QX9650 Temperature Irregularities and Overclocking

Hi there,

I'm looking for some advice from anyone who has experience with the above CPUs regarding their operating temperatures.

QX9650@3.0Ghz (I apologise, i forgot to take note of the VIDs and operating voltages - will post when i get home from work)

Idle Core/Temp (degC)
0 45
1 45
2 45
3 37

Load Core/Temp (degC)
0 52
1 52
2 52
3 48

Load being a 3 hour 30min run of Prime95 SmallFFT.

System Specs:
QX9650 (C0 Stepping) @ 3.0Ghz (stock)
Gigabyte EP45-UD3R
4GB Corsair Dominator DDR2-800:4-4-4-12@1.8v (2 x 2GB)

Watercooling:
Swiftech Apogee GTZ CPU Block
TFC Xchanger Double Radiator 240
XSPC Laing/Swiftec DDC-Pump 12V Ultra(18w) Acrylic Reservoir (200ml)
Feser VSC - Heat Carrier

The temperatures were taken with CoreTemp. I am a little concerned with the idle temperatures, but not at all with the load temps. An increase of only 7degC from idle to full load is also more than acceptable. It shows that the new watercooling loop is more than adequate at dissipating the heat from the stock QX9650. I guess having a thermal footprint of 130W, the high idle temperatures can be explained.

The reason for me questioning these temperatures is that I have just switched from an all-in-one 120mm RAD/Pump loop to a more effective water cooling solution BUT the idle temperatures have stayed around the same. To be fair the full load temperatures have dropped some 15degC over the old cooler.

As far as overclocking goes, i reckon i have around 10-15degC to play with in terms of temperature.

The following were all tested on the OLD watercooling kit:
3.000Ghz (333 x 9) @ Stock
3.333Ghz (333 x 10) @ Stock (stable 24 hours)
3.200Ghz (400 x 8) @ Stock (stable 24 hours)
3.600Ghz (400 x 9) @ 1.23v (I believe i was hitting nearly 73degC pretty quick so backed off)

My question, before i start overclocking this chip is should i be concerned about the idle temperatures, or are they within a range of 'normal'? I just want to make sure i have a good baseline to start overclocking.

Many thanks everyone,
Jaffa