x6800 and Zalman9700

[blitzer]

I currently have a x6800 with a Zalman9700 in my antec900 case.

I was wondering if anything with a similar C2D setup has an idea of what kind of temps my CPU should be running at. I am currently not OCed as I been trying to get my temps down.

The room my PC is in is pretty hot, I am moving it out soon, but I am sure that is not helping.

However I am currently getting 40C idle on CoreTemp/TAT.

Seems a bit high, what should I be expecting?

Thanks

 

[blitzer]

I went in and reworked the flow of my case, and made sure the heatsink was on well.

There are a number of factors I am thinking about that could influence and am looking for input on just how much of a difference these can make...

- Ambient Room Temperature

- Letting the computer run for few days to let Thermal Paste set in (according to Zalmans manual)

- Fanmate 2 I installed, I have it running on "normal" (2800 RPM), but should I just connect it directly and skip the fanmate?

Are there any other factors I should look at? And of those 3 I listed how much should each affect the temp? Or is 40C ok?

 

[twolfe18]

i think the one factor you are missing, and quite possibly the most important factor, is airflow through your case.

if you have at least one intake and one output fan and you keep them running, it will make a huge difference. if you have extra holes and no fans in them, ADD FANS.

you can measure how effective your airflow is by doing a simple test. load up your cpu for like 20 mins or so (using something like prime95 or rthdribl) and see what temperature it levels off at. then, take the side off your case while your cpu is still at load, and then measure the temperature. if the difference between these temperatures is more than 2 or 3 degrees c, then you have poor airflow.