my E6600 hates the idea of chillin, please help.

[Ryft]

Hey everyone,

Short Story

My computer just wont cool down. I have an E6600, a Arctic Freezer Pro 7, and im using AS5. The AS5 seems to be causing the problem, but I cant rule out that maybe the Heatsink lacks enough contact. My temps are way above par, idle at about 44, load reaches 58.

Long Story
I built my system back in November, 06 from scratch. I replaced my Intel HSF with an AC Freezer Pro 7 and applied Arctic Silver 5 in place of the thermal pad. The computer worked great, and I was even able to overclock my E6600 to 3.2 without my temps raising over 57C load. I lowered my settings back to stock as I didn't want to risk breaking the thing I just spent a small fortune on. I recently moved 350 miles west, and I had my computer in a box filled with packaging peanuts by itself in my trunk. After reassembling it everything seemed to be in order. Since I never had a problem with heat in my case before, I never ran any temperature monitoring software since November. I noticed my room getting very hot when I was playing games. After a sudden realization that my CPU was running much hotter then normal, I started to run Core Temp regularly to let it log my temps. I was idleing at 46. After stressing it with orthos it seamed to peak at 56. I gave my case a good cleaning, got all the dust out of the fans and heatsink and then put everything back together. My temps actually increased 2C! I tried running a Rainbow Six Vegas server with my friends to stress it like I normally do.

I checked my temps after an hour or so and they had peaked up to 63. I panicked. After 5 minutes my case was wide open, ER style, with construction lights blaring in. I removed the heatsink and found that the AS5 had spread across about 80% of the heatspreader. It was not very evenly distributed. I also saw the lightest trace of dust along a few millimeters of the edge of the CPU. Having lost my AS5 in the move, I very gently removed the dust using a credit card and then refitted the HSF. Boot -> Bios -> Monitor -> CPU: 63,66,69 -> Scream -> Jam in I/O. After several more failures I pulled out my old HSF from intel and rubbed the metal contacts of the two HSFs together to smooth out the AS5. They both had a very thin layer after I was done. I then used a credit card to remove most of the AS5 off the CPU, although that wasn't my intention. I tried the Intel HSF first, it idled at about 48-49. The Freezer Pro idled at about 45-46.

Today my new AS5 arrived. I knew I had greatly decreased the amount of AS5 on the CPU, so I tried adding a new line down the middle as per the instructions without removing the thin layers still intact. I booted, bios reported 36. Core Temp reported 37-38. I tried gently twisting the HSF, dumb move. Temps went up to 41, 42. [strike]Resorted to soft weeping.[/strike] Tried running it under load, the max I saw it reach was 51. I should of just walked away and left it. But im always reading about how people have their E6xxx's OCed with AS5 and Freezer Pro 7s that idle at 28-34 and load at 42. All the review sites show load temps around 42-44 for my setup. Im weak. I took it out again, got some coffee filters and isopropyl alchohol and got cleanin. I had the HSF and CPU absolutely spotless. I put a very thin line along where the core would be, but used a little less then normal after reading about people using less then a grain of rice's worth. Boot, bios, 67C,69C, I/O. Demoralized and slightly suicidal I opened the case and took out the HSF. Cleaned everything again. Then I put a larger stripe down the middle. I smoothed it with a credit card. I then used the extra on the card to make a stripe the exact same length and position on the HSF. Boot, bios says 41, core temp says 44,45. At load it reaches 58 (after 20 minutes). And thats where I stand.

Help!

I really dont want to hurt my components. Even if it can withstand these temperatures, Ive heard they wear the parts down. Ive also fell in love with supcom, which is a CPU whore. Water cooling just doesnt fit my budget right now. Air temp is central PA mountains, so normally 68-74F. Pictures below!

Thanks for reading and attempting all, I eagerly await any help you guys can offer!
Ryft

Heres my specs.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4Ghz
AC Freezer Pro 7 HSF
350Gb Seagate Barracuda
Evga Nforce 680i SLI
Evga GeForce 8800GTX
Ultra X-Connect 550Watt PSU
2GB Corsair Dominator DDR2
SB X-Fi Fatal1ty
Windows XP Media Center

omg PIX!

 

[phreejak]

Well, It doesn't look as if you could have much in the way of good airflow in the case because of the cable and wire free-for-all in there. Is there any way that you could use hold downs, cable ties and snaps to better organize the interior cabling of your case? Perhaps you could hide some of the cabling behind the MB or in areas in your 5.24 drivebays that are unused.

I'm not sure if that is a X-Fi cable or an IDE cable or a Floppy cable but could you resort to using a round cable in its place?

 

[proof]

I would bet that the problem is either the heat sink, processor or both are not making good contact with one another.

 

[Ryft]

Thats my x-fi cable phree. I could send it out to be rounded and sleeved, but it doesn't flap at all, leading me to believe its not really blocking much. A few of the thin silver cords are flapping intermittently.

Theres a 3 degree difference in idle core temp between when the case is open and when its shut.

Now heres a stat that was a little shocking to me. The heatsink feels like its only 1 degree over ambient and even though the fan is on, I dont feel any air comeing out the back of the heatsink, but I do feel the air being sucked through the back fans pretty strongly.

Two other things I noticed about the heatsinks airflow. I pushed the cords towards the front, as the only air from the front comes through the bottom. My temps didnt change. BUT I did noticed my RAM sticks extend out 1/3rd the fans diameter.

Im going to try the stock HSF again when I get the time.

I think your right Proof, but I cant for the life of me fix the contact. Ive tried every method of spreading the AS5 with no luck. Is there any way to increase the contact pressure?

Ambient temp is 26-27 today. Idle is 46. I havnt load tested it.

 

[proof]

You will need to lap the processor, heat sink or both. Preferably both but the processor is the more important (and easier) component to lap.

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

with case that you should be getting like 20c's. Lap them both.

 

[proof]

Agreed on lapping both but I have no idea what the other part was...

 

[Ryft]

Alright...so let me run this by you guys before I go ahead and order it.

Im buying:

3M Imperial Wetordry Sandpaper - Medium P400 Grit

and

3M Imperial Wetordry Sandpaper - Medium Fine P600 Grit

and (maybe, not sure if necessary)

3M Imperial Wetordry Sandpaper - Ultra Fine 1000 Grade 5


Is there anything else I need?

 

[Ryft]

lapped the heatsink or 3 hours up to 1000 grit, no change at all.

Any other ideas?

 

[Mugz]

Power supply, maybe? I've seen that happen before where an overloaded/failing PSU makes other components run hotter than normal.

 

[Ryft]

thats a really good suggestion. I am kind of near the peak of a needed 550watts. Ill try opening my case and unplugging all the fans and maybe my sound card tomorrow and see if it makes a difference. Thanks mugz.

 

[Mugz]

We seek to serve. Let me know either way.