Hi guys,
I'm new to cd freaks...

I just put together a new computer but had a small problem that need your help.
I have: XFX GeForce 680i LT SLI Motherboard
Intel Q6600 quad core (stock speed 2.4 GHz) with zalman 9700 heatsink.
4GB of OCZ 800MHz ram
XFX Geforce 8600
Sound blaster X-fi xtreme gamer

The problem is even with zalman 9700 heatsink my coretemp idle is around 37-40 *C and under load is around mid 50 *C. Is this normal?

I saw a lot of people with the same Q6600 and zalman 9700 heatsink and they got around 30*C idle and around 40*C under load.
I'm thinking about going with this thing. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835227001 Is it any good?
Thanks
Please help
BTW, i did use arctic silver 5.

Those temps are great. Everyones system is different you MB will read temps slightly differently than others. Also it depends on your room temperature, and how many fans are in your case. Definitly no need for a TEC, you temps are fine.

Welcome to the forum btw.

Those temps are alot better than mine, but I am overclocked.

Running on water I get

45C idle (without speedstep so CPU is still running flat out)
72C under load (thats at 1.53v and 1.34GHz on a B3 chip)

I get a maximum case temp of 40C which prooves my water cooling is doing its stuff and its just the core to heat spreader heat transfer thats rather poor.

Remember that the maximum core temp of the B3 and G0 quad chips is 100C. The maximum IHS (heat spreader ontop of the chip) temp are slightly different in that the B3 chip has a max of 63C and the G0 is 72C.

I tried A Coolit Eliminator on one of my quad builds and the load temp actually went up 10 deg from air cooling. I asked around on another forum and most agreed the the cooler didn't have tha capacity to cool a quad under load. Idle temps were good but after a minute or two of load it would heat up. Also the Coolit fans are suprisingly noisey. Most people would be happy with a load temp in the mid 50's

I thought the 50's and above were actually too hot for the system and would shorten the life of the CPU?

My system specs in the sig but here's my temps.

CPU 1.35v - 39°

System 29°

GPI 1.20v - 51°

Voltages are small and I did bump them to the specs needed at one time but my temps were 50° on the CPU with stock HSF and my board temps went to 33° or 35° can't remember and thought that was too hot and turned them down. Below is the current setup.

1.35 vcore seems high for stock speed and at the max for intels specs I think. Not really up on Nforce chipsets and that may be normal. If you are at stock speed you may want to try Auto for your CPU voltage and then run Prime or Orhtos (Small FFT's) then monitor your vcore to see what the maximum is when loaded. I think you will find you may not need to set your Vcore that high. More vcore = more heat. Might be worth a try.

I'll take a look at that thanks.

All mine are set on auto crossg. I did up it at on time but when I did that I had my cpu temp at 50° and thought I would burn it up at idle that high of a temp.

download the program coretemp 0.96

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Let us know what the Vid is.

Doesn't work for the 64 bit Vista. I ran prime and Orhtos but didn't understand it to be honest and nothing ever showed either. I can use CPU-Z though if it will help?

I have 2 80mm fans on the front. 1 80mm and 1 120mm on the side. 1 120mm in the rear.



Try this fixed coretemp for vista x64. It works for me. http://forums.erodov.com/local_links.php?catid=18

Depends on how much you want to play around. Try downlaoding the latest CPU-Z 1.43 and PC Wizard (says it works with Vista 64. Minimize it and you should get all the info you need in the top R/H corner of the screen) Check and see what either says for CPU voltage at idle. (EIST disabled) If it is in fact 1.35 vcore set your Bios setting to 1.300v then run prime and see if it has any problems if not lower it somemore until you get an error then bump it up a couple of notches. Takes some fooling around but it may help you in the long run. Here is what mine says (Bios CPU voltage set to Auto) running prime 95 small FFt's 1.200v. It's a different CPU and chipset though. Sorry about the squeezed screen shot but I had to get in under the 97.7 KB limit.

So some of you don't consider 37C- 40C @ idle way too high?? Especially considering that he's not even overclocking. Only the load temp seems reasonable IMHO.
Are you sure the thermal paste is making good contact?

And 45C @ idle on a water-cooled system only pushing 3.3 GHz... seems pretty high as well.

I know a guy who has that same Zalman.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118019
And he is stating that he is achieving under 20C @ idle when not OC'ing, and barely over when mildly OC'ing. He has an E6600 Core2Duo only though...lol

I also have the E6600 and here's a CoreTemp screenshot of mine at basically idle (slight PC usage currently). And overnight it gets as low as around 22C... I have an Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro HS&F..

All the apps say different things that would run on my system but here is the little screen shot of PC Wizard. Sorry for the little screen shot as well. I am not too worries at these temps as I thought they are normal with a regular stock HS & HSF. I have the antec gamer 900 case and the fans are on med. I could turn them up a notch too.

Those temps look OK to me even with speed step on. With mine I don't really see any temp difference with or with out speed step. Normally Core temp and PC wizard temps are exactly the same from my experience. All my fans are set to low with my 900 case but ambient temp really messes with aircooling as you probably know.

download 0.96 and see if it reads the same temps.

Thanks for the info. I may go water cooling for the quad CPU as I am looking at the Q6700.

So you think idle around 40*C is too high? I had tried different heatsinks with my q6600 and this zalman gave me the lowest temp. Before the zalman, i used the asus silent Knight II and idle temp was around 50*C and load was around 60*C. I applied the arctic silver 5 according to the instruction with a thin small line. I had applied the arctive silver 5 about 5-6 times with different heatsinks. Therefore, i think it is applied correctly. I don't know if the ambient temp. affected my coretemp. It's winter down here and my room is around 70*F.

Can you post a screen shot of your Core temp so we can see the revision and such. 40 @ idle does seem a little high but there are lots of variables. When you say 50 deg under load is that with all four cores @ 100%? If it is then I wouldn't worry about it, if not you may try and adjust your fan speeds if possible by turning up the rear exit fan and slow down the front intake. Basically just fool around with the fan speeds until you get a good airflow through your case. What is your motherboard/system temp?

Downloaded it and yes it is identical. Thanks though cause I hadn't kept up with CoreTemp update...


Post a screenshot of CoreTemp for your Q6600, so that we can make sure you are mentioning the same temps as we're thinking.
Because here's a post of someone who also has the Q6600 but he's overclocking to 3.2 GHz, and you can see his temps.

http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php...36&postcount=4

Truvnhc...

How did you apply the thermal paste ? and did you use Zalman's ?

If you applied it as per the guide that came with the Zalman 9700 then maybe you have a hot chip.

I would check the HS and maybe give it a twist one or two degrees right to left.

I know your case seems cool with all the fans but as eric says, the ambient temps will play a fairly big part on the system temps. Whats the room temp or outside temp.? do the temps go down a bit at night when it's cooler?

Having said all that I reckon the temps are a frag on the high side for a normal installation. But still well within the safe range.

I applied the arctic silver 5 according to its instruction... (a thin line on top of the heatspreader....) When i installed the zalman, I did give it a little twist.

Right now, out side temp is around 30*F and my room is around 70*F.

Here is my screenshot. Thank you for all of your replies.

Can't view the attachment...