Please hep, exessive temps OC'd 3820

[bromchild84]

Hi, im pretty sure my water cooler is not doing what it is supposed to. Ive only had this computer a matter of weeks, here are my specs

COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE
Overclocked Intel® Quad Core i7-3820 (3.6GHz @ max 4.6GHz)
Motherboard ASUS® SABERTOOTH X79: SOCKET 2011, R.O.G
Memory (RAM) 16GB KINGSTON HYPERX GENESIS QUAD-DDR3 1600MHz X.M.P
Graphics Card 3GB AMD RADEON™ HD7970
256gb Samsung 830 SSD
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
20GB INTEL® SSD 313 SERIES - SLC CACHE DRIVE
12x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE
INTEL CERTIFIED LIQUID CPU COOLER FOR SOCKET LG2011
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
NZXT Sentry 2 Fan Controller with 5 Fitted Case Fans
ASUS Xonar DS soundcard
DUAL-BAND WIRELESS 802.11N 450Mbps PCI-E CARD

The cooler is an Intel Certified Antec Liquid Cooling Solution. It lights up blue as if it is on. I have a large fan at front of case and one on the side drawing in, two large fans on the top of case drawing air out and also the fan on the back of the rad drawing air out. On the internet like I am now with nothing else running im getting temps of 43c, idle I think around 40c or just under. After running Prime 95 for just ten mins it got up to 81c on core one fluctuating between 76c and 80c, the other cores were slightly cooler but not by much.

Im by no means an expert but it seems to be far too hot for my liking. Ive read reviews for the same cooler and they report much lower temps.

If anyone could offer me some advice that would be great

Many thanks

Eric

 

[bromchild84]

Apologies for the typo in the title!!!!! Cant seem to edit it....doh!

 

[scopey86]

Most likely? bad contact with the CPU and block or maybe a factory defect.

 

[bromchild84]

Hi thanks for the reply, computer is chirping away like mad too, doesn't sound right to me. So these temps are too high for the kind off cooling I have in my case?

I just want to be sure as Im thinking of sending the whole thing back. It had a faulty GPU aswell (a replacement was sent and working fine), pretty fed up with it now as it cost me a fair amount!

Spec'd it myself and bought it from PC specialist, I was under the impression they had a really good rep, ive not had a very good experience with them at all.

 

[cbag]

There is no way to know if it is a bad temp without knowing how hard the CPU is being used. What exactly is the % use in task manager?

 

[bromchild84]

Its currently using 1% in task manager, and at 43c on real temp and on CPUID hardware monitor give or take a couple of degrees c

At 100% on prime95 it got up to 81c on core 1 after less than ten mins

 

[bromchild84]

Its running at 104% frequency if that makes a difference. 104% frequency 1% cpu usage and at 43c (with a max of 52c and minimum of 41c), all i have been doing is using the internet and running the monitor programs

 

[bromchild84]

Hmmmm it looks like its been botched into the case! The fan is sandwiched between the rad and the case. Every picture I can find of this cooler the fan is on the back and not in the middle. Am i right in thinking this is wrong, they way PC Specialist have fitted it into my case I mean?

Want to be certain before I make a phone call in the morning.

Has anyone had bad experiences with PC Specialist on here?

 

[rubix_1011]

Overclocked Intel® Quad Core i7-3820 (3.6GHz @ max 4.6GHz)

Here is the basis of the issue, but it's hard to say if it's the culprit or not. If you have a poor overclock, it could be overvolted higher than it needs to be. If not, then your cooler isn't keeping up.

If you leave it at idle for long periods of time (15-30 mins), do the temps remain fairly normal, around the 43C mark? Or do they slowly climb? Do they immediately drop back to normal idle temps after you stop the load testing?

Hmmmm it looks like its been botched into the case! The fan is sandwiched between the rad and the case. Every picture I can find of this cooler the fan is on the back and not in the middle. Am i right in thinking this is wrong, they way PC Specialist have fitted it into my case I mean?

Depends which direction the fan is moving air and if there is good air circulation in the case to begin with.

Try this:
Remove the side of your case and use a desk fan or normal house fan to blow air into your case on HIGH. Repeat your load testing and see what temps you get. If your load temps go down, you have poor airflow. If your load temps remain about the same, you need to address better fans for the cooler, or dial back your CPU overclock...or you might have an airlock on the closed loop cooler.

 

[bromchild84]

Overclocked Intel® Quad Core i7-3820 (3.6GHz @ max 4.6GHz)

Here is the basis of the issue, but it's hard to say if it's the culprit or not. If you have a poor overclock, it could be overvolted higher than it needs to be. If not, then your cooler isn't keeping up.

If you leave it at idle for long periods of time (15-30 mins), do the temps remain fairly normal, around the 43C mark? Or do they slowly climb? Do they immediately drop back to normal idle temps after you stop the load testing?

Hmmmm it looks like its been botched into the case! The fan is sandwiched between the rad and the case. Every picture I can find of this cooler the fan is on the back and not in the middle. Am i right in thinking this is wrong, they way PC Specialist have fitted it into my case I mean?

Depends which direction the fan is moving air and if there is good air circulation in the case to begin with.

Try this:
Remove the side of your case and use a desk fan or normal house fan to blow air into your case on HIGH. Repeat your load testing and see what temps you get. If your load temps go down, you have poor airflow. If your load temps remain about the same, you need to address better fans for the cooler, or dial back your CPU overclock...or you might have an airlock on the closed loop cooler.

Hi, thanks for the detailed reply. I reset the BIOS last night and did a fresh overclock, (same as they would have done at PC Specialist), the temps are actually better now, Idle at between 36-38, and they don't seem to be climbing. They drop pretty dramatically when I stop the stress testing. It got up to 77c after 10mins of testing last night (after re-overclocking) which is much better.

I had a few problems when I first got the PC so I reset the BIOS the day I got it, PC Specialist sent me this overclock guide:

"AI Tweaker section:

AI Overclock Tuner: XMP
BLCK Freq: 100
By All Cores: 44
Mem Freq: 1600
EPU Power Saving: disabled
CPU Voltage: Manual Mode
CPU Manual Voltage: 1.35
CPU Spread Spectrum: disabled

CPU Configuration section:

CPU C1E Support: disabled"

So overclock is actually 4.3Ghz (Only 43 multipliers) and 4.4ghz with turbo Boost. The 1.35v seemed high to me from what I have read about overcocking the 3820, but ive not been able to lower it with any sucess (although I havent tried too many settings in fear of damaging it!!). Im sure I read somewhere that because of the type of ram and the Freq being 1600, the voltage needs to be at least 1.35. That statement is possibly a load of rubbish though.

I will try the fan method.

Ive actually ordered (arriving tomorrow) 2x 120mm Noctua NF-F12PWM fans (replace current side fan and also add one just above it and in line height wise with the Rad at back of case) and 1x 80mm Noctua NF-R8-1800 Case Fan to go in the small slot on opposite side at the back of the motherboard. Should I set bthe one behind the mother board to draw in or out?

Currently one large at front drawing in, one on side (soon to be 2) drawing in, fan at back drawing out through rad, and 2 fans on top drawing out.

 

[bromchild84]

*Edit*
But even the new temps are possibly too high for a watercooled pc from what I have heard others achive.

 

[rubix_1011]

I wouldn't classify a closed loop cooler as a watercooled PC, even though they use the same general principles. It's similar to stating that a Honda and a Mercedes are both 'cars'.

It sounds like an issue of vCore or just overall overclock of the CPU under high load. You are still going to see fairly high load temps, even with nominal overclocking. You really should consider against using the AI tool and just use the BIOS instead...it's a much better option, and you have greater control.

To be perfectly honest, it's very doubtful you'll need to overclock this CPU for anything you'll be using it for. If you feel it needs to be, then I strongly urge you to read as much as you can on overclocking and how to do it correctly. If you paid for this CPU speed from a 3rd party (I've never heard of PC Specialist? Not sure where you are from...could be a local place I don't know... or is just a person that built your computer?) If you paid for this CPU clock speed, you should consider having them address the overclocking and address the load temp issues. 4.6ghz should be pretty easy to do, but again...it isn't necessary with that CPU unless you really want to.

 

[bromchild84]

I wouldn't classify a closed loop cooler as a watercooled PC, even though they use the same general principles. It's similar to stating that a Honda and a Mercedes are both 'cars'.

It sounds like an issue of vCore or just overall overclock of the CPU under high load. You are still going to see fairly high load temps, even with nominal overclocking. You really should consider against using the AI tool and just use the BIOS instead...it's a much better option, and you have greater control.

To be perfectly honest, it's very doubtful you'll need to overclock this CPU for anything you'll be using it for. If you feel it needs to be, then I strongly urge you to read as much as you can on overclocking and how to do it correctly. If you paid for this CPU speed from a 3rd party (I've never heard of PC Specialist? Not sure where you are from...could be a local place I don't know... or is just a person that built your computer?) If you paid for this CPU clock speed, you should consider having them address the overclocking and address the load temp issues. 4.6ghz should be pretty easy to do, but again...it isn't necessary with that CPU unless you really want to.

Hi, yeah I did it through the BIOS. PC Specialist (www.pcspecialist.co.uk) is pretty well known company in the UK (I live in sunny Abernethy in Scotland), they consistently get great reviews and are very fair priced. I just seem to have been unlucky.

I followed their instructions to the letter with their overclock, this is how they would have done it in their depot.

They seem to think that the temps are not too high, but they would say that.

Im gonna get these new fans fitted and take things from there.

Thank you very much for all you useful advise and detailed answers

Eric

 

[rubix_1011]

I like Intel Burn Test for loading a CPU as it seems to load it harder, but others will argue otherwise. It really depends on the vcore they have you set (among a few other things), but it would be a wise decision to leave at stock for now and learn how to overclock the CPU correctly, or just return it if that falls under their policy. The temps you were seeing were fairly acceptable, but it also depends on ambient room temp as well as case airflow as both of these can make a large impact on load temps. Most people here will tell you to orient your radiator fan to push the coolest air possible through the radiator (meaning an intake on the back panel vs. traditionally exhaust) but if you have good case airflow, this shouldn't make much difference.

 

[jacknhut]

1.35V is awfully high for a 4.3 Ghz overclock. 4.3 Ghz is basically the normal clock of the CPU (with boost) and thus it should be stable at 1.21V stock vcore. Change the vcore and you will see a lower temp.

I have the same processor btw.