- Jun 25, 2016
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Hi there. (Apologies in advance for the level of detail I'm sharing -- I'm not used to this!) I've had an Intel Dual Core E6600 CPU since April 2007 -- which I've always used with the stock heatsink it came with. Purchased it new in box. Never overclocked it (overclocking baffles me anyway). For nearly 9 years, I've been content with it. When my ASUS P5K motherboard died after a few years, I transferred the E6600 to its replacement which I'm still using now -- a smaller MSI G31TM-P21 motherboard, which cost 75% less but has served well for twice as long as the P5K.
Now about two months ago video stutter -- in games and video, online and offline -- suddenly started happening out of nowhere. The mouse arrow would freeze, then become unstuck. Video would stutter terribly in YouTube -- like catching on the beginning of a word, so instead of "And then..." you'd hear "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" haha. MP4 videos that played fine before offline were stuttering quite badly too -- especially 60 FPS videos. BSOD crashes were happening. It grew worse and worse and worse.
What could it be? My first thought was the GPU (video card). Discovered that my GPU -- an EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB, which I had also purchased new in box in April 2007 -- was badly overheating in a way it shouldn't. It was just old and dirty -- even after cleaning it as best I could -- and honestly worn out, after 9 faithful years of continuous service. So I went online and was able to find an EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB (somewhat better specs!) that had barely been used at all, had never been overclocked and was practically as clean as new-in-box. The old one was hitting 87c! New GPU usually runs between 61c and 64c -- sometimes as low as 58c, or as high as 68c, depending on ambient room temperature. (I'm certain it can be lowered more if I buy a little room fan to point directly at it. Should add that my PC case -- a black Antec Sonata III 500 case -- is laying on its side with the door off. Open air, as it were. I have pretty excellent air conditioning in my apartment too but in the summer, especially during pre-sunset hours, the room's ambient temperature rises.)
Anyway -- replacing the old GPU was definitely necessary, no matter what. But my aforementioned problems persisted. Boo-urns! Then I noticed one of my old 1GB DDR2 RAM sticks had died. That could explain it, surely! (My MSI G31TM-P21 mobo has only two RAM slots btw.) Got rid of the 1GB sticks and replaced them with brand-new 2GB DDR2 RAM sticks, fresh from my favourite PC shop.
imgur.com/7raOHMD
The new ones work fine. But the problems persisted.
Then I started looking at the CPU. It was spiking to 100% usage -- a lot -- even when doing perfectly ordinary, small things that are not CPU-intensive tasks at all. Temperature readings showed it was running way, way too hot. Even after I gave the stock heatsink something of a clean (which helped), simply opening Chrome (!!) or scrolling through tweets in Twitter would send the CPU skyrocketing from 37c to 80c in eight seconds flat. Below is a photograph of my old CPU:
imgur.com/UhVXCoL
So aye. Seems (visually) evident that I need a new one! Bear in mind, the old one still technically works -- but it can no longer do what it used to do. And how long will its remaining abilities last? Not something I want to live with. Odd thing is, it's running remarkably cool since I cleaned the heatsink -- 37c idle, which is amazing given I have no fancy cooling shite haha. I'm using it as we speak to write this post. But it can no longer handle 60 FPS video at all, or even regular 360p YouTube video the way it did with absolute ease for nearly 9 years. And the massive temperature spikes over simple things like scrolling tweets are still happening. My feeling is that 9 years of wear & tear and/or intense periods of overheating have subtly or partially damaged the CPU somehow. Irreversibly. Though the heatsink itself seems fine.
So after researching, seeing what was available and from whom, and factoring budget into it all, I found an Intel dual-core E8500 that had never been used. That's as brand-new as new gets for this particular CPU in 2016! The specs are considerably better than my old E6600 too. So I bought it. It's here now (not installed yet), and came with a new, unused Intel stock heatsink for the E8500.
Here's the thing. The stock cooler for the E8500 looks puny. It's half the height of the E6600's stock cooler. No copper plate either. Intel says "don't worry, the E8500 runs cooler anyway so you don't need as good a heatsink". I'm no expert but I'd rather err on the side of too much cooling than not enough.
Now my plan until now has been to wait until June 31st when I can go buy some Arctic Silver 5 -- and some 99% isopropyl alcohol, to clean off the pre-applied thermal material from the E8500's stock heatsink. From what I've read, when an unused heatsink sits in storage for years and years, the thermal material Intel pre-applied to it doesn't age well -- and the material will not be anywhere near as conductive as it should be. Intel put it on there in 2008. Took a pic of it for you.
imgur.com/wm0XUIM
So aye, I feel more comfortable removing the unused-but-really-old thermal material and applying new Arctic Silver 5. Especially since Arctic Silver 5 sounds quite ace, when applied sparingly and properly. I just want to make sure that whatever I do, I don't fry my new E8500 CPU because of laziness or not spending an extra few bucks. This thing needs to last, haha.
So aye. This was my plan. Now I'm not so sure. And at last we reach my questions ♥
1) Should I use the stock E8500 heatsink with my new E8500 CPU? Am I unfairly judging it for being smaller and lacking the copper plate? It is new...
2) Would I be better off using my older E6600 stock heatsink with the E8500 CPU (after cleaning old paste off with 99% isopropyl alcohol and carefully applying fresh Arctic Silver 5) -- and is that even possible?
3) Can you recommend some better heatsinks that will work well with my E8500 CPU and will also fit nicely on my MSI G31TM-P21 motherboard? Doesn't hurt to have more information and choices before I decide. Bear in mind I'd need to be able to buy it in person, in Toronto, at either Canada Computers or PC Village or Best Buy. Ordering through the mail is not an option until August (long story, lol) and I'd like to deal with this sooner.
Additional information, in case it's useful somehow: my monitor is an NEC MultiSync 90GX2. I'm running Windows XP SP2 on a recently purchased 1TB Western Digital hard drive (model number WDBH2D0010HNC-NRSN). Motherboard as you know is an MSI G31TM-P21. Power supply is a generic 500W one. Case: Antec Sonata III 500. My GPU: EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB. RAM: two 2GB DDR2 sticks (though XP SP2 can only 'see' 3.25 GB of this 4GB, which I believe has something to do with my XP being 32-bit, not 64-bit). And you know I just bought a new Intel dual core E8500 CPU, which hasn't been installed yet. Current temperatures too, if that helps:
imgur.com/inTB9gB
Long story short: just want to make sure I don't half-ass the cooling on the new CPU through unintended laziness or an attempt to save a few dollars. This new baby's gotta last a while and I want to do it right. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and replies!
*hugs* ♥ ^ _ ^ ♥
Now about two months ago video stutter -- in games and video, online and offline -- suddenly started happening out of nowhere. The mouse arrow would freeze, then become unstuck. Video would stutter terribly in YouTube -- like catching on the beginning of a word, so instead of "And then..." you'd hear "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" haha. MP4 videos that played fine before offline were stuttering quite badly too -- especially 60 FPS videos. BSOD crashes were happening. It grew worse and worse and worse.
What could it be? My first thought was the GPU (video card). Discovered that my GPU -- an EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB, which I had also purchased new in box in April 2007 -- was badly overheating in a way it shouldn't. It was just old and dirty -- even after cleaning it as best I could -- and honestly worn out, after 9 faithful years of continuous service. So I went online and was able to find an EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB (somewhat better specs!) that had barely been used at all, had never been overclocked and was practically as clean as new-in-box. The old one was hitting 87c! New GPU usually runs between 61c and 64c -- sometimes as low as 58c, or as high as 68c, depending on ambient room temperature. (I'm certain it can be lowered more if I buy a little room fan to point directly at it. Should add that my PC case -- a black Antec Sonata III 500 case -- is laying on its side with the door off. Open air, as it were. I have pretty excellent air conditioning in my apartment too but in the summer, especially during pre-sunset hours, the room's ambient temperature rises.)
Anyway -- replacing the old GPU was definitely necessary, no matter what. But my aforementioned problems persisted. Boo-urns! Then I noticed one of my old 1GB DDR2 RAM sticks had died. That could explain it, surely! (My MSI G31TM-P21 mobo has only two RAM slots btw.) Got rid of the 1GB sticks and replaced them with brand-new 2GB DDR2 RAM sticks, fresh from my favourite PC shop.
imgur.com/7raOHMD
The new ones work fine. But the problems persisted.
Then I started looking at the CPU. It was spiking to 100% usage -- a lot -- even when doing perfectly ordinary, small things that are not CPU-intensive tasks at all. Temperature readings showed it was running way, way too hot. Even after I gave the stock heatsink something of a clean (which helped), simply opening Chrome (!!) or scrolling through tweets in Twitter would send the CPU skyrocketing from 37c to 80c in eight seconds flat. Below is a photograph of my old CPU:
imgur.com/UhVXCoL
So aye. Seems (visually) evident that I need a new one! Bear in mind, the old one still technically works -- but it can no longer do what it used to do. And how long will its remaining abilities last? Not something I want to live with. Odd thing is, it's running remarkably cool since I cleaned the heatsink -- 37c idle, which is amazing given I have no fancy cooling shite haha. I'm using it as we speak to write this post. But it can no longer handle 60 FPS video at all, or even regular 360p YouTube video the way it did with absolute ease for nearly 9 years. And the massive temperature spikes over simple things like scrolling tweets are still happening. My feeling is that 9 years of wear & tear and/or intense periods of overheating have subtly or partially damaged the CPU somehow. Irreversibly. Though the heatsink itself seems fine.
So after researching, seeing what was available and from whom, and factoring budget into it all, I found an Intel dual-core E8500 that had never been used. That's as brand-new as new gets for this particular CPU in 2016! The specs are considerably better than my old E6600 too. So I bought it. It's here now (not installed yet), and came with a new, unused Intel stock heatsink for the E8500.
Here's the thing. The stock cooler for the E8500 looks puny. It's half the height of the E6600's stock cooler. No copper plate either. Intel says "don't worry, the E8500 runs cooler anyway so you don't need as good a heatsink". I'm no expert but I'd rather err on the side of too much cooling than not enough.
Now my plan until now has been to wait until June 31st when I can go buy some Arctic Silver 5 -- and some 99% isopropyl alcohol, to clean off the pre-applied thermal material from the E8500's stock heatsink. From what I've read, when an unused heatsink sits in storage for years and years, the thermal material Intel pre-applied to it doesn't age well -- and the material will not be anywhere near as conductive as it should be. Intel put it on there in 2008. Took a pic of it for you.
imgur.com/wm0XUIM
So aye, I feel more comfortable removing the unused-but-really-old thermal material and applying new Arctic Silver 5. Especially since Arctic Silver 5 sounds quite ace, when applied sparingly and properly. I just want to make sure that whatever I do, I don't fry my new E8500 CPU because of laziness or not spending an extra few bucks. This thing needs to last, haha.
So aye. This was my plan. Now I'm not so sure. And at last we reach my questions ♥
1) Should I use the stock E8500 heatsink with my new E8500 CPU? Am I unfairly judging it for being smaller and lacking the copper plate? It is new...
2) Would I be better off using my older E6600 stock heatsink with the E8500 CPU (after cleaning old paste off with 99% isopropyl alcohol and carefully applying fresh Arctic Silver 5) -- and is that even possible?
3) Can you recommend some better heatsinks that will work well with my E8500 CPU and will also fit nicely on my MSI G31TM-P21 motherboard? Doesn't hurt to have more information and choices before I decide. Bear in mind I'd need to be able to buy it in person, in Toronto, at either Canada Computers or PC Village or Best Buy. Ordering through the mail is not an option until August (long story, lol) and I'd like to deal with this sooner.
Additional information, in case it's useful somehow: my monitor is an NEC MultiSync 90GX2. I'm running Windows XP SP2 on a recently purchased 1TB Western Digital hard drive (model number WDBH2D0010HNC-NRSN). Motherboard as you know is an MSI G31TM-P21. Power supply is a generic 500W one. Case: Antec Sonata III 500. My GPU: EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB. RAM: two 2GB DDR2 sticks (though XP SP2 can only 'see' 3.25 GB of this 4GB, which I believe has something to do with my XP being 32-bit, not 64-bit). And you know I just bought a new Intel dual core E8500 CPU, which hasn't been installed yet. Current temperatures too, if that helps:
imgur.com/inTB9gB
Long story short: just want to make sure I don't half-ass the cooling on the new CPU through unintended laziness or an attempt to save a few dollars. This new baby's gotta last a while and I want to do it right. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and replies!
*hugs* ♥ ^ _ ^ ♥
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