I7 3930k Cooling

torchinq

Honorable
Jul 30, 2012
43
0
10,540
So I have a i7 3930k that idles at about 40 to 50c it is stock I have not overclocked it at all. A few days ago I hit 100% load on the processor was at 75c. I know that the temps are most likely safe for this cpu becuse of how much power it uses, but is there a way to make these tempratures lower? Btw the current cooler I am using is a Noctua NH-D14 SE 2011 and it tends to spin at around 600-800 rpm.
 

Maxx_Power

Distinguished


First and foremost, the heatsink you are using with the fans it came with is capable of better cooling. Check in the BIOS to see if you have some fan control options to allow the fan to ramp up when the CPU gets hot. On ASUS boards, this option is called Q-fan. Using this option, you can set your Noctua fans to max speed when the CPU > 55 degrees or so.

Then, if that is not enough, you can always upgrade to higher flow fans. Noctua fans are optimized for quiet and low flow situations.

Try the 1st thing, that way you don't have to spend any money. If that brings down the temps a bit, and you are happy with it, then don't bother with buying fans.
 

What is the temp when u are running Prime95 for 40min?
 

torchinq

Honorable
Jul 30, 2012
43
0
10,540

I havent ran it yet because I have been worried about it damaging my cpu because of the temps. Should I not worry about that and just run it?
 

torchinq

Honorable
Jul 30, 2012
43
0
10,540

yes as far as i know it was applied correctly. I used the line method to apply it and the surfaces were cleaned before.
 

torchinq

Honorable
Jul 30, 2012
43
0
10,540

i ran it for about 25 mins and it maxed out at about 77c on the hottest core and the rest were close behind but they were all above 70c
 

torchinq

Honorable
Jul 30, 2012
43
0
10,540

Q-Fan doesnt really make a difference for the most part I changed from Turbo to standard to manual and turbo seems to be the best but not by alot
 

torchinq

Honorable
Jul 30, 2012
43
0
10,540

Yes I used the cpu fan connector on the mobo and the cpu_opt connector on the mobo. should i connect to cha fan 2 instead of cpu_opt and i dont know where to see my rpms for the heatsink fans on HW Monitor
 
Do u see that under fans?

20120122004140.png
 

Maxx_Power

Distinguished
What are the max RPM of your fans ? Usually under Q-fan, you can specify a starting temperature and a threshold temperature at which your fans max out. You want to set this maxing out temperature as low as possible if your board supports this feature. Also, if you want an idea what your current heatsink+fans are capable of, disable Q-fan entirely (you can do this with ASUS Probe in windows, or directly in the BIOS menu). This will give you an idea what your current setup is capable of without upgrades of any type.
 

torchinq

Honorable
Jul 30, 2012
43
0
10,540

if i disable q-fan will the temps be lower or higher? and im pretty sure the max for the fans is either 1200 or 2000rpm and i have only really ever seen them spinning at a max of under 900rpm
 

raytseng

Honorable
May 15, 2012
666
0
11,060
try this, actually open up your case, and then put your hand on the heatsink pipes. Do they feel like they are really hot?

If they are not getting hot; then the heat is not getting into the heatsink.

If your bios allows, try just running fans at full voltage speed; just to get a point of data to understand if it will drop your temps.

I would suggest just redoing the Thermal grease anyway.
 

Maxx_Power

Distinguished


If you disable the Q-fan, the fan will max out its speed. Q-fan works by gradually ramping up fan speed with settings the user supplied. So, to figure out how low temperatures can get, disable Q-fan, and the fans should spin at max RPM.