I am using a brand new Intel E6600 with stock heatsink and fan used MX-1 compound on a Gigabye GA-965P-DS3 motherboard inside an Antec Sonata case. I hooked up the air channel as well as the rear case fan which SHOULD keep temps inside the case ok.

I am using Vista x64. Didn't mess with any of the CPU settings and the BIOS was reading a fairly high core temp - 54C. Under Core Temp in Vista, temps seemed a bit more reliable, around 41C at idle. That I figured was OK, not great but OK.

Now, I overclocked to 2.8 with a standard overclock. Nothing too aggressive. Immediately Core Temp reports temps of around 55C to 57C at idle in Vista! The only thing I had running was a dreamscene backdrop (which should tax the video card more than anything else).

All I want to know is if I need to RMA my processor. These temps seem high. Or is is possible I made an error installing or that these are normal temps with the stock fan and heatsink?

I've searched and seen many posts on this processor and topic, but didn't see any with my specific situation, so I was hoping for a quick opinion before my option to swap out the processor is gone.

Much thanks for reading and responding!

BDP

Those temps are a little high, but still normal. Try remounting the hsf, those things can be pretty hard to mount correctly. Also, try lowering the cpu's voltage, little by little until your system gets to be unstable. The more volts running through the cpu, the more heat.

Thanks very much for your fast reply -- I forgot to ask, is there a reason that the motherboard's temperature monitor in the BIOS screen is reading the CPU temp to be so much higher (around 10 degrees) than Core Temp does under Vista?

I should be using Core Temp in Vista as my guide, not the BIOS's temp, correct? Is there a reason I should be worried it's showing so high of a temp in the BIOS?

I will try remounting the fan tonight. Do I need to somehow clean the old MX-1 compound off first? This is the first machine I've built in 8 years or so, so I'm little rusty.

The readings are different because the BIOS uses a thermometer on the mobo, Core Temp and Intel TAT use a temp diode built into the chip itself.

Yep, or Core Temp or TAT, unless they report temps that are obviously wrong (insanly high or low).

Yeah, definatly clean the old paste off, use 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol and a lint free cloth.

Thanks again for the help. Here's the latest. All I want to know is if this is normal for my setup and if I risk doing any damage this way.

I remounted the fan with new compound. Turns out two of the stupid screw things weren't secure in the motherboard. I still can't get one of them in and I swear I've pushed as hard as I can without snapping something, but the connection seems snug now. Not sure if it's good enough or what else I can do other than take the entire motherboard out and mount the processor prior to installation. What a pain these stock heatsinks are.

ANYWAY -- At idle now, with a small overclock from the basis of 2.4 up to 2.8, Core Temp reports running at 47 idle on core 1, 45 idle on core 2 (average). However, when I started a stress test in Prime95, both cores shot up above 60 within the first minute. I immediately stopped the test.

Is this as good as I'm going to get with the stock heatstink and this overclock? And at this overclock do I risk any damage?

I bought this processor in the hopes I could at least clock it up a slight bit -- Is it normal that you can't really OC at all with the stock heatsink and fan?

Finally, I did follow the picture and believe I have the fan mounted at the right aspect. Does the fan's orientation have an effect on the temperature?

Thanks again, sorry for being so long-worded. Hope you can reply.

B.

Nah, that oc is fine. Re-run Prime95 though, don't stop it unless the temps really shoot up, like 70+. It's better to find out now if your proc is running too hot under load.

Most people can hit over 3ghz with the stock hsf, but if you can't get the hsf mounted correctly you shouldnt expect similar results.

Nope, the hsf is symmetrical, it's orientation doesnt matter.

A good aftermarket hsf would allow you to oc much higher. The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is only $25, it'll knock 10-15c off your temps.

Thanks for the advice on the fan -- I figure $25 is worth not having to worry about temps, so I went ahead and ordered one. In the meantime, I'll hook 'er back up and run Prime again to see if I was hitting 70. Hopefully I'll see much lower temps once the new fan arrives.

Plus, I figure the Arctic fan will hopefully mount easier, too.

Realy appreciate you taking the time to answer. Thanks so much.

You really should take out the mboard and reinstall the cooler properly. It is not a bad quality cooler, people are overclocking up to 3.1-3.2 Ghz with this stuff. Download installation directions from intel to reset the mechanism of the clips, otherwise you will not have full contact. Also try and lower the core voltage. It is not unheard off to run the e6600 @3000 with only 1,2 volts! Good luck...
Also, the Arctic Freezer mounts the exact same way as the stock cooler. You should't have a problem if you do it by the book. Test load and temperatures with TAT. Only TAT stresses the cpu 100% all the time. Orthos is more a stability than a load/temperature test...

I don't know if I'm losing something, but you left the voltage @ default?

I'd actually raised the voltage a bit above to around 1.5 (up from 1.35 I believe) -- So you guys are suggesting lowering it huh?

If the new fan installs the same way, I'll just have to remove the whole mobo and install it then -- For some reason this board sits too slow in my antec sonata II case and the board is bending too much under the pressure of installing the fan clips. What a pain.

So no, I actually raised the voltage -- I'll lower it. I'd love to use TAT but it's not compatible with Vista x64 yet unless I missed something. I can look into Orthos though, hadn't heard of that one.

Which version of Orthos should I be using for Vista x64? 2004 B4?

Oh, i didn't know about TAT not working with Vista 64. If you can use Orthos along with Coretemp it should be allright. I don't know the exact version of orthos to be used, i only know about the 32bit version, sorry
To get full load of cpu you can run video encoding/decoding programs at the same time. You will have more accurate readings of temperature at the 6600's load limit.

And of course, DEFINITELY lower the cpu's voltage to around 1.25. The lower, the better for your temps. 1.50V is used for overclocks of over 3.4 Ghz! Any 6600 should be able to operate between 1.20V and 1.30V @3000 without a problem. Of course take the time and test with orthos, starting with 1.20 V. If it is stable, you have no reason to set a higher voltage.
Hope it helps...

There is no x64 version of Orthos. You should be able to run it in Vista x64 though (i think). Set it at priority 9 and select "Blend- stress cpu and RAM" test. Unfortunately, i don't know of any other free tool to test your setup with...

That voltage is indeed too high. You should achieve speeds of 2.8 - 3.0 with stock voltage. From there you will need to increase the voltage. For example, I can get 3.6Mhz with voltage of 1.46875, but you should be stable with a lot less voltage. Of course, as higher the volts, higher the temps.

Of course, every CPU is different.