Intel Core i7 920 massive heat issue

[SmAcKtArD]

Hey,

I have an i7 920 with antec 900 and akasa 967 heatsink. I also have extremely high temperatures with prime. It actually gets that hot the MOBO automatically compensates for the mass amount of heat and drops the 3.8GHz OC 920, to a x7.0 multiplier, (checked with CPU-Z) which finalises the core speed to 1350MHz and still runs at 91c after that! This happens instantly too, within seconds and the longer prime is ran for, the lower the multiplier becomes and the less load it can withstand.

On stock cpu speed, I also have a huge load temperature of 84c, the stock cpu cooler is way less than this, and this is one of the best heatsinks :/.

I have a couple of queries to the problem, however.

1. It is impossible to have the akasa-967 pointing towards the back in an antec 900 case WITH side fan, so instead, the fan is pointed upwards towards the 200mm fan above. The only problem I can see with this is the heatpipes won't be levelled up the same because its going across the chip sideways instead of up/down.

2. I used the thermal paste provided with the heatsink, spreaded onto the cpu with a plastic bag on my finger, so I am purchasing some artic silver 5 paste and re-sitting the cpu asap.

3. I haven't checked whether the cpu has any concavity yet, but I will and if it does, what is the solution to fixing it? (The heatsink 1366 pins are all 100% locked down).

4. I'm not sure with the position of the fan, I have tested the heatsink fan with some tissue paper and it seems to be acting as an intake fan, I'm not sure if this is a problem, as the big 200mm up top blows out and if the heatsink fan intakes, the big 200mm top fan won't be extracting the air from the heatsink fan directly. Although the fan HAS been put onto the heatsink correctly (with the fan sticker facing forwards) so I am not sure whether it is designed for intake?

Any help would be appreciated as I am extremely concerned that either I have a faulty CPU, or I have done something really wrong.

 

[scrumhalf]

The fact that the temp jumps that high instantly leads me to believe an issue with the heat transfer between the CPU and the Heatsink, therefor the thermal paste isn't doing its job properly. I would wait until you apply the Artic Silver before testing it again, you don't want to burn that CPU.

 

[SmAcKtArD]

Yea, the AS5 should be here tomorrow, so I will test again and give my results. Also, what would you suggest as the application for the AS5? Extremely thin lines on each heatpipe (3 heatpipes) or thinly spread onto the cpu?

 

[namelessted]

The problem lies in how you spread the thermal paste onto the CPU. Refer to Artic Silver's guide online on how to apply the thermal paste.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/ins_route_step2intelas5.html

If you just follow that guide you should be good. When you clean off the current thermal grease make sure you use some sort of rubbing alcohol to remove it well.

As the AS article will tell you, you just want to apply a thin line across the cores of the CPU, when you press down the heatsink you can give it a tiny little twist and then lock it into place. The pressure from the heatsink will spread the grease out properly.

Also note, you can use too much. be careful, if you put too much on it will make your cooling much worse than it can be.

I have heard the i7 can run fine at temps up to 88C when overclocked. Mine runs right around 70-71C when overclocked to 3.8GHz when on full load running Prime95.

 

[SmAcKtArD]

Yea, I will probably follow that guide as it is Artic silver instructions, and it sounds like the best method, thanks.

 

[Zorg]

Your problem is more than the TIM you used or how you spread it. It also has nothing to do with the HS orientation. The HS isn't contacting the CPU properly. Check for an obstruction and recheck the installation. If your HS has push pins instead of a backplate one of the pins isn't locking properly. If you can't find anything then get a backplate or a new HS with a backplate. Do not run it with temps that high.

 

[SmAcKtArD]

Hey,

I checked when I installed the heatsink that all the push pins were 100% in, fully locked and can be seen at the back of the motherboard. The only thing I didn't check was for heatsink/cpu concavity. In the meantime, I have dropped my clock speed to 1.5MHz to keep temperatures below 35c.

 

[megaFlop]

[quotemsg=3532507,4,201460]
I have heard the i7 can run fine at temps up to 88C when overclocked. Mine runs right around 70-71C when overclocked to 3.8GHz when on full load running Prime95.[/quotemsg]

Hi Ted,

Which cooler are you using and what is you Vcore e Vqpi?

I'm using a Cooler Master V8 and for a 3.8GHZ OC, 19x200, I have:

Vcore = 1.2875 v
VQPI = 1.3375 v

on an ASUS P6T Deluxe

On prime I'm getting maximum temps around 84ºC with ambient around 17ºC.
I I stress the CPU with LinX with more than 4GB of memory the max temp jumps to 88ºC!!!
Besides these high temps the OC seems to be very stable.


Thnx!

Paulo