X4 965 heatsink as good as cm hyper 212 plus?

[Darshebag]

This is my rig
AMD x4 965 3.4ghz
Gigabyte Radeon 5870 1GB
Gigabyte GPA890 333 motherboard
Corsair 750tx 750w PSU
CM 690 II plus case
CM Hyper 212 plus
Corsair 1333mhz DDR3 4GB

This is the issue. I bought a CM Hyper 212 heatsink w/fan thinking that I would lower my idle temp by at least 5c. Turns out, my idle is actually higher, now hovering at 38c at 3.4ghz. Stock it was idling at 34c at stock 3.4ghz!
I am going to take it apart and re-install with a new configuration of thermal paste right after I post this thread. I am going to try the blob method this time and see if I get better temps.

By the way, I think that the fan is supposed to be on the side away from the rear exhaust? I have tried both ways already with no conclusions.

 

[hunter315]

The Hyper 212+ should be a fair bit better. What TIM are you using? Cheap thermal paste or poor application can reduce performance significantly.

 

[Darshebag]

Well after looking at the box I figured out the proper direction the fan is supposed to be facing. lol. Still no low numbers. It is idling now at 36c and it occasionally hits 35c. Still 1-2c higher than stock cooling. I tried using Zalman and the thermal grease supplied by CM with the Hyper 212.
I think my blob might be a little too big. I'll try a smaller amount of thermal paste and see what happens. Last time I tried I made a slightly larger than bb sized blob and then installed the heatsink without spreading. I heard spreading can cause air bubbles.

 

[DokkRokken]

You may want to fill the gaps between the heat pipes with grease before you apply a blob onto the CPU and tighten everything up. That's what I did with some OCZ Freeze and my 212+ is on a 955 and it rarely hits over 40 degrees at 3.7GHz under load.

Also, the 212+ may have similar performance as the stock cooler at idle, but once things heat up, it'll really hold its own, whereas the AMD heatsink will get mighty hot. The fan should be blowing air towards the rear fan.

 

[hunter315]

Is the ambient temperature higher than it was when you got your numbers for the stock cooler? Coolers really function of a difference between the core temperature and the ambient temp, so if ambient goes up 4C your core temp will go up 4C as well because the change in temp stays the same.

 

[Darshebag]

Well I just tested by playing GTA IV for about 10 minutes. max temp was 52c on all 4 cores. Temps never got over 52c with the stock cooler either. I have not tried filling in the gaps on the heatsink before applying it to the cpu yet. I will try this and provide feedback. Ugh....Idling at 37c.. Time to pull the heatsink off again. yay

 

[Darshebag]

btw the ambient temperature is the same. 2 hours ago it was idling at 34c with the stock cooler in the same room and clock.

 

[DokkRokken]

I'm thinking the goo that CoolerMaster sends out isn't up to par. I'd suggest a tube of OCZ Freeze: it's really cheap, and near idiot proof to apply (made for guys like me!). Also, is your 965 a 140Watt or a 125Watter?

That's quite the increase in temperature; I ran GTA4 for about 15 minutes with high settings, doing a lot of running around and the CPU didn't tick past 39. Do you know if the fan on the heatsink is running at 100%? Everest shows mine at 2035RPM'ish.

 

[Darshebag]

Well I filled in the gaps best I could with the Zalman thermal compound brush. Added a dab to the cpu and then bolted things up. It didn't go entirely in vain this time, temps have decreased by about 2c. Now I am getting stock cooling performance from my Hyper 212... 34-35c idle... Probably just a coincidence, but in GTA IV benchmark I beat my highest benchmark by 2fps. I'll have to try that again. XD The fan is running at 700rpm.(It is a 1000 rpm max fan) Know of a program that I can use to force cpu fan speed to 100%? Speedfan doesn't work for me, maybe something i'm overlooking.

 

[notty22]

Go on youtube and find a video to show you how to configure speedfan.
You have to go to configure
advanced
select a chip, usually the first.
Change to software control, and check remember me
go back to main tab
adjust down, check rpm

 

[Darshebag]

As for the wattage.. I'm not sure. I think it is a 125 because I bought the processor about 2 weeks ago. I looked at the box and couldn't find any info?

 

[Darshebag]

Thanks, with speedfan changing all fan speeds(besides gpu) to 100%, my idle is at 32c. Should be much lower. I'll pick up some ocz freeze and see how that goes.

 

[DokkRokken]

32 at idle seems fine; mine will often hit that with minimal use. I'd be more concerned with how performance at load is. Perhaps try another stress run with GTA4, or use something like Prime95 for 15 minutes to see how you do.

Edit: I'm dumb.

 

[Darshebag]

Now the max temp seems to be 49c. I ordered some ocz freeze to. Man I hope thats all it is. I may* need to work on my cable management a little, should give me a few more degrees.
Also, one thing I haven't mentioned is that my stock cooler had the help of a 140mm case fan on my side door. With the Hyper 212, there isn't enough room for the 140mm case fan on the side anymore. I had two, one on the bottom side and one on the top, had to remove the top one. I'll have to figure out some other place to install my extra 140mm fan. Should decrease my temps even more.

 

[Darshebag]

I wire tied my 140mm fan right next to my cpu. Idle temp is now 30c and gpu idle temp went from 46c to 42c! I bet if I installed a top fan it may idle in the mid 20s! Almost ready for extreme overclocking. I think i'll see if I can get a stable 3.8 for now.

 

[mosox]

Almost ready for extreme overclocking. I think i'll see if I can get a stable 3.8 for now.

That's exactly what the aftermarket heatsinks are for. Not for temperatures on idle.

 

[alikum]

You should be happy with 32C. Mine hits 39C on idle, using Cooler Master V8 without OC. Mine is a x4 955.

 

[Darshebag]

Overclocked at 3.8 with 19x multiplier and fsb on auto. Didn't have to do anything else. CPU score in mark vantage went up over 1000 points.. Too bad i'll likely never tell the difference. haha. With CPU @3.8ghz and 5870 @900mhz core (850 stock) I gained a grand total of 3 fps in GTAIV benchmark. lol. I could swear it's smoother though.

 

[Darshebag]

You should be happy with 32C. Mine hits 39C on idle, using Cooler Master V8 without OC. Mine is a x4 955.

That is pretty high. It is basically the same chip as mine. I'm using a cm 690 II with 4 large fans at 100% to get 30c though. With overclock @3.8 I still get 34c with 100% fan speed. With fans on auto variable idle is 37c @3.8ghz

 

[Darshebag]

Best answer selected by darshebag.