I'm having problem getting my new i7 system properly cooled.. The Heatsink is the Noctua NH-U12P with 2 Fans in a Lian Li V1110. I pretty much have 5 12cm fans in a row, using 3 Noctua NF-S12-1200 (in the 5,25" Slots, on the Support-Bar, and on rear exaust) and 2 NF-P12 on the CPU-Heatsink. Still, the system (and CPU) gets quite hot. After running Prim95 for about 20 minutes, the system Temperature is reported as 57C, and CPU-Temp was up to 88C (using Real Temp). GPU is also at about 80C with 100% Load with Fanspeed @ ~50%. Question: How else can I improve ambient Temperature? (while keeping it quiet..) Are those Temperatures still 'safe' for the Hardware? According to the reviews, the case is supposed to have a decent thermal performance, and the heatsink is as far as I've read the best compromise between Temperature and Noise.. Thanks for the help!
Can you list all of your parts for reference? Have you overclocked? Did you use thermal paste? Do you have the Noctuas installed with the low noise adapters?
Yeah, it sounds like you're lacking thermal paste (or are seriously unlucky with your heatspreader) or you've overclocked with voltages on Auto - that seriously raises temps and probably decreases the CPU lifespan. AFAIK, CPUs are 'safe' (read: won't completely die, but will probably experience reduced lifespan) below 90*C at load, but if it's loaded at 90*C for 24/7 don't expect it to last long. With those 5 fans (though bear in mind the S12s don't have as much airflow as the P12s) and that cooler (btw I love Noctua) you should be much, much lower than that, unless ambient temperature is like 40*C. Get an air conditioner (joke). Also, modern GPUs tend to run really quite hot. ATi cards especially. So, what's the specs of your machine? And is any of it overclocked?
Sorry for not getting back, I was away a week - and thanks for the input It wasn't overclocked and I didn't use the Low/Mid-Voltage adapters. I tried reinstalling the Heatsink (though i might have used a tad to much thermal paste), it didn't change much... but after removing the rear exaust mesh, ambient temperature sank significantly (I guess a P12 would have been a better choice here)! CPU is now at ~40 idle OC'ed @ 3800 with 12cm Case-Fans at 900 RPM and the 14cm at 780RPM, which I'm very happy with (I like it quiet)! The only thing bugging me now is the 4870-Fans (Gainward GS) which are by far the loudest part of the system above 35% Fanspeed (~1100RPM). I flashed the BIOS to enable fan-hysteresis, and it's pretty stable at ~73-74C with ~45% Fanspeed under full load. I don't think I can do much about the noise level though List of Parts btw: Asus P6T deluxe OCZ CL7 low voltage (1520Mhz 1.65V) i7 920 (3.8Ghz 1.35V) Gainward 4870GS 1GB Gskill 256GB SSD & Samsung Spinpoint F1
