Core i7 Temperature problems...?

Hey guys,

I recently built a machine for myself...

Antec Nine hundred 2
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
Core i7 920 @ stock 2.67ghz
Zalman 9700 Heatsink with Arctic Silver 5

Well I was really excited getting my i7 as I have heard good things about overclocking possibilites. So I even bought an aftermarket HSF (Zalman 9700) and used AS5. But after building it, my i7 temperature readings (as read by CoreTemp) are in the 40-44C range at idle while only at 2.67ghz, and prime95 stress test after a few hours gives me temperatures of ~77C. So then being curious to what OCing would do, i overclocked to 3.2ghz mild OC and the temperatures shot up. Idle ~55 and stress test showed pretty much 100C. Ive read different forums and other people have gotten their Core i7 at 3.5ghz at the temperatures that im seeing at stock.

So im wondering why my temperatures are so high, especially seeing as how im at stock clock with the antec 902, zalman 9700 and AS5.

And YES ive already tried reseating my heatsink a few times with temp variations of about 1C. So I cant even really overclock

Any ideas?

Thanks guys!

Ive tried running the case open and all the case fans at the highest speed and it made a difference of about 1C....and ive reseated the heatsink many times and have been careful with the thermal compound being sure not to put too much and have tried different methods of application also. I have yet to try the stock heatsink but i doubt that i incorrectly mounted the aftermarket one.

Im actually not using the stock heatsink. I bought a Zalman 9700 and getting these temperatures thats why im not happy with them. Of what ive read from other people i should be getting lower temperatures thus letting me overclock but I am not getting the desired temperatures.

Yea ive tried many things to no avail..... is it possible that i just got a hot cpu?

It could be that the Zalman just cant handle the heat that the i7 puts out. X-Bit Labs did a test of many of the top coolers and the Zalman 9900 (they didn't test 9700) came in dead last. As long as you have a good seat on the cpu and the fan is running at full speed I would guess that is your problem.

Any heat-pipe cooler with at least a couple of pipes should do a reasonable job, and the i7 920 is not a super-hot CPU at stock. Being in last place doesn't mean it doesn't do a decent job -- I'm sure they all did a decent job.