My i7 860 seems to run too hot

[mcg75]

I'm a relative noob when it comes to overclocking.

I've been trying to get my i7 860 to hit 4ghz and I can do that @ 1.4v but my temps go way too high. Close to 90c using
Intel Burn Test to check out stability. 190bclck @ 21x multiplier. And that's with hyperthreading off.

Clocked to 3.5ghz @ 1.25v, I still idle at 35c-40c and hit over 70c under load with burn test with HT off.

I'm using the coolermaster hyper212+ and according to most reviews out there, I should not be having the temperature
problems like I am. I've removed the heatsink and reapplied as5 twice. The second time I tried speading it on the base
of the 212 filling in all the gaps then a small line on each copper pipe. That works better than the one pea sized drop
on the cpu itself but still not ideal.

I think I have a bad 212+ as I read about another guy who had problems with his and he bought a new 212+ and
his temps dropped 10-12c.

Need some opinions here on what I should do. I'm thinking about ordering a new cooler. Either a Corsair h50
or a50.

 

[acer0169]

The hyper212+ is a very good tower cooler, but not exactly the best air cooler you can get. There are many more than will give better results. In saying that, you should have pretty temps that what you're reporting. Either way.. if you're looking at the H50 you should spend a little more and get it's bigger brother, H70.

 

[dalauder]

H70's much better than H50. Check your case airflow.

 

[rubix_1011]

^+10 for case airflow.

Pull the side of your case, blow a house or desk fan (on high) into your case. Rerun benchmarks, game, etc.

If the temps go down, you have an airflow issue in your case. You'll need to address your fans (or lack of fans), amount CFM being pull in/exhausted out, and obtrusive cabling should be corrected.

If your temps remain the same, I'd say check into the mounting of your cooler, or, if your system has been running a while, blow it out with dust spray or compressed air.

Keep your 212+, the H70 won't do any better. Fix your airflow issue.

 

[mcg75]

I've always had this problem regardless of the case. On Friday, I switched cases from an Antec 900 to a Corsair 600t thinking that better case management would help with temps. I also bought as5 with the new case. I took the opportunity when switching cases to remove the cooler and cpu and clean them and apply the as5. First method was the pea sized drop which resulted in same or worse temps. On Saturday, I did it all again doing the thin layer on the cooler this time and again, temps are still higher than what they should be but were better than the pea sized method.

My motherboard idles at about 28c and my GTX 580 idles at 40c. I added a 120mm fan on top of the hard drive cage and my 580 idles at 36c now. Had no effect on the cpu temps.

 

[dalauder]

What are your ambient temps? It's 86F here and I get the same temps as you if I bump my voltage that high going for 4.0GHz. Thats' why I run my i7-930 at a lower voltage and 3.8GHz.

 

[mcg75]

What are your ambient temps? It's 86F here and I get the same temps as you if I bump my voltage that high going for 4.0GHz. Thats' why I run my i7-930 at a lower voltage and 3.8GHz.

About 21c / 70F here at most. It probably averages closer to 15c though.

 

[spentshells]

1.4 volts Can you back that down ? or do you get unstable ?

 

[mcg75]

I tried backing it down to 1.35 and running IBT and it passed a 32 thread test and then I shut it down.

Temps reached 75c. But here comes a noob question.

I reached in and touched the heat pipes at the bottom on the Hyper 212. They weren't even warm to the touch. They might have been room temp at most right next to the processor which is supposedly running 70-75c. One would think the heatpipes right next to the processor would be almost hot to the touch. Right?

 

[dalauder]

You know what, I'm not sure your temps are that crazy high. I mean you should be able to hit 3.5GHz on 1.30V or so, so your CPU might just not be that good and require high voltage and thus gets high temps.

 

[mcg75]

Well, I've come to a conclusion or rather two conclusions.

First off, my 860 is just not a great overclocker. I settled for 3.6ghz @ 1.256v stable. Having to go to 1.4v just to hit 4.0 isn't reasonable.

Second, I installed an Xigmatek Gaia in place of the 212+ and dropped my temps about 5c on load and 3c on idle. The Gaia is so much quieter than the 212+ that it was worth buying to replace it.

 

[mcg75]

Best answer selected by mcg75.