Zalman cnps 9700nt @ 50c idle?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
P

pinoygamer

Distinguished
Apr 3, 2009
15
0
18,510
ok so I just bought a zalman cnps 9700nt, installed it, boot, then bam! I check coretemp and realtemp and its no different from my stock fan. It averages 52c @ idle and 62c @ load. I know that's on safe range but base on reviews I should get as low as 40c'ish. I re-applied the zalman thermal paste that comes with it to make sure its evenly spread and made sure that the 9700nt is seated properly and tightly but still no improvements. anyone has a similar cooler can provide any advise??

I also check the official site and it said that the thermal paste (
ZM-STG1) "after application, approximately 7 days of regular computer use will give optimal performance." so its that it?

specs:
intel core quad q9550 @ 2.83GHz
hd 4870x2
asus p5k se/epu
4gb DDR2 800MHz
zephyr 750W
lianli pc-7 plus

thanks.
 
Are you sure the thermal paste was applied correctly, how did you apply it? Also maybe wait to see if the situation improves, if not, you can try arctic silver 5, which is pretty good. Also check your fan speed.
 


I just made sure that its evenly spread although im not sure if I applied enough or I applied too much. Its my first time on applying thermal paste since it my time on using HSF.


the paper around it is my guide to make sure the fan is properly seated.
zalman.jpg

too much thermal paste?
 
Try leaving your side panel and place a small desk fan to blow into the motherboard. If that helps to lower your temps, then it's a sign that other components might be giving off high heat and heating up the fins on the Zalman cooler. What kind or air flow design to you have in the case? Does your PSU suck air away from the inside and blow outside to the rear. I found a PSU once that did the reverse.
 



oh ok I'll try that and yes my psu suck air away from the inside and blow outside the case
 
I'd tried what you suggested but it didn't help. My stock fan gives off the same temps as my 9700nt so if the airflow or other components is the factor for the high temps then my 9700nt should've given a lower temps since its way better than my stock fan IMO. What I did now is re-applied the thermal grease and this time I applied a thin coat and wait until next week if it will improved.

thanks for the replies. 😀
 
Try checking the temps from the BIOS. Try it when it first boots up and then restart after 30 minutes of gaming and check it again. The BIOS temps are usually more accurate than the software utilities. Did you manually adjust the TJ Max for your processor? Because that could skew your temps by as much as 10 - 15 C.
 
To be candid, no Zalman HSF is going to do good job at cooling a Q9550, IMO. OP, I'm sorry that you've had so much trouble, but no matter what you do with that Zalman, your temps aren't going to improve much. They're okay for C2D's but just not up to the assignment for a quad...again, IMO.

Save $40 bucks and when you can get a Xigmatek S1283, S1283, OCZ Vendetta2, Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer, or TRUE (if you don't mind lapping it). These are examples of the kinds of HSF's that are up to the task of the Intel quads.
 
I'm using a zalman CNPS9700 NT on my Q9550 and at idle I get around 26-30oC, and full load around 40oC, so mybe that paper you put around the socket is not letting the cooler make a solid contact with CPU, also I use MX5 thermal paste. So to sum up you should be getting cooler results than you are getting and the right Zalman cooler will work fine
 
I'm impressed Xiv, my experience has left me disappointed with the Zalman from a performance and price/performance standpoint. I'm glad yours is proving adequate.

Xiv, perhaps you can share with the OP how you applied your TIM.
 


wow 40c at load... oh btw the paper was just my guide, I removed it after I placed the 9700nt so it was never there when I turn on the comp and the paper didn't touch the hsf surface at all.

did you use both the zalman thermal grease and mx5 thermal paste? or just the mx5? the zalman thermal paste might the problem in my case.

is it safe if I try to not put any thermal grease in my 9700nt to see if the thermal grease is helping lower the temp at all?

thanks for the repllies 😀
 


ah ok thanks! Im gonna try running w/o thermal grease once i got home, if it didn't change temps then definitely its the thermal grease.

any of you guys can recommend me a good thermal grease 😀
 

I've got my E8400 at 3.8 Ghz with my friends Zalman 9500 which he was gonna toss. The differences in temps compared to my Sunbeam CCTF at full load was around 5 C, with a maximum temperature of 58C. Not too disappointing, although it did cut my hand up a lot 🙁
 

I've never tried this stuff, but I've heard a lot of good things from AC's MX-2. It has the same thermal conductivity as AS 5 with no cure time. Heres a link below.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020
 
I tried running w/o the thermal grease and it shoot up 10c higher :ouch:
so definitely the thermal grease helps reduce the temps. Now I'm back to figuring out what's wrong :pt1cable:
 

I found that putting a small amount of thermal paste (about a half grain of rice) and spreading it very thinly on the CPU with a credit card/razor blade works well.
 
Just remember that too much thermal compound is just as bad as not enough, most people suggest, a very small blob and spread thin works best for me, I use a clean plastic glue spreader to get a nice even thin covering.
 
Also I have everything in an antec 900 v2 case which has very good air flow, so this is helping my temps aswell
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom