I need help about the q6600

[john_antonio]

I need help on q6600..I just bought it and i'm a beginner in pc build..I bought the retail one because i'm a little tight on budget so I thought of sticking with the stock cooler...I don't plan in overclocking, and i'm wondering if the stock cooler will do fine? I read some reviews on the internet that the stock fan does not cool enough..should I get an aftermarket one? Please help...Thanks!

 

[NMDante]

The stock HSF will be fine, as long as you ensure that the push pins, that hold the HSF, are pushed thoroughly, ensuring proper contact with CPU heatspreader.

It's a well known fact that the retail Intel HSF push pins are just plain horrible, and have been known to look properly installed, yet are not, causing heating issues (not so much overheating, but higher than usual temps).

The retail HSF should be fine for the non-overclocker, but getting a 3rd party HSF will be better than the retail HSF, or at least, should be better.

 

[john_antonio]

Is the 3 piece thing applied underneath the stock hsf is the pre applied thermal paste?should i apply an aftermarket paste?or not anymore?

 

[BlackKnight7891]

thermal paste is applied to the cpu once its inserted into the motherboard. the thermal pastes sole job is to fill in the small inperfections of the metal surface to improve contact and heat transfer you only need a thin layer otherwise it wont work as well as it should.
the intel stock cooler should simply sit on top of the cpu with the push pins lining up with the holes on the motherboard, they dont require any mounting pieces installed first

 

[NMDante]

Yes, the 3 piece "hopefully, grey" substance should be the thermal material. You can use a 3rd party thermal paste, but you will need to clean off the material off the HSF. It's not necessary, but you can if you wish too.

 

[dragonsprayer]

yes if you do not oc, but i would change it the quad needs cooling

below 2.8ghz you can use the stock cooler with good case cooling

 

[john_antonio]

so to assemble the cpu,,just attach the stock cooler on top of the processor?the stock cooler has a pre-applied paste?so just attach it?

 

[Guest]

funny part is... buying retail doesn't save you money... retail parts are generally 30 - 50 bucks more than the oem... and a good after marker heat sink is 20 - 30 dollars... 40 for a really good one... so you basically paid more... for less...

but yeah stocks fine

 

[NMDante]

Well, retail has one extra nice thing about them...a 3 year warranty, along with the retail HSF.

And the difference of between OEM and retail for the Q6600 @ Newegg is $10USD right now, not 30-50 bucks.

 

[Guest]

^ sorry didn't check the prices at that exact time

it used to be a lot more than that

 

[NMDante]

Well, it is mostly true, that OEMs are usually much cheaper than retail, so I won't say you are wrong. It's just that the warranty and HSF are the two things that make up the difference and price, and the warranty is usually worth more than the HSF.

 

[mikeny]

so to assemble the cpu,,just attach the stock cooler on top of the processor?the stock cooler has a pre-applied paste?so just attach it?

I asked this question when I did my first build. Before you put the mobo in the tower make your cpu/heatsink and RAM sticks are in the mobo before you put the mobo in the tray. If you are using the 3 gray lines on the heatsink, when the CPU is set in the socket and locked , attach the HSF by lining up the holes in the motherboard directly over the CPU. I had a hard time at first putting the pins in and locking them. It takes some practice so take your time. When the HSF is secured, make sure the little wire attached to the CPU fan is in it's proper connector. It should be labeled CPU FAN. (CPU FAN is the Heatsink FAN). When your done with everything when you go into the BIOS screen for the first time, check the temps. I had it initially in the 50's so I went back, took the HSF off, cleaned off the paste and reapplied, made sure the HSF was snug. When I turned it back on, it was reading about 31 degrees.

 

[Zoron]

Yeah, a 90-day warranty vs. a 3-year warranty... that's why I buy retail.