Hyper 212+ is worse?

[divz]

Hey guys.
So... I've recently bought the Hyper 212+ heatsink after hearing about what a good deal it is considering how well it performs. The temps seem alright... Not TOO much improvement from the stock heatsink. But the main problem is that my PC seems to run slow. When I try to run games such as Fallout New Vegas or Team Fortress 2, it seems to take much longer to load than it used to on the old stock heatsink. I saw online that it could be because I didnt install the screws tightly enough so I redid everything (even reapplied Artic Silver thermal compound) but still the same problem. Any ideas or solutions?
*Also, I'm having these issues on stock settings, I have not overclocked at all.
My specs:
AMD Phenom II x4 965
Radeon HD 6950
seagate 500gb hdd
2x2gb ram

 

[divz]

I've also run 3dmark06 and it stated that my CPU score is slightly lower than the "target score" they set for me. All my other scores were higher than the target score.

 

[Bigmac80]

what's a Radeon 9650? Seems kinda old to me...That could be the problem...Also what's your power supply?...Does it only run slow in games? If so its possibly your power supply or your graphics card..Also could be a driver issue....But i never heard of the Radeon 9650...Must of been out before the 3870 card...

 

[simon12]

I think you mean Radeon 6950. Run HW Monitor to check your CPU temps, if they are not high then then the 212+ if fine and any problems are not related to it. If its just loading times that are slow they are normally down to the HDD so check its not to full and defragment it.

 

[divz]

Oops yeah I meant 6950, sorry.
HW monitor temps
cpu: 30 degrees min, 46 max; it's currently at 42 celcius.
Could loading times be affected even though I didn't change anything at all except for replace the HSF? That's weird if so

 

[simon12]

OK check the temps then like I said. Are you sure its not a 6950 as a 9650 was a very old card from a Power Mac G5.

 

[trihedral]

lol @ heatsink making pc slow.

i bet if you reformated your HDD with a new windows everything would be faster. people just store junk and its gets the pc slow. you are being too paranoid.

the hyper is a step up in idle temp and especially in load temps.

 

[jrnyfan]

In mounting this new cooler, you had to disassemble your pc and install the backplate on the motherboard. I know this because I just installed this cooler on my machine for my 955 BE on an ASUS motherboard.

Chances are good (read: certain) that something got messed up inadvertently when you re-assembled everything. Run your chkdsk on your harddrives, defragment the files and verify connections. There is no way a heatsink will affect your load times. Good Luck

 

[divz]

@trihedral: If storing junk is what is getting my PC slow, then howcome it wasn't this slow right before I installed my new heatsink? I did not download, install, or even touch any of my files for that matter after replacing the stock heatsink.
I hope I'm just paranoid and that this problem can be fixed but there is no luck so far...

@jrnyfan: I also have an Asus mobo. Just for my own knowledge... how could something get messed up when I re-assembled everything?
And thanks for the recommended solutions. I ran chkdsk (no major errors or anything) and I defrag'd my HDD. There wasn't too much done.

I am still having no luck... Is the HDD really the only thing that could be affecting my speed? I'm guessing that if my HSF were the problem, the CPU would just get hotter than normal but that would have no influence on loading times, correct?
Are there any tests I can run to pinpoint the issue I'm having?

 

[divz]

Even when I'm not running many applications or anything, the windows task manager says that my CPU usage is around 25% constantly and the graph for the first core is really high. I can supply screenshots if that would help. Also under"Memory", it's about 3/4 full at 2.94GB; is that a problem?

Worst thing is my C: drive i think... it says "221GB free of 465 GB" but sometimes that number goes to "300 ish GB free" but just a little while before I saw it fluctuate to less than 1GB free... I know some fluctuation is normal but my fluctuations seem a little too crazy

 

[RetiredChief]

First off, check your temps under load. Run prime 95 and monitor the individual core temps. Prime 95 will put a higher stress on system than normal usage - will also so if tou have a temp problem. Mid range HSF do not provide a big performance gain @ idle over stock - But big improvement over stock hSF when loaded.

Changing the HSF (Unless CPU getting to hot and slowing down) will not cause the problem you are seeing.

CPU utilization does seem high. Possible Background program.
On 'Free Space" Windows 7 could be doing a defrag in the background

Leave sitting for 30 min to an hour and see if cpu util still high and if Free space still fluctuating.

 

[divz]

I ran Prime 95 and temps were 48 degrees C max. That's not too bad is it? I also live in California and my room is probably a little warming than the average room here. I still keep getting the feeling that something is up with the heatsink, though... Like maybe I tightened it too little, too much, etc. If I were to remove it and pretty much reassemble my HSF from scratch, would I have to remove all the old thermal compound and reapply it? (I'm guessing yes). Is it possible that my HSF isn't functioning at its maximum potential because of some error I made during the installation, so it's not cooling the CPU enough so the CPU is sacrificing performance in order to keep lower temps?

 

[jrnyfan]

I live in Utah and after an hour of Prime95 I was at 56C according to ASUS Probe and that's with my 955 BE @ 3.6GHz so 48C is plenty cool.

I have an ASUS M4A79XTD EVO board and I screwed down the retaining clip until all 4 were tight on the board so unless you really over tightened things or did it too quickly and cracked some leads or something, I don't see how the HS would affect it. If you did damage any of the traces around the socket, my experience has been that it flat won't work, not just slow down but I'm not an engineer so I'm not 100% sure on that.

If you do start over, yes you should always replace the thermal compound. As a side note, remember that a very very small amount goes a long way. The less compound you have, the more thermal conductivity you will have. Think total coverage but paper thin amounts.

I agree with RetiredChief, if after letting the system boot up and sit idle for 5-10 minutes and if the cpu is still being taxed, there are processes that are stealing your resources, same with the memory usage. Terminate those processes, uninstall those programs and then see what happens.

 

[RickyT23]

Yeah you have a software issue if anything. Your CPU and HSF are fine (Prime95 is 48 degrees which is really quite rather cool - nothing else to worry about there).

trihedral is right - Your computer is going slow because of (something other than your HSF). Likely to be software - a Windows update maybe. The temps are fine up to about 70 degress as a rule, your CPU is not causing the problem.

If you are determined to believe that it is the bl@#dy HSF then fine, but it isn't.

 

[swifty_morgan]

you said you pulled the board to install back plate. You probably could have used the one already there ??? anyways, pull the board and put it back in. If that doesn't help try uninstalling and re-installing. make sure you use the washers or insulators that are in the kit and use them in the right spot. you may have a short.

 

[saint19]

1- How do you removed the old TIM from CPU and Hyper 212+ for 2nd installation?
2- Where do you get the target score?
3- As RetiredChief says, what programs are you running in the background?
4- How do you installed the cooler? Where is looking the fan?

 

[divz]

SAINT,
I removed it with a abit of lighter fluid and a paper towel. The target score was given by 3dmark06 immediately after my results were shown. I'll get back to you on the programs since I'm not on my desktop right now but I don't really run that many things. I will update you though later today. I installed the cooler like the instruction manual said and like the Coolermaster official video on youtube said. The fan is pushing air through hsf toward the rear of the case exhaust fan. I only have one 120mm fan at the moment.

 

[RetiredChief]

Ouch on Lighter fluid, leaves an oil residule unles you cleaned it afterwards with alcohol.

 

[saint19]

You need use isopropyl alcohol or normal alcohol and NEVER touch the cooler, CPU or TIM with your fingers. Here is another question, how do you applied the TIM?

 

[divz]

Is lighter fluid a serious problem if I don't clean it with alcohol afterwards?
It seems that for memory usage, svchost.exe is taking up the most which I believe is normal. The CPU usage however is mostly my internet browser google chrome... I don't understand why it takes so much CPU usage even though I only have one window open...

 

[saint19]

Is lighter fluid a serious problem if I don't clean it with alcohol afterwards?
It seems that for memory usage, svchost.exe is taking up the most which I believe is normal. The CPU usage however is mostly my internet browser google chrome... I don't understand why it takes so much CPU usage even though I only have one window open...

If you don't clean it with that, the oil residues don't permit a perfect contact of the CPU, TIM and cooler.

 

[divz]

Ok thanks for the tips, SAINT!
I plan on buying a linen-free cloth later and isotropyl alcohol to really ensure that everything is done perfectly.
The method I used for applying my artic silver was the simple blob method... but I know now that that isn't the most effective method with the 212+. I recently read that the "line" method is the best. Since the 212+ has more pipes, should I make 3 lines of thermal paste on the cooler or is 2 still enough?

 

[saint19]

Take a look of my guide, there you can find a review of the best methods for apply the TIM according to the cooler that you have.

I recommend you do three lines and use a old debit or credit card for cover all the cooler with the TIM. Don't forget clean the card with the isopropyl alcohol before use it.

 

[divz]

Yeah, I just read your guide and it was very helpful!
I will reinstall everything exactly like you said and I will update everyone as soon as I buy my materials and reinstall it from scratch. Wish me luck!

 

[saint19]

Good luck, let me know the results.