Xigmatek Dark Knight S1283 Heatsink, need help getting my temps down.

[TheOnlySDF]

Hello, I've been a long time reader but this happens to be my first post on these forums. I have a question concerning my PC's idle temps. As it stands, my Processor idles at 38 degrees C and my GPU idles at 42 degrees C, are these normal temps for my current setup, and are there any ways I can improve these temps? Also, my side case fan is blowing air IN to the case, but it is REALLY loud, would it affect temperatures too much if I pointed the fan so that it blew air OUT instead?

SPECS:

Case: Coolermaster C690
PSU: Coolermaster 750w
Operating System: Windows 7 64 bit
CPU Model: Intel Core 2 Q9300
CPU Speed: 2.5GHz
System Memory: 4 Gigs 800 MHz
Graphics Chipset: Nvidia GeForce GTX 280
Graphics Card Memory: 1Gb GDDR3
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer



PICS:

 

[JohnnyLucky]

What is the brand and model of the cpu heatsink?

Did you apply thermal compound according to the manufacturers instructions for your cpu?

Did you seat the cpu heatsink properly?

I can see the cpu heatsink fan and the case fan on the rear panel. Does your case have any additional fans?

Which is the room temperature when you test?

Which utility are you using to test?

Did you test for each cpu core?

 

[TheOnlySDF]

It's a Xigmatek Dark Knight S1283 Heatsink resting on-top of a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300. Yes I installed the thermal paste properly. My case has a front 120MM fan and a 120MM side fan both blowing air in, although I REALLY want to turn my side fan to blow air out due to the noise level. Also, I have a spot to put a fan in at the bottom, I was thinking of buying the same fan currently situated on the heatsink and replacing my rear fan with that. As a result I would then place the old rear fan to the bottom.

I used real temp to measure the temperatures while idle

Core 1: 45
Core 2: 45
Core 3: 39
Core 4: 38

 

[JohnnyLucky]

OK! You're right, the core temps are high for idle. Nothing stood out in the photos so I'm at a loss for an explanation.

 

[TheOnlySDF]

yeah I am really confused lol...

 

[Conumdrum]

What about the top of the case? Got fans yet?

Cut out the punched metal holes where the fans are (remove the case material) and get some cheap wire fan guards.

So fans on the bottom and top. You got a lot of heat, you can do with more fans, and possibly at lower RPMS for less noise.

Front in, bottom in, back and top suck out the hot air.

Your CPU fan might be pretty poor, might look at getting a higher pressure fan, but not sure about that.

 

[TheOnlySDF]

no it is good actually, I was wondering if I should put fans in the top of my case, even if they almost touch my heatsink....

 

[Conumdrum]

Ohh your CPU temps at idle could be high due to stuck sensors on the low end. You'll have to Prime 95 (load) the CPU and minitor with Realtemp. Don't let it go into the high 70's. There is a sensor test function. Install Prime 95 and then run it.

Your GPU idles just fine, my two GTX280's idle at 34C under full cover watercooling blocks. But they load at under 50C max using Furmark.

 

[anoa]

Can you turn your CPU fan 90 degrees? Then have the CPU fan blow air towards the top of the case. Since hot air wants to rise this would make it easier. Of course the way it is currently the CPU fan is blowing through the heat exchanger and your case fan is sucking it out so I don't know if turning it would make that much difference. The CPU fan is blowing through the heat exchanger? I believe on that fan the airflow goes from the sticker side to the opposite side.

Does it run cooler with the side of the case open?

 

[JohnnyLucky]

anoa - Hot air rises when the air is relatively still. It is different with a forced air system.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

How much convection (rising heat) has an effect on your system will depend on how much air is moving thru your system. The temperature gradient, top to bottom, will still vary, just a matter of degree. You can gauge it with am infrared thermometer on the side of your case. Prolimatech tested their HS both ways and got slightly better performance with HS fans blowing to rear.

You don't mention what TIM you used but keep in mind that all work better after a period of "stressing". Run that thing under prime 95 for example for a couple of hours and let the TIM thermal cycle up and down a couple of times and you are likely to see some improvement. On m,y son's box, the northbridge had me nervous post build as it was more than 12C above the Southbridge .... after a few days if use, they are now typically within 2-4C.

Artic Silver for example takes 200 hours and x number of thermal cycles to fully cure which the folks at benchmarkreviews calculated could take up to a year to finish breaking in.

 

[TheOnlySDF]

The temps do not change more than 1 degree with the door open, my CPU fan blows through the fins. Also, note that the CPU fan shooting air through the fins runs at the same speed that the exhaust fan is.

 

[JDFan]

Is there room to rotate the heatsink 90 degrees (looks like it might be close to the DIMM slots but might work) so that it blows the air up to the top of the case ? - If so perhaps adding 1 or 2 fans to the top (there would be more room with the heatsink rotated) and rotating the heatsink might improve the temps a bit.

 

[strangestranger]

Well, an easy way to reduct the temps would be to undervolt the cpu.

I found with my own one that you could reduce the voltage a bit with no side effect to the system. You do not appear to be overclocking so I assume the voltage is at stock.

Personally I don't see anything that bad with temps. My own cpu stick around the 40C mark with a room temp of about 18C.

I would make a little bet however, if you increase the voltage and speed of the cpu, I bet the idle temps won't change that much.

 

[TheOnlySDF]

So I jsut installed two new fans in the top of my case, both acting as exhaust with no success. The idle temps remain the same. What am I doing wrong?! Pics to show the fans, and heatsink.NOTE that the BOTTOM and TOP FRONT intake arrows are not there........ yet.

 

[strangestranger]

Acquiring a tripod and reducing the size of the images prior to uploading might help you know.

 

[rwpritchett]

I agree with Conundrum, the sensors are probably stuck. This is common with the Yorkfields. My Q9650 has two sensors that do not drop below 38°C no matter what using a Dark Knight. Once the actual temps go over 38°C they read just fine. It's really easy to see if you have stuck sensors if you use a monitoring program that graphs temps like SpeedFan.

I'd be more concerned about load temps. My Dark Knight keeps my Q9650 under ~55°C while stress testing.

 

[TheOnlySDF]

@strangestranger: I am in college, the pictures were taken with my phone, I do not have a digital camera.

@rwpritchett: I am monitoring my temperatures with speed fan and real temp, and they both read idle at 45C.

 

[cadder]

I have that same cooler on a Q9400. I have speedstep enabled so at idle I'm running 2.55GHz and my temps are 33 and 34. I have an Antec 300 case with 2 intake fans and 2 exhaust fans.

I run Prime95 for 5 minutes- the cpu jumps to 3.4GHz and after 5 minutes my temps are 40-44.

You didn't say what speed you are running your Q9300 at, whether you are running speedstep or not, and what your cpu voltage is. All of these things can affect temps.

The only problem I could think of with your setup would be that you might have too much heatsink compound.

As other people have said, idle temps may not mean all that much. Temps under load are really what you want to control.

 

[TheOnlySDF]

I have yet to understand why my processor is idling at 45, while under load it hits around 51-55. I just overclocked it from 2.5 to 2.7 with minimal differences in temperatures. Could it be that my sensors are fudged with my Intel chip?

 

[JDFan]

Try changing the Side fan to an input instead of output fan - right now it may be pulling alot of the cool air coming in from the front and bottom out the side panel -switching it to an input instead might help - since your GPU is exhausting alot of air out the back and that side fan is alos doing the same combined with the fan above the CPU exhausting even more there may just not be enough air entering into the CPU fan.

 

[TheOnlySDF]

right now I guess my temps are fine, under 100% load on all cores it hits 51...do you think I could oc the CPU a tad more from 2.7 to 3.0?

 

[TheOnlySDF]

Also, my CPU is now idling with at 50 degrees C

 

[PhantomSix]

I know this is a noob move, but Ive done it before with 10 years experience. Double check the airflow of your heatsink fan, make sure the air is blowing over the fins. I had lots of issues with temps because the fan was mounted in reversed. Just a thought. Also, if your heatsink fan has i higher static pressure then the case fans, youll end up screwing your entire airflow. you may have to increase static pressure on case fans to expell the air pressure inside the case.

 

[delluser1]

Double check the airflow of your heatsink fan, make sure the air is blowing over the fins.

Look at the second picture in the OP