Hey all. I got a Core 2 Quad Q6700 (95W TDP) for ($40) a few weeks ago, but the cooler I was using for the Core 2 Duo E6550 (65W TDP) I had wasn't cutting it. So I saw an ad for the Corsair H80 (factory refurbished) for $39 and found is has good reviews and bought one.
I'm having some problems though:
1) The backplate that goes behind the CPU is loose even when the screw in studs are tightened completely and they wobble about. The backplate is a universal type which can be made larger or smaller for different sockets. The threaded sleeves which go through the board slide in slots in the plate. There are washers of some kind holding the sleeves onto the plate and the move a little which is where the movement is coming from. The threaded studs don't stop the movement even when tightened all the way.
In spite of this I was still able to mount the block so I figured it was OK and went on. I tightened down the screws per the instruction in an X pattern. It seems OK and the screws are as tight as they can get without stripping the screw heads.
2) The copper block isn't making fully even contact on the top of the CPU.
I noticed the cores seem to be uneven in their temps from 60c down to 52c which seems a bit extreme. (This is using the CPUID HW Monitor program.) Each core seems to be about 1 degree lower, but the middle two have a 2 degree difference.
I checked the contact and found that only about 1/4 of the TIM that came with the unit was even partially melted and the rest was virtually undisturbed and looked new though it had been on the CPU for about an hour by then. I wiped off the stock TIM and applied some paste I got from Fry's and tried again. I also set some better fans in the case to improve airflow. Made a small difference, but still uneven temperatures showing in CPUID HW monitor and SpeedFan.
I swapped out my case since the temperatures were high within as well so I figured it might be part of the problem. It was an Alienware "Predator" case I got secondhand and didn't have all the fan brackets so I can't mount them. It was too hot inside anyway so I got a different case.
I swapped to an Antec case that has two front 120mm fans, a top fan >120mm(160 or 180mm?), and the fan from the H80. Also the PS goes on the bottom. The HDD is now at 34c max where it was idling at 45 and topping 50c before. The GPU is also cooler idling at 52c where before it was up to 65c at idle.
But the CPU is still showing uneven temperatures though they're a little lower.
It's down to 38c for core0, core1 30c, core2 35c, core3 29c.
Those are obviously quite extreme temperatures within the CPU.
What's strange is the CPUID HW monitor program shows different temps at the same time:
core0 49c, core1 40c,core2 46c,core3, 39c
What's up with that and which program is correct?
Am I getting dodgy readings from one or both?
I did send a question to corsair about the loose backplate of the H80 and have yet to hear from them.
So what do you think? Is the backplate and screws being wobbly the reason the block isn't evenly contacting the CPU? Is there anything I can do?
The idle temperatures seem OK, but what's alarming is the CPU is getting up to 70c or 80c when I play game or even when I was watching a short video clip. So that cooler is doing fine at idle but not working so well under load.
Henry Ramsey
I'm having some problems though:
1) The backplate that goes behind the CPU is loose even when the screw in studs are tightened completely and they wobble about. The backplate is a universal type which can be made larger or smaller for different sockets. The threaded sleeves which go through the board slide in slots in the plate. There are washers of some kind holding the sleeves onto the plate and the move a little which is where the movement is coming from. The threaded studs don't stop the movement even when tightened all the way.
In spite of this I was still able to mount the block so I figured it was OK and went on. I tightened down the screws per the instruction in an X pattern. It seems OK and the screws are as tight as they can get without stripping the screw heads.
2) The copper block isn't making fully even contact on the top of the CPU.
I noticed the cores seem to be uneven in their temps from 60c down to 52c which seems a bit extreme. (This is using the CPUID HW Monitor program.) Each core seems to be about 1 degree lower, but the middle two have a 2 degree difference.
I checked the contact and found that only about 1/4 of the TIM that came with the unit was even partially melted and the rest was virtually undisturbed and looked new though it had been on the CPU for about an hour by then. I wiped off the stock TIM and applied some paste I got from Fry's and tried again. I also set some better fans in the case to improve airflow. Made a small difference, but still uneven temperatures showing in CPUID HW monitor and SpeedFan.
I swapped out my case since the temperatures were high within as well so I figured it might be part of the problem. It was an Alienware "Predator" case I got secondhand and didn't have all the fan brackets so I can't mount them. It was too hot inside anyway so I got a different case.
I swapped to an Antec case that has two front 120mm fans, a top fan >120mm(160 or 180mm?), and the fan from the H80. Also the PS goes on the bottom. The HDD is now at 34c max where it was idling at 45 and topping 50c before. The GPU is also cooler idling at 52c where before it was up to 65c at idle.
But the CPU is still showing uneven temperatures though they're a little lower.
It's down to 38c for core0, core1 30c, core2 35c, core3 29c.
Those are obviously quite extreme temperatures within the CPU.
What's strange is the CPUID HW monitor program shows different temps at the same time:
core0 49c, core1 40c,core2 46c,core3, 39c
What's up with that and which program is correct?
Am I getting dodgy readings from one or both?
I did send a question to corsair about the loose backplate of the H80 and have yet to hear from them.
So what do you think? Is the backplate and screws being wobbly the reason the block isn't evenly contacting the CPU? Is there anything I can do?
The idle temperatures seem OK, but what's alarming is the CPU is getting up to 70c or 80c when I play game or even when I was watching a short video clip. So that cooler is doing fine at idle but not working so well under load.
Henry Ramsey
I didn't actually find this out at first until I powered on and went into the BIOS hardware monitor and found the CPU at 90c and rising to about 110c before eventually it hit thermal trip and shut off. I'm glad it has that feature or I might have fried the CPU.
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