Is my H100 cooler working properly?

[gbmike]

I built this rig about 4 months ago. I7 2600k, corsair h100 cooler. At idle the cpu runs around 32-37c. While playing Diablo 3 I will stay around 45-50. When I play Battlefield 3 on the other hand it hangs around 65-75. I know it is an intensive game but I don't have my cpu overclocked. Fairly standard setup with turbo boost taking it to 3.8. When I am done running a game or application it will start dropping temp fairly quickly. Just with all the talk about people overclocking this to 4+ and keeping temps way below what I'm seeing, I'm a bit confused. I have used various programs to check temps as well, mainly hwmonitor and core temp. Any help you guys can provide would be awesome. I've been reading what seems like forever and finally decided to post.

 

[mcnumpty23]

look to see if your radiator has got clogged up with dust

 

[gbmike]

Went through it and everything is nice and clean. The system is 4 months old but I have had temps like this since I built it. The other thing i think is weird is that I can't run prime 95 for even a minute before I see temps I fear and shut it off.

 

[gbmike]

Also forgot to mention I have the h100 in push/pull config with 4 cougar fans. I have the storm enforcer case with 3 fans, 1 giant in front, 1 giant on top, and another cougar for exhaust out the back.

 

[mcnumpty23]

did you use the thermal paste that came with the heatsink or put your own on?

and did you tighten it down properly?

you tighten it in a x pattern--ie screw 1 then screw 3 then screw 2 and screw 4

 

[gbmike]

I replaced the oem stuff with Arctic Silver 5. And I did tighten i correctly alternating like that. I am wondering though, could I see such awful temps if I applied too much thermal paste? I know it can have an effect but enough to the point where I can't run prime 95 or overclock?

 

[mcnumpty23]

yeah if you go too overboard with the thermal paste it can do that

how much did you use?

 

[gbmike]

Enough to spread a thin layer across the entire CPU

 

[mcnumpty23]

heres the way to do it according to artic silver

just pick your cpu type from the list

http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html#

 

[Yanthrax]

i believe those temps are too high, i have a i5 2500k overclocked to 4.4ghz and my temp never went higher than 59°C with over 12 hours of prime 95.
i'm also using stock thermal paste.
I can't give any other suggestion than what's mentioned already though, maybe a bad sensor ?

 

[gbmike]

Thanks Mcnumpty for the link. I'll reapply thermal paste and give that a shot. And thanks Yanthrax as well, definitely nice to hear that I'm not crazy in thinking a stock chip shouldn't run that hot. I appreciate any other comments, as I will be off for a bit to take my machine apart and reapply paste.

 

[mcnumpty23]

heres a comparison

i am using a corsair h80 in a very well ventilated case--silverstone raven rv02

though i dont do prime95 as it puts an unrealistic load on your pc

so i prefer to test by running a load of applications at once

this is after just under 10 minutes of 70% cpu usage

http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z330/mcnumpty23/temps2.png

 

[gbmike]

Wow, that is definitely the spec sheet I want to see when I'm done I haven't run prime95 in quite some time, I was using Diablo 3 and Battlefield to ramp load.

 

[mcnumpty23]

obviously the ambient temperature where you are can have a bearing--i dont like heat so its only 15c in here

but you do have a bigger radiator with 4 fans compared to my 2

 

[gbmike]

Thanks again Mcnumpty. I pulled up the heatsink and was embarrassed to see that only half the heatsink was actually touching the chip (only half the paste was evident on the heatsink). I remounted it and came up with similar results. Finally had a friend tighten screws while I held it in place to ensure equal coverage. Finally it is working as it should, or at least a lot better, idle at 25c now before it even had time to cure. Just a heads up to anyone who gets a corsair water cooled heatsink, be very careful when putting the heatsink onto the chip, Although I followed the instructions to the T, it is easy to offset one side without knowing it.

 

[gbmike]

Best answer selected by gbmike.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey