Hey all -

I just got done building my new sys this weekend and not even a couple hours into it and I am already having problems the main being temps. Here is a run down of my sys and the temps I am getting.

Lian Li PC-61 Aluminum Case
Asus P5K3 Deluxe
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR (geForce 8800GTX)
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 (kentsfield)
Corsair 2gb DDR3 1333
PC power & cooling 750W Quad
Western Digital Caviar SE 160 7200rpm
ZEROtherm BFT90 92mm (using with Arctic 5)


Ok with this setup I am getting some really high temps. According to the software that came with the board my temp is at CPU : 60c and my MOBO:46-50C


I checked the temp in my bios just to make sure it was not a false positives or crap software etc.. According to that (at last check) it was CPU:67c and MOBO: 47c


I have removed my side panel to see if that would help and it hasen't really. So what is my problem? Are me temps insanely high? If so how can I bring them down?

I would really welcome any help and suggestions.

It is very posible that the CPU heat sink is not installed propley, have you tried reinstalling it?

Try a different cooler, like a Thermalright 120 Extreme, Quads put out ALOT! of heat at could be to much for the one you have.

The reviews out on that cooler shows that it can clearly handle the load.

Have you tried to reseat it yet? You never did state if this was under full load or not.

Make sure you apply the AS5 as per the instructions on their website.

Arctic Silver Incorporated - Home

Also, use CoreTemp to measure the CPU temp.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lokie The reviews out on that cooler shows that it can clearly handle the load. Have you tried to reseat it yet? You never did state if this was under full load or not.

no I haven't taken it off and flipped it, am going to do that now. I don't think its full load for as soon as I start it the temp starts out in the mid to high 40's and right now its about 53 with me just running FF and the Asus software and my cpu usage is low, around 1-5% plus I have my side off. It seems to climb and stay there.

I guess maybe I should know what is the critical temp for my CPU/MOBO? Personally I think it should be much better than what it is.

Yes they should be a little lower but with your system temp that high as well...hmm you wont see much. Pay attention to the pattern on the block making sure its even. If you are usen AS5 they are prone to a "break in period". I like to recomend ASC to not have to deal.

Quote: Originally Posted by Rjupiter no I haven't taken it off and flipped it, am going to do that now. I don't think its full load for as soon as I start it the temp starts out in the mid to high 40's and right now its about 53 with me just running FF and the Asus software and my cpu usage is low, around 1-5% plus I have my side off. It seems to climb and stay there. I guess maybe I should know what is the critical temp for my CPU/MOBO? Personally I think it should be much better than what it is.

Well I've got a similar setup to you (P5K and Q6600) and Asus Probe reports the CPU @ 37c, and motherboard at 28c. How hot does the northbridge and other heatsinks on your mobo feel? If they're too hot to touch you need some active cooling in there ASAP. I have an Antec Spotcool blowing over my RAM and northbridge. You don't really want the northbridge going over 60c.

Make sure the heat sink isnt propped up on any capacitors, that happened on my board. Also make sure your BIOS is up to date because temperature readings are often fixed last.

you might be applying too much thermal paste. spread it thin with something like a credit card. i had a similar temp problem when i first got a core2 because of too much paste.

Rj you can just edit your last post to reply to every one. There is amulti qoute feature right next to the quote icon.

Is there a top fan on the case? If there is you might want to turn your rear fan to blow in to help with those case temps.

Quote: Originally Posted by IcEMage It is very posible that the CPU heat sink is not installed propley, have you tried reinstalling it?

No, I haven't tried that but there is not really anyway you can mess it up install wise, I means its pretty basic. But I guess I could flip it and see what happens.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lokie Yes they should be a little lower but with your system temp that high as well...hmm you wont see much. Pay attention to the pattern on the block making sure its even. If you are usen AS5 they are prone to a "break in period". I like to recomend ASC to not have to deal.

This stinks and is stressing me out. I don't want a fried system, I got to use this thing for work and I don't it to crap out under "normal" working conditions for me. Plus the fact that I live in a barnhole of a place and would have to order ASC and I don't have the time to wait for delivery etc... I got to find a solution and be up and running by Monday. Ah Hell! what a pain!

Quote: Originally Posted by reflux Well I've got a similar setup to you (P5K and Q6600) and Asus Probe reports the CPU @ 37c, and motherboard at 28c. How hot does the northbridge and other heatsinks on your mobo feel? If they're too hot to touch you need some active cooling in there ASAP. I have an Antec Spotcool blowing over my RAM and northbridge. You don't really want the northbridge going over 60c.

I can touch everything in my sys it not cool to the touch, its warm but it does not instantly burn me or anything. So I don't don't why I am getting the temp I am getting.

Quote: Originally Posted by reflux Well I've got a similar setup to you (P5K and Q6600) and Asus Probe reports the CPU @ 37c, and motherboard at 28c. How hot does the northbridge and other heatsinks on your mobo feel? If they're too hot to touch you need some active cooling in there ASAP. I have an Antec Spotcool blowing over my RAM and northbridge. You don't really want the northbridge going over 60c.

ok, I got my cpu temp down into the 30's (took off heatsink and etc...) but my motherboard is still to hot at 45c, i keep getting alarms from the asus software. I don't know what else I can do or what I should use to keep the mobo temp down. Any suggestions as to why its so damn hot?

Quote: Originally Posted by Dreyco Make sure the heat sink isnt propped up on any capacitors, that happened on my board. Also make sure your BIOS is up to date because temperature readings are often fixed last.

I don't think its the bios cause after I took off the heatsink, redid the past and put it back on the temp went down into the 30's. Also though my board was still hot like 45/46c and the only thing I could think to do was take off the side cover and point my desktop fan into the case. That brought the temp on the board down to 37c but I still think it about 10 degree to hot. So even though I am going to update the bios I don't think that is what it is.

Quote: Originally Posted by carbongraphite you might be applying too much thermal paste. spread it thin with something like a credit card. i had a similar temp problem when i first got a core2 because of too much paste.

Yep, already took the heatsink off, took of the past and reapplied it. I got the temp down to the 30'sc so I think I am ok now. The main problem is the motherboard, its still to hot.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lokie Rj you can just edit your last post to reply to every one. There is amulti qoute feature right next to the quote icon. Is there a top fan on the case? If there is you might want to turn your rear fan to blow in to help with those case temps.

Sorry about that, I think I cleaned it up. I have one top fan one rear fan and two front fans. The rear one already blows in.

HAHA Thanks RJ you didn't have to do them all, I was refering to you double posting. Looks nice none the less.

You know that is an older case design, the 80mm fans might not be moven enough air for you. A door fan mod might be needed.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lokie HAHA Thanks RJ you didn't have to do them all, I was refering to you double posting. Looks nice none the less. You know that is an older case design, the 80mm fans might not be moven enough air for you. A door fan mod might be needed.

Well if nothing my OCD tendency comes in handy.

Funny you should mention that as I took an old, but still functional, 120mm fan out of my old case and was looking for a way to mount it to the side door which has vent area so I don't have to cut into the door. I am alsolooking into getting a fan for my ram to see if that helps. Cause my guess is that it is my ram and my northbridge that is the problem. When I leave the side off and point my regular desktop fan into the case and on that area the temps for the board go down. But I might just give up and get a new/diff case to put it all in. Any suggestions out there?

You can always take the northbridge and southbridge heat sinks off and put Artic Silver 5 on them. If they don't have clips you can use Artic Silver Epoxy to glue them on. As for your Ram do they have heat sinks on them? You could try heat spreaders as well on them.

On a side note, a good case design will basically have the air moving in one direction, ie: front to back or bottom to top.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dreyco You can always take the northbridge and southbridge heat sinks off and put Artic Silver 5 on them. If they don't have clips you can use Artic Silver Epoxy to glue them on. As for your Ram do they have heat sinks on them? You could try heat spreaders as well on them. On a side note, a good case design will basically have the air moving in one direction, ie: front to back or bottom to top.

Yeah, I am thinking I might just get a new case and give this one to my sis, who is getting my old sys but it lacks a case.

have you checked your temperatures recently?
Im not sure if you're at a full load, though
Also, as Lokie already mentioned, AS5 has a breakin period of about 200 hours, and it takes a few "thermal cycles." when I first tried AS5 over the much less expensive stuff that was on the processor, I didn't notice a difference. I think it took a week, or two for a difference of at least a couple of degrees Celsius to happen. is that proper grammar?
I looked around a bit, and found that the Q6600 puts out almost twice as much heat as an E6600. it's not exact, of course, but that seems to be what people are saying.

I also found this, on a forum called Team Phoenix Rising
Intel® Core 2 Quad Q6600 and Temps - Team Phoenix Rising Forums

Quote: Originally Posted by Mortlake, who is on another forum My QX6700 had very high temperatures using any of the Arctic Silver products that I have used for years , It turns out that a lot of the Quad core chips like mine have domed heat spreaders , so you can either grind them flat, or as I did, use a granular almost foamy thermal compound like this (gives the same sort of fill as a pad) or an Akasa thermal pad which worked effectively as well . Both gave 5 - 8 degrees improvement over AS3/5 or Ceramique .

I know it's not the same processor, but maybe it'll help a bit
I hope this helps, and I hope you get it cooler soon

Quote: Originally Posted by Mortlake, who is on another forum It turns out that a lot of the Quad core chips like mine have domed heat spreaders , so you can either grind them flat, or as I did, use a granular almost foamy thermal compound like this (gives the same sort of fill as a pad) or an Akasa thermal pad which worked effectively as well .

True, but unintentional?

Try taking the side panel off of your case and set a house fan up to blow on it.
Your ambient temps are probably to high. If this works you'll just need to mod
your case for better air flow :-)

Quote: Originally Posted by Fire Hawk have you checked your temperatures recently? Im not sure if you're at a full load, though Also, as Lokie already mentioned, AS5 has a breakin period of about 200 hours, and it takes a few "thermal cycles." when I first tried AS5 over the much less expensive stuff that was on the processor, I didn't notice a difference. I think it took a week, or two for a difference of at least a couple of degrees Celsius to happen. is that proper grammar? I looked around a bit, and found that the Q6600 puts out almost twice as much heat as an E6600. it's not exact, of course, but that seems to be what people are saying. I also found this, on a forum called Team Phoenix Rising Intel® Core 2 Quad Q6600 and Temps - Team Phoenix Rising Forums I know it's not the same processor, but maybe it'll help a bit I hope this helps, and I hope you get it cooler soon

As I have already stated in previous post that I got the temp of the cpu down just fine, its not a problem. The problem is my motherboard is overheating. Its a moot point anyway as I got a new case.

Quote: Originally Posted by Slaymate Try taking the side panel off of your case and set a house fan up to blow on it. Your ambient temps are probably to high. If this works you'll just need to mod your case for better air flow :-)

Uh, yeah I already posted and said that I did this and yes it brought it down so as stated above I got a new case.