+++ Installed New Heatsink = PC Delayed-Start Issue +++

[mzadotcom]

The specs of my system are @ the end of this post.

Ok, just installed a brand new Rosewill® RCX-Z775-EX 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler a week ago.

The main reason for this purchase was so I could sleep @ night after overclocking my Q6600 CPU from the stock 2.4GHz to 3.0GHz. I followed this tutorial to do it. As this is my 1st OC, I did a ton of research beforehand & found out that this particular CPU is a breeze to OC to 3.0.

So here's what's happened so far:

- After lapping the CPU housing with Arctic Silver 5 using the horizontal line method suggested @ arcticsilver.com, I installed the new HS+F. Even though with this HS+F you have to take your mobo out, everything went very smoothly.

- Immediately after that, my PC would not start. I checked & rechecked all my components, connections, headers, etc., & nothing was off.

- Then a thought hit me that, maybe, I screwed the HS+F onto the motherboard a lil too tight & if I loosen things up, it'll be a-ok.

- Turned out I was right. After I did that, my system turned on like normal.

So a word of warning to anyone planning on using the same combination of components: MAKE SURE NOT TO SCREW YOUR HEATSINK ONTO THE MOTHERBOARD TOO TIGHT!!

- Next I checked the new overclocked temps/info using the BIOS, Speccy 1.01.132 & CPU-Z 1.54. My temps had dropped by about 15-20° . They went from [Stock HS+F] 45° Idle/60-70° Load to [Rosewill HS+F] of 30° Idle/50° Load. I even saw a 24° in there for a moment. Pretty dramatic.

Then a few days later, things started to get a bit muddy. The issues are 3 things:

1] The PC now starts with a bit of a delay, which I'm attributing to some kind of error code. When the power button is hit, it starts for a second, stays off for about 3 seconds & then comes back on & stays on like normal. I made a short video @ YouTube demonstrating the problem. On the video I say there are *2* issues, but it's actually 3.

2] One side of the Rosewill HS+F is touching the northbridge of my motherboard. It's a light touch, but contact is definitely being made. I'm guessing this isn't something you want. I really like this HS+F & the Rosewill brand. Like I said earlier, I did a ton of research & didn't want to get what everyone else is getting [Thermatake, Zalman, Tuniq, etc.]. I realize it's a gamble as those brands are bought by many for a reason. This is what the contact point looks like.

3] The Idle/Load temps have now gone back up to stock HS+F days. That bummed me out. In the week that the new HS+F has been in use, it's gone from 30° Idle to roughly 42°. As mentioned @ a PDF file @ arcticsilver.com, Arctic Silver 5 can take up to 200 hours of usage to finally "take". I haven't even come close to that number of hours & it's already @ such high temps. It's suppose to get better [temps are suppose to come down] over time, not the other way around = what gives?!?

Researching the causes for all these things, I ran across people mentioning the CPU/HS+F not making full contact, header issues, a bad motherboard, RAM, RAM timings, GPU, PSU, etc. Translation = anything & everything could be going wrong.

Any help/advice would go a along way. Thanks in advance.


MY PC SPECS:

Cooler Master® Stacker 830 SE Full Tower Case [M/N: RC-830-KKR3-GP] with Real Power Pro 1000 Watt PSU

GIGABYTE® GA-P35-DS3L Rev.2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Motherboard

Intel® Quad Core Q6600 CPU Kentsfield Socket 775 LGA 65nm @ 2.40GHz [Stepping B, Revision G0]

Rosewill RCX-Z775-EX 92mm 2 Ball Heatsink + 92mm Fan

OCZ® DDR2 PC-6400 800MHz Vista® Upgrade Edition RAM [2 x 2GB] 5-5-5-15

Western Digital® Raptor X® 10,000 RPM 150GB HD [OS]

SAMSUNG® Spinpoint® F3 HD502HJ 500GB [Storage]

EVGA® GeForce® 9800 GT 512MB [rev. A2]

SAMSUNG® SATA Black DVD Burner with LightScribe© [Version SB02]

MITSUMI® Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Digital Card Reader + Floppy Drive

2 x Scythe® "ULTRA KAZE" 120 x 38 mm Case Fan

4 x APEVIA® [M/N: CF12SL-UGN] 120mm Green LED Case Fan [Side Panel]

[8 TOTAL Case Fans]

Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition SP3 32-bit

19" SAMSUNG® SyncMaster® 906BW Wide Screen LCD Monitor [1440x900, 2000:1, 2MS RR]

17" Gateway® [M/N: EV730] CRT Monitor

 

[jimishtar]

what model is your mobo? many motherboards tend to do the problem 1. its not a problem actually, I have had 2 mobos that do that, msi p35 and asus p5e3 pro, they go on for 1 sec, then off, then on again normally. its not a problem.

about #2, i have had mugen 2 touchin my NB for months, and nothing happened. its not dangerous, dont worry about it.

#3, temps are not all about the heatsink. what kind of cases do u have, case fans, etc. that rosewill cooler that u got seems is good only for stock cpu speeds. get CM hyper 212+, its cheap and its great.

 

[mzadotcom]

what model is your mobo? many motherboards tend to do the problem 1. its not a problem actually, I have had 2 mobos that do that, msi p35 and asus p5e3 pro, they go on for 1 sec, then off, then on again normally. its not a problem.

about #2, i have had mugen 2 touchin my NB for months, and nothing happened. its not dangerous, dont worry about it.

#3, temps are not all about the heatsink. what kind of cases do u have, case fans, etc. that rosewill cooler that u got seems is good only for stock cpu speeds. get CM hyper 212+, its cheap and its great.

I posted that late last night so forgot to include my system specs. That's been remedied.

I should say that I'm not a newbie to computers, this is just my 1st overclock.

1] The motherboard is the GIGABYTE® GA-P35-DS3L Rev.2.0.

2] You don't think any foreign object touching the NB is dangerous? Interesting. So far from what I've read, most say you don't want that happening.

3] My case is the Cooler Master® Stacker 830 SE Full Tower. It's a huge one with great circulation. There are 7 case fans: 4 on the side panel, 1 in the front, 2 for exhaust [top & back]. If you click on that YouTube link in the 1st post, you can see my case/fans/etc.

If you read the reviews for the Rosewill HS+F @ Newegg, you can see it's a very decent choice for light overclocking, which is what I'm going for [2.4GHz to 3.0GHz]. Most of the reviewers have overclocked their CPU & ended up giving it a Very Good to Great rating [4 to 5 eggs].

Also, just read about a fix for the HS+F touching the NB which states that you should reseat the HS+F so it's basically horizontal vs. vertical, the standard way of installing it. My question there is: doesn't doing that defeat the purpose of the HS+F blowing the air/heat out to the exhaust fan if you point it in another direction? Say I point it up towards the PSU or to the right towards my DVD Drive [front]. Doesn't make sense to me, but if it really does NOT affect the performance of the HS+F, CPU or the ambient temps in my case, then I'll give it a whirl.

I thought about getting a Cooler Master HS+F, so might eventually do that, if this Rosewill one doesn't work out. Checked around Newegg for the CM Hyper 212+ &, unfortunately, the dimensions of the heatsink aren't listed. The fan info is there, though

 

[mzadotcom]

UPDATE:

Hope this helps anybody else in a similar situation.

I went ahead & reinstalled the new Rosewill® HS+F. This time, though, I used the "+" method of applying Arctic Silver® 5. The 1st time I did the standard one horizontal line that's suggested for the Quad Core Q6600 @ Arctic Silvers' website. In that experience, the temps went back up to standard HS+F days in about a week, which was disappointing.

THE GOOD NEWS: It's been about a week & the temps have kept a steady 10°-20° drop.

New temps: Q6600 @ 3.0 [333x9] with Rosewill® HS+F: 35°-40° Idle / 45°-50° Load vs. Q6600 @ 2.4 [default 266x9] Intel® HS+F 40°-50° Idle / 50°-65° Load.

THE BAD NEWS: I'm still getting the delayed-start issue when powering on for the 1st time everyday. It's worth noting that it only happens when I power on for the first time daily, not any subsequent times.

Finally, when I reinstalled the new HS+F I scrutinized how close it came to the NB on my motherboard & it seems like it does not actually touch. There's a millimeter or 2 of distance between the two, which is a relief.