it seems you definitely have a bit of a problem. However, I also have the P5B (Deluxe) and an E6600. When I first tested the system with the standard HSF, I just laid it on top of the CPU, so without fastening the push-pins. I got idle temps of about 50° on the CPU (and that was just the mobo, vid card and cpu, lying on a desk, no case or anything)...but with the HSF not properly fastened. So if you get the same or higher temps with the HSF properly attached, well then it's probably not making good contact. Now I'm watercooling it. The BIOS reports idle temp of about 40°, when I take tools like MBM, Hmonitor, etc, they all report idle temp around 35°. It looks like the BIOS reports a temperature that is too high.
i just set up a E6600 for my best friend. Over-clocked to 3.0 Stable, on a DFI Infinity Crossfire board with a 9700Zalman... my idle temps are 38 and load are 50 --- max (left it running for days)
Don't hijack threads. It really sounds like you didn't put the cooler on correctly, I know when I put mine on I broke one of the sides because the darned thing just wouldn't go in, I called newegg and they took it back. Make sure when you push the pins in, that you twist them too, otherwise it won't fully lock into place.
