i7-2600k; summer, or thermal paste needing a change?

[Santiak]

Heyho,

Might be a silly question, but rather than let my paranoia flourish, I thought I'd better ask.

Been keenly watching my temperatures regularly since November, and up until recently, it would usually level off at 32 - 33°C idle, and reach a max of 59 - 60°C under heavy load.

The last months time, however, I've noticed that it tends to hang for an extended period of time at 37°C (idling after load), coming to a rest at 35°C, and that it's reached a max temp of ~64°C (albeit in a game still in beta, so optimization may not have been grand).
I should note that I'm seeing the same temperature change with my GPU (GTX 690); normally idled at 33°C, now idling at 35°C these days, and reaching slightly higher max temperatures - so likely it's a higher ambient temperature.


However, what my paranoia would like to know, is whether this slight increase in temperature is - as I suspect - due to it being warmer weather these days, or whether it's a sign that the thermal paste needs changing?
I know it's still relatively cool for my CPU, but since there was a change, I thought I'd better check up on the reasons for it, just to be sure.

The underlying reason for my paranoia is that some time ago, my cooler (Arctic freezer xtreme rev 2. -- https://goo.gl/is8Gaj ) had some issues with one side of the plating (bottom one) holding the fan in place in between the heatsinks would fall off, which I fixed with some strips to hold it in place. However, I occasionally need to/can't help making sure the plate is still firmly in place, and I notice that the heatsink tower itself will shift or wobble slightly if manipulated.
I assume this is because of the sheer size of it, and that it is still firmly held against the CPU (i.e., I can't feel it actually detatching from the mobo, just that the heatsink tower can be moved slightly - it isn't drooping or failing to return to its original position, or otherwise showing signs of not being firmly attached to the mobo), but now that I notice the small temperature increase, I can't help but wonder if it's taken its toll on the thermal paste.

So, is my paranoia warranted, or is everything normal (including the CPU heatsink shifting slightly when manipulated), and I should just kick my paranoia and enjoy the coming summer? ;P

 

[mapesdhs]

Yup, just warmer weather, perfectly normal. Plenty of heatsinks can move a little, and it varies by board, eg. Venomous-X on one board is rock solid, on another it rotates somewhat. You're fine.

What speed is the 2600K running at btw? My 2700K at 5GHz hovers around 75C under load with an H80 (1.435V vcore), idles around 40. These temps drop by 10 or so during winter.

Ian.

 

[Santiak]

Yup, just warmer weather, perfectly normal. Plenty of heatsinks can move a little, and it varies by board, eg. Venomous-X on one board is rock solid, on another it rotates somewhat. You're fine.

What speed is the 2600K running at btw? My 2700K at 5GHz hovers around 75C under load with an H80 (1.435V vcore), idles around 40. These temps drop by 10 or so during winter.

Ian.

Cheers for appeasing my paranoia, much appreciated!

My 2600k is running at the standard 3.8Ghz - not too sure what my CPU vcore is set to, I assume adaptive(?), as HWMonitor reports a minimum of 1.248 V to a maximum of 1.264 V; currently at 1.256 V @ ~37-39°C.

Haven't had the stomach (or felt it was necessary) to OC it - something I've never tried before. Once I upgrade my GTX 690 to a 1080, if it turns out my CPU will bottleneck things too much, I might give it a try - until then, though, I'd rather trade the lower speed for more peace of mind. 😉

 

[mapesdhs]

Yeah, those are pretty low voltages really, not even what I'd consider into oc territory much at all, and at stock speed you have nothing to worry about.

One thing though, a better cooler would certainly make a difference if long term temps, etc. are a concern, but atm everythings well within safe limits. That Arctic ok for basic stuff and a typical safe oc, but it's not something I'd use to run a 2600K at the sort of speed that any 2600K should be able to handle with the right cooling, ie. 4.7 to 4.8. I keep going over 2700Ks instead because the sampling improved a bit and the extra headroom means every single one I've bought (seven so far) has handled 5.0 with ease, even just a decent air cooler (TRUE). I use H80s though to enable the use of quiet fans, eg. here's one of my systems:

http://www.overclock.net/lists/display/view/id/2415471

With the latest GPUs, a stock 2600K might pose a hinderance in some games and scenarios, but not in general, it's still pretty decent, and there's certainly good potential to offset any bottleneck with a reasonable oc, even if you kept to something very safe like 4.5.

When I built a gaming PC for a friend recently, there was much pondering of Skylake, but the CPU/mbd/RAM cost led us to decide on 2700K setup instead, again at 5GHz (it's the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme which makes this consistent behaviour possible, such a good board), and the cost saving allowed the purchase of a 980 Ti instead of just a 980, which means better gaming performance anyway since the real bottleneck is always the GPU (except for weirdly coded games like X3TC and FSX). Here are 3DMark11/Firestrike/Extreme/Ultra results (feel free to use as a comparison for your future upgrade ponderings):

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11182410
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11182604
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/8231433
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/8231367
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/8231593

More data including CPU tests on my site here, and the OCN M4E club thread has a BIOS settings summary for my system if you ever decide to oc your CPU. My main reference was Miahallen's excellent oc'ing guide (his general intro site is here).

And when you are oc'ing, here's a good BSOD list for the inevitable bluescreens as one tests for stability.

Ian.

PS. Just so I have a complete picture, what mbd, GPU, RAM and PSU are you using?

PPS. I'll likely get a 1080 so I can upgrade to 1440p, thus in the next coupla months I should be able to add 2700K+1080 data to my site. I do have hundreds of Futuremark results, but not written pages for them yet.

 

[Santiak]

Yeah, those are pretty low voltages really, not even what I'd consider into oc territory much at all, and at stock speed you have nothing to worry about.

One thing though, a better cooler would certainly make a difference if long term temps, etc. are a concern, but atm everythings well within safe limits. That Arctic ok for basic stuff and a typical safe oc, but it's not something I'd use to run a 2600K at the sort of speed that any 2600K should be able to handle with the right cooling, ie. 4.7 to 4.8. I keep going over 2700Ks instead because the sampling improved a bit and the extra headroom means every single one I've bought (seven so far) has handled 5.0 with ease, even just a decent air cooler (TRUE). I use H80s though to enable the use of quiet fans, eg. here's one of my systems:

http://www.overclock.net/lists/display/view/id/2415471

With the latest GPUs, a stock 2600K might pose a hinderance in some games and scenarios, but not in general, it's still pretty decent, and there's certainly good potential to offset any bottleneck with a reasonable oc, even if you kept to something very safe like 4.5.

When I built a gaming PC for a friend recently, there was much pondering of Skylake, but the CPU/mbd/RAM cost led us to decide on 2700K setup instead, again at 5GHz (it's the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme which makes this consistent behaviour possible, such a good board), and the cost saving allowed the purchase of a 980 Ti instead of just a 980, which means better gaming performance anyway since the real bottleneck is always the GPU (except for weirdly coded games like X3TC and FSX). Here are 3DMark11/Firestrike/Extreme/Ultra results (feel free to use as a comparison for your future upgrade ponderings):

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11182410
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11182604
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/8231433
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/8231367
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/8231593

More data including CPU tests on my site here, and the OCN M4E club thread has a BIOS settings summary for my system if you ever decide to oc your CPU. My main reference was Miahallen's excellent oc'ing guide (his general intro site is here).

And when you are oc'ing, here's a good BSOD list for the inevitable bluescreens as one tests for stability.

Ian.

PS. Just so I have a complete picture, what mbd, GPU, RAM and PSU are you using?

PPS. I'll likely get a 1080 so I can upgrade to 1440p, thus in the next coupla months I should be able to add 2700K+1080 data to my site. I do have hundreds of Futuremark results, but not written pages for them yet.

Cheers for the walk-through.
As mentioned, I havent even attempted OC'ing anything, everything's at stock values and running fine (if we disregard my own paranoia regarding temperatures). 😉

Yeah, the few times I had pondered even attempting OC'ing my CPU, the target I would go for was always ~4.4, but not sure I'll start venturing into OC'ing until absolutely necessary (or beneficial) - and as you (and others) have pointed out, the 2600k at stock speeds bottlenecking performance is the exception still, rather than the norm.

As for my specs, odd you should mention:

Mobo: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme 😉
PSU: Corsair rm850i
GPU: GTX 690
RAM: Corsair 8GB DDR3 1600MHz

And just the more general bits and bobs:
Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
Fans: Noctua NF-A14 (140mm) x 2, Noctua Fan NF-S12A PWM x 1
Drive: Samsung 840 EVO SSD - 1TB

So I reckon I could OC the CPU somewhat safely, but at the moment, the risk/reward ratio is just a tad bit too small for me, when taking into account that it'd be the very first time I try my hand at it, and the aforementioned exception rather than norm of the CPU bottlenecking anything -- in addition to having been paranoid about temperatures for the past 6 months to varying degrees for no real reason, so I'd rather just have peace of mind for a bit, before jumping into OC'ing. Hopefully by the time I'm not-as-paranoid, it'd be time to OC anyway. 😉

Edit:
Just played a bit of FO4, and my CPU had a peak of 65°C, but seemed stable at ~50°C for most of the session. Normal for it to have occasional 'hiccups' like that?
Not as warm in the room as it was the last time it went up to 65; and thus far the max it had gone in FO4 was 60.
*gets a broom and jabs at encroaching paranoia*

 

[mapesdhs]

Hehe, that's ironic, same mbd. 😀 That's easily the best board for oc'ing SandyBridge. 4.4 for a 2600K is TBH what I would call a boring oc. 😉

There are certainly modern gaming scenarios where a stock 2600K will hold things back a bit, but the gap isn't so serious that spending a lot on a complete platform switch would really make that much of a difference, not compared to simply replacing the GPU with a 1070 or something.

Plus, you have a lot of scope for improving the RAM, which does help these days I find. The M4E will easily handle 16GB @ 2133, that's what I use.

But I can well understand the peace of mind angle. I guess I've gotten so used to the M4E with 2700Ks, now it feels like no more stressful than flipping a light switch in order to set 5GHz. 😀

Assuming you have your BIOS up to date, I can send you some screendumps in the future if you should ever want any reference settings.

Btw, if you've started encountering the proverbial NEC USB3 port dropout problem (often happens with M4Es), there's an NEC firmware update available which seems to fix it ok, I've done it on several M4Es now. PM me for more info if you're interested.

Oh, watchout for any speed degradation with your 840 EVO, it can suffer from the ageing data problem. I sidestepped that, managed to get an 850 Pro 256GB for a decent sum. 😀

Ian.

 

[Santiak]

Hehe, cheers for all the help - much appreciated. ^^

Aye, did have that USB dropout problem, but think I managed to fix it a while back - hasn't reared its head for quite a while now, can't quite recall if it was a firmware update or just a driver update that solved it, but so far so good.

Indeed, RAM are next on the "to-do" list, just a matter of prioritizing it one day - but haven't felt the effect of it that much yet, either.

And aye, have been somewhat careful with my SSD, being sure to set up the system so slim to none needless data is written to it, as well as all the usual SSD optimization settings. Think it's a bit over 1½ years old now (can't be bothered to check my order list for the exact date ;P), and still doing fine, I'd say.

As for the CPU bottlenecking, I wager that with my current list of games to play, it wouldn't be that much of an issue, really, and if it does turn into an issue for games down the road, I'd hope that by then I'd have the guts to try OC'ing a bit - if it turns into an unbearable bottleneck issue. 😉

On a slight aside, just played a bit of FO4 with HWMonitor running - noticed my CPU jumped to 65°C at some point, but usually when checking it was hovering around ~50-55°C. Same for the GTX 690, usually at 75/72°C, peak 89/86°C. Bit higher than what I've previously seen in FO4 - although that wasn't in Far Harbor, either - and today isn't awfully hot out (still sitting in shorts and t-shirt, though).
Normal for the CPU to have those kind of hiccups?

Just for reference, here's the results for my setup after ~1½ hours of FO4, anything look outside of the ordinary?
http://i.imgur.com/hIkAWxt.jpg

Edit: The GPU is reference design, so blow-exhaust - still going strong, but as expected, it's a proverbial thermo-nuclear reactor in terms of heat generation.

 

[mapesdhs]

Santiak writes:
> Hehe, cheers for all the help - much appreciated. ^^

Most welcome!!


> ... can't quite recall if it was a firmware update or just a driver update that solved it, but so far so good.

Could well be that certain combinations of older fw/drivers reduce the issue somewhat. For reference, here's the main ASUS forum page about it:

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?35659-Flashing-NEC-RENESAS-USB-3-0-uPD720200A-firmware


> Indeed, RAM are next on the "to-do" list, just a matter of prioritizing it one day - but haven't
> felt the effect of it that much yet, either.

Probably not something that would be quite so relevant unless you moved up to higher resolutions, a newer GPU, oc'd CPU, etc., but at least DDR3 is now cheap, especially used (I've bagged numerous GSkill 2133/2400 kits, which I go for because GSkill has lifetime transferrable warranties, and they work extremely well).


> bothered to check my order list for the exact date ;P), and still doing fine, I'd say.

Easy to tell if it's experiencing the degradation issue, just run the normal HDTach read test. Performance loss in the flash will show up as strong dips in speed, right down to below rust spinner levels.


> OC'ing a bit - if it turns into an unbearable bottleneck issue. 😉

Yup, and easy to keep an eye on, you can always run RealTemp or something while a game is playing, and Afterburner, log CPU/GPU usage, see what's happening.


> Normal for the CPU to have those kind of hiccups?

What's the ambient air temp? Hmm, it might be worth redoing the thermal paste under the heatsink. It can dry out after a while.


> http://i.imgur.com/hIkAWxt.jpg

Within limits, but I wonder if the 590 is dumping a lot of heat inside the case? That might be affecting the CPU cooling.


> Edit: The GPU is reference design, so blow-exhaust ...

Do you mean it's not dumping any heat internally?

Ian.

 

[Santiak]

Might be worth noting that I haven't played anywhere but in the new "Far Harbor" DLC, which has loads of fog and god-lighting effects, and others have reported performance drops, so that may be the reason why my CPU runs a bit hotter than normal.

As for ambient room temperature, I'm not sure, to be honest. Haven't got a thermostat, but my guess is 20+ or so? Comfortably wearing shorts and t-shirt, at any rate.

Aye, the GPU draws in air from inside the case and exhausts out the back of it ( http://goo.gl/n1Nclt ). For the same reason, I believe, the card runs notoriously hot, as the airflow only best covers one of the cores, leading to the slight disparity in temperature.

Regarding the CPU, would cracked thermal paste lead to occasional jumps but an otherwise low-ish stable temperature?
For example, when I alt-tab out to check temps, it's usually hovering around 55 - 58, but will show a maximum peak of 60 - 65. So possibly just some optimization issues with FO4 Far Harbor?

Although if (or when) I go for reapplying the thermal paste, I'll probably buy a replacement for the entire heatsink and swap it, just to avoid having to worry about that loose side-plate I mentioned earlier 😉
- Is the thermal paste that comes pre-applied on the heatsink good enough, you think? I did remove it with a q-tip/rubbing alcohol the first time around and applied my own, just so I knew what was there (nevermind the fact that I no longer remember what thermal paste I used back then ;P)

 

[Santiak]

Just did a Torture Test with Prime95 for a duration of 6 minutes.

No errors or warnings (unsurprisingly, perhaps).
Temperature climbed to an initial 50°C, steadily increasing slower and slower up to 62, where it seemed to stabilize for the last 3 minutes of the test (only one or two quick dips into 63°C).
I assume that if the thermal paste was iffy due to age that the temperature would be much higher, or?


Edit:
Did a re-test for a bit longer to see what the max temps would be.
Ran it for ~25 minutes on Blend, max temp it reached was 65-70°C, depending on the cycle (i assume?).
Anything to be worried about, you think?

Edit 2:
And a test at 8k for 10 minutes, max it reached was dipping into 74, stable at 73.

Blasted paranoia creeping back :|

 

[mapesdhs]

Santiak writes:
> Might be worth noting that I haven't played anywhere but in the new "Far Harbor" DLC, ...

Alas I couldn't comment on that, I'm not familiar with FO4's performance profile.


> As for ambient room temperature, I'm not sure, to be honest. Haven't got a thermostat,
> but my guess is 20+ or so? Comfortably wearing shorts and t-shirt, at any rate.

That's pretty low really.


> Aye, the GPU draws in air from inside the case and exhausts out the back of it ...

I'm not so sure about that. Isn't half the air exhausted at the other end instead?


> Regarding the CPU, would cracked thermal paste lead to occasional jumps but an
> otherwise low-ish stable temperature?

Yes, it could well do. I'd say it's certainly worth redoing the paste.


> For example, when I alt-tab out to check temps, it's usually hovering around 55 - 58,

Is this when the system is under load?


> - Is the thermal paste that comes pre-applied on the heatsink good enough, you think? ...

That probably depends on the heatsink, but I usually just replace everything with AS5 for consistency.


> I assume that if the thermal paste was iffy due to age that the temperature would be much higher, or?

Yes.


> Anything to be worried about, you think?

Not really. Even though one might say the temps could be regarded as kinda highish for a stock clock
and aftermarket cooler, they're still within limits, but I'd suggest replacing the thermal paste anyway
for peace of mind.

Ian.

 

[Santiak]

Santiak writes:
> Might be worth noting that I haven't played anywhere but in the new "Far Harbor" DLC, ...

Alas I couldn't comment on that, I'm not familiar with FO4's performance profile.


> As for ambient room temperature, I'm not sure, to be honest. Haven't got a thermostat,
> but my guess is 20+ or so? Comfortably wearing shorts and t-shirt, at any rate.

That's pretty low really.


> Aye, the GPU draws in air from inside the case and exhausts out the back of it ...

I'm not so sure about that. Isn't half the air exhausted at the other end instead?


> Regarding the CPU, would cracked thermal paste lead to occasional jumps but an
> otherwise low-ish stable temperature?

Yes, it could well do. I'd say it's certainly worth redoing the paste.


> For example, when I alt-tab out to check temps, it's usually hovering around 55 - 58,

Is this when the system is under load?


> - Is the thermal paste that comes pre-applied on the heatsink good enough, you think? ...

That probably depends on the heatsink, but I usually just replace everything with AS5 for consistency.


> I assume that if the thermal paste was iffy due to age that the temperature would be much higher, or?

Yes.


> Anything to be worried about, you think?

Not really. Even though one might say the temps could be regarded as kinda highish for a stock clock
and aftermarket cooler, they're still within limits, but I'd suggest replacing the thermal paste anyway
for peace of mind.

Ian.

Right-o, cheers for all the advice again.

I'll give it some thought. ^^

On one hand, as my current CPU cooler is jury-rigged with strips as the side-panel fell out some months ago (fix was approved by Arctic and temperatures were unaffected), I'd want to replace it at the same time.
On the other, the cooler wouldn't be forward compatible with later mobo/cpu sockets, from what I understand, and seeing as I somehow managed to squeeze the Extended ATX into an case designed for an ATX motherboard, I'd have to dismantle the entire rig to mount the backplates for a new, forward-compatible cooler.

So it's a coin-toss between letting things be as they are with okay-ish temperatures and save up to upgrade the remaining old parts from my 5-year old build, which would need a new CPU and MOBO anyway.
Or either replace just the CPU cooler's heatsink with a new one of the same model, or pick apart the rig and reassemble it using a different CPU cooler.

In any case, it's a bit cooler today, and I can see both the GPU and CPU are idling at 35 as opposed to 37, so I guess it is just the warmer weather playing games with my paranoia - so I think I'll wait it out a bit and perhaps save up enough to upgrade all the remaining parts.
... and make sure to get the same dimension MB and computer case next time. -_-

Anyway, again, thank you tons - I feel so silly asking all these questions that I'm partly aware are really basic stuff that I should (and sometimes do, I suppose) know the answer to, but paranoia intervenes.
It's always great to come across people as helpful and patient as you! - fortunately it seems to be the norm rather than the exception around these forums. 😉

*wipes the brown from his nose*
Thanks again.

 

[mapesdhs]

Santiak writes:
> Right-o, cheers for all the advice again.

Anytime!


> ... I'd want to replace it at the same time.

If your case is big enough, I have a monster Phanteks PH-TC14PE cooler I'd be happy to sell cheap (PM for details), I never used it because I switched to water AIOs. It's basically the same as the powerful Noctua NH-D1, has three 140mm fans, fits fine on an M4E (gotta love the PCIe spacing on that board). My M4E used to have one before I switched to an H80. Or for uber cheapness I have a couple of used units.

An H80 would be better of course, but a fair bit more expensive new, unless you can bag a used unit like I've often done, or refurb units (Scan keeps selling them), though TBH I always replace the stock Corsair fans with better NDS PWMs (just as good but less noise).


> On the other, the cooler wouldn't be forward compatible with later mobo/cpu sockets, ...

Not sure what other sockets that cooler would support.


> ... I'd have to dismantle the entire rig to mount the backplates for a new, forward-compatible cooler.

True, you'd likely have to get the mbd out to fit a new cooler.

S'funny, despite being an EATX board, I had few problems fitting an M4E into an Antec 300, a pretty standard ATX case.


> So it's a coin-toss between letting things be as they are with okay-ish temperatures
> and save up to upgrade the remaining old parts from my 5-year old build, which
> would need a new CPU and MOBO anyway.

Well, you can certainly redo the thermal paste at a minimum, which is probably wise. As to whether you really need to switch platforms, I'd say probably not unless you were really going to jump right up the scale in targeted performance required for whatever resolution/detail you were going for. Here's an example of what I mean by this...

Atm my main gaming PC is an ME4 with a 5GHz 2700K and a 1266MHz GTX 980, driving a 1920x1200 display:

http://www.overclock.net/lists/display/view/id/2415471
http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/misc/P1020773s.jpg

I built a 2nd system to drive my 48" HDTV but so far it's not yet in use as I need to build a custom console desk to go with it (a 6-core X79 system with the same model GTX 980):

http://www.overclock.net/lists/display/view/id/6211115
http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/misc/P1020351s.jpg

At some point hopefully this year, I plan on moving up to a 32" or somesuch 1440p or 4K monitor for the main gaming setup, for which I'll upgrade to a 1080 or 1080 Ti, but it occured to me it makes sense to match the newer card with the more poweful X79 setup, switching the 2700K system over to driving the HDTV (for which a 980 is plenty).

ie. keeping a balanced system is wise. What you have atm can easily handle two 980s for gaming (I've tested it), especially with a CPU oc to provide some future extra CPU performance, so all you'd really need to do to maintain the balance is upgrade the RAM to 2133 and that's pretty cheap these days (btw, you might find it's easier/cheaper to bag a 2400 kit, I've done it several times). The only other thing that a newer platform would offer is improved storage speed, especially via NVMe PCIe SSDs, but you already have something pretty decent (in theory; run that HDTach test!), so in reality I doubt you'd notice much of a difference between say an 850 Pro and your current 840 EVO.

Nice part about the M4E is it still has spare PCIe slots even with two GPUs. Something I intend testing soon is whether it's possible to use PCIe SSDs with an M4E as a bootable device, like the 950 Pro (adapter PCIe cards are cheap); if so, then the potential usefulness of the M4E is again lengthened.


> Or either replace just the CPU cooler's heatsink with a new one of the same model,
> or pick apart the rig and reassemble it using a different CPU cooler.

At a minimum I'd just initially try replacing the thermal paste (don't think I'd bother buying another cooler of the same model); if you want to go beyond that, the effort of fitting a better cooler, via taking the case apart, is sensible.


> In any case, it's a bit cooler today, and I can see both the GPU and CPU are idling at 35 as
> opposed to 37, so I guess it is just the warmer weather playing games with my paranoia ...

It does make a big difference.


> - so I think I'll wait it out a bit and perhaps save up enough to upgrade all the remaining parts.

What other parts would you want to change? Still plenty of life left in your current CPU/mbd IMO.


> Anyway, again, thank you tons - I feel so silly asking all these questions that I'm partly
> aware are really basic stuff that I should (and sometimes do, I suppose) know the
> answer to, but paranoia intervenes.

Hehe, not at all! I remember how careful I was when first doing oc'ing, I read the entire OCN i7 oc thread before I did anything! 😀 (hundreds of posts)


> It's always great to come across people as helpful and patient as you! - fortunately
> it seems to be the norm rather than the exception around these forums. 😉

Thanks! Yep, toms is pretty good, lots of decent folks here, and on most other sites aswell really.

Ian.

 

[Santiak]

Hehe, thanks for the offer, but I imagine shipping would be an issue - I live in little ol' Denmark.

I don't really expect to jump up in intended performance, still using good ol' 1080p, a monitor to support 1440p would have to come later still.
I do like being able to play at highest possible settings, and as mentioned my GTX 690 is starting to struggle in those regards (and get hotter than it used to while doing so - not that it's outside the normal ranges for that reference design) - I'm amazed it can run FO4 at Ultra with tweaked Shadow draw distance and God rays at a somewhat steady 60FPS at all. ;P

Reason I'd want to replace the whole heatsink is, as mentioned, because of the jury-rig repair I had to do some while back. It's holding up fine, but I have to check it every so often as there's still a bit of freedom for the bottom panel to move, causing the fan inside to shift ever so slightly - although most likely nonconsequential; shifts about 0.5mm up or down, or at least the panel does, no rattling or scraping or any such sign that the fan blades are hitting the heatsink sheets.
Took the liberty of taking a picture of my setup for you:
http://imgur.com/a/4zNah

On the close-up of the heatsink, it's the bottom side-panel of the heatsink tower where the glue's given way, causing it to drop if it isn't supported. There are some spines that slot in between the sheets, but it only holds it for so long (tried it after it first fell off - held for ~a day before giving me a start during D3 when it fell off again. 😛
As you can (possibly) make out as well, the MB is slightly oversized, meaning the hole on the backend of the case doesn't overlap with the CPU socket, so I'd have to remove the entire MB (and case fans and PSU to get it edged out comfortably). Had it just been a case (no pun intended) of removing the right-side panel of my case and attach a new CPU cooler's mount, I'd have no problem with it.

A replacement unit would "only" be 28£ / 37€ / 41$, give or take, so it's not the most expensive replacement to invest in, and it would look neater to boot. Upgrading to a new cooler would - for my intended use at this point - just be a tad bit too time consuming, I feel.

In the end, replacing the current cooler with an identical but new unit would be another leg in the "peace of mind" race; know it can keep it cool, that no bits are falling off, etc.
Taking out all components to fit a new cooler (and possibly having to do it again and again in the future until I move to a new case, or new MB), would mean weeks of obsessing about whether I reassembled everything correctly. ;P


At worst, I'll wait and see how the temperature situation evolves. My gut is telling me it's the climate more than aged thermal paste.
- as you (and tech support at my usual hardware dealer) have pointed out, temperatures aren't anything one would expect a klaxon going off over, just a tad high (during specific Prime95 heat testing), mid-high during intensive normal use.

At best, I think I'll settle for a new Arctic Freezer Xtreme 2.Rev and replace the current unit when I do change the thermal paste.
- it's fallen substantially in price, it seems, and I wouldn't have to dismantle the entire rig - nor worry if I reassemble it correctly again - and things would look neater again than the DIY job I've got going at the moment (although, that does have its charms, I suppose 😉)

 

[mapesdhs]

Santiak writes:
> Hehe, thanks for the offer, but I imagine shipping would be an issue - I live in little ol' Denmark.

Whoops! I'm getting my discussion threads mixed up. 😀 I thought you were in the UK (different
thread I'm replying to atm)

Just for reference, shipping to Denmark would be 15 UKP via UPS (actually quite good rates when using courier broker services like interparcel.com and parcel2go.com).


> I don't really expect to jump up in intended performance, still using good ol' 1080p,
> a monitor to support 1440p would have to come later still.

In that case, anything above a 980 Ti is probably overkill atm, though the 1080 will
replace the 980 Ti at the same price level shortly anyway.


> I do like being able to play at highest possible settings, and as mentioned my
> GTX 690 is starting to struggle in those regards (and get hotter than it used to ...

Checking a couple of 690 reviews:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-690-benchmark,3193.html

and comparing to some of my own results:

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3206800
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/2556610
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3166508

I reckon a single GTX 980 would be about 25+% faster than your 690, depending on the game, resolution, etc. FO4 uses the same engine as Skyrim I believe, which isn't particularly heavy.

Three final data points, a 5GHz 2700K with a 980 Ti, and the same CPU with two and then three 980s (showing that such GPU power is perfectly viable on an M4E):

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/8231433
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4011974
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4024488

Infact, there's a lot of FUD posted about GPU scaling on older mbds. Here, for example, is three 980s on my ASUS P55 board with a 4.3GHz i7 870 (the fastest P55 on Futuremark atm):

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4099529

The same three 980s with a 5GHz 2700K are not that much faster than the P55 (10% for Gfx Test 1, almost identical for Gfx test 2):

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/fs/4099529/fs/4024488


> Took the liberty of taking a picture of my setup for you:

Ah, now I think I understand the temps. That cooler only has 4 heatpipes and, am I right, just one fan? All the air coolers I've used have had 6 heatpipes, with 2 or 3 fans. Bit of a difference.

With a water AIO though, things are a bit tidier (this is my X79 build, but the M4E setup looks basically identical):

http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/misc/P1020336s.jpg


> after it first fell off - held for ~a day before giving me a start during D3 when it fell off again. 😛

Oops!


> ... so I'd have to remove the entire MB (and case fans and PSU to get it edged out comfortably). ...

Heh, good experience though. 😉


> A replacement unit would "only" be 28£ / 37€ / 41$, give or take, so it's not the most expensive
> replacement to invest in, and it would look neater to boot. Upgrading to a new cooler would - for
> my intended use at this point - just be a tad bit too time consuming, I feel.

As long as you don't oc the CPU much, you'd be fine with the same model.


> - it's fallen substantially in price, it seems,

They all do in time, early adopters and the usual slow scaling of margins, competition, etc.


> again than the DIY job I've got going at the moment (although, that does have its charms, I suppose 😉)

Well, whatever you decide to do, your platform still has some decent headroom, that's for sure.

Ian.