Virtually no benefit from stock cooler?

[chjade84]

I recently bought an i7 920 for a work computer and will be building 7 more once this one is accepted. My question lies in the cooling department. The stock cooler for the i7 is reported to keep the temp between 35 and 40 C at idle and 65-70 under Prime95. I wanted better so I bought a Zalman 9500CNPS and an i7 adapter.

My temps were 40-43 idle and 70-75 load. Granted I had OC'd the 920 from 2.6 to 3.1 GHz, but still...

So I took it off and cleaned everything and reseated. Same result. I did this about 3 more times and nada.

So I bought a Vigor Monsoon III LT and tried that out. At 3.1 GHz I am getting 35-38 idle and 65-70 load. This time I clocked back to stock to compare with Intel's cooler.

Just out of curiosity I re-OC'd to 3.1 and am getting 38-40 idle and 68-70 load.

Is it just me or are other people not gaining anything with a $60+ cooler? Or is it possible that all the sites where I've found stock cooler temps are just feeding me BS?

FYI, I've never used a stock cooler let alone the i7's. Trying it out is impossible as I have destroyed the HSF for the copper core and the fan.

EDIT: I do know how to apply thermal paste so I doubt that's the problem. I even tried several techniques on the Zalman but no dice.

 

[chjade84]

Nobody tried the stock cooler, or got lower temps than I with an aftermarket cooler?

I thought for sure you guys and girls would be all over this.

Also, I never increased the voltages.