We just installed a thermalright XP-120 with a Sunon 109cfm 120mm fan on my Winchester 3200+..

We noticed the temps were kind of high for idle, and default clock and voltage(35-37c idle). And when we run prime95 it instantly jumps to 43-44c full load(within a second).

Is this because of the base not touching the core all the way.. or is this normal?

We installed the XP-120 on a MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum board.. and there is a capacitor that you have to bend to get the heatsink to sit all the way down...

The heatsink still touches the cap.. do you think the capacitor is pushing the heatsink off of the cpu? We just put arctic silver 5 on too...

Should we just tear the system apart and try it again?

What's the case temp? Those temps seem alright to me for aircooling or at least til I know the difference between the CPU and Case temps. As for a cap causing a bad connection I would doubt it since the amount a pressure from the heatsink but I wouldn't rule it out just yet. Also if your reading temps by your onboard temp sensor remember that they aren't the most accurate thing around.

Quote: Originally Posted by SPECIALBLEND218 What's the case temp? Those temps seem alright to me for aircooling or at least til I know the difference between the CPU and Case temps. As for a cap causing a bad connection I would doubt it since the amount a pressure from the heatsink but I wouldn't rule it out just yet. Also if your reading temps by your onboard temp sensor remember that they aren't the most accurate thing around.

The case temp according to core center is 28c, which is an ok temp. That arctic silver 5 is very thick too.. it might just need time to cure..

Sounds like some decent temps still. Remember that AS5 loses about 5c in thermal transfer alone. I would let it cure over the next week and see how it ends up. If your still not quite satisfied then I would reinstall the heatsink with the thinnest layer of AS5 you can get on that chip. Good luck bro!!!

I'm starting to believe that the new thermalright heatsinks SUCK. First of all.. the way the heatpipes look at the base.. looks like poor quality craftsmanship.

Our temps are still up there.. we can't overclock if the stock load temps are like 46c.

We applied thermal paste perfectly, we reinstalled the heatsink perfectly(a few times). I think the heatsink is just crap.

We got better temps with the stock cooler.... WTF. It is kind of pissing me off.

I have a XP 120 on a P4 2.4C @ 3.2 w/ 1.8v on it the temp never goes over 114dF under full load. I think the Beast is awesome. I would check it's mounting and make sure it's sitting flat on your CPU.