CPU fans. What are you guys using? Any suggestions?
 

This Intel fan that came with my new core 2 proc doesn't cool that well. I'm running between 60 - 79C. I am thinking of going with a Zalman. Any suggestions?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118223

can you post in "F" you've been living too close to canada for too long : )

That would be like 150 F

hmm.. it's shouldn't run that hot to begin with. I have a dual core Pentium D 3ghz with the stock heatsink and fan and it never runs that hot no matter what I do. If you were the one that put the cpu on make sure that it's seated properly on the motherboard. If it's not clipped in tightly it will run hotter than normal.

even right now with the clips on my heatsink and fan being broken the cpu temp. is only 62C. I bought a new one and just waiting for it to get here. Prior to that though the CPU temp. was between 46C and 55C

I use a Silent Water cooling solution from Thermaltake. It's cheap ($55 or so), extremely easy to install and keeps your chip cool. My E6600 stays around 30C when the fan is on the low setting, around 26C on the high setting.

all this Celsius talk is giving me a headache

here... http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/tempfc.htm

I use two topless Asian nymphs waving palm fronds...

ADG Webmaste

wouldn't that make thing very hot instead of cooling things down? ;)

haha, yeah. CPU temp seems to be measured in C from what I'm reading on my mobo. ;)

my cpu temp gauges read out in F

Hi, Yes this is the first computer I've put together. I'll take it out and put it back in and see how it goes. It runs around 54c normally.. then if I boot up a game it goes up to at least 79c.

well, if putting it back in doesn't work than maybe the game you're playing is a cpu hog and making the cpu work very hard. This would explain the temperature increase. Of course, a 25C increase seems a little high.

Give us a link to the case you are using, that can have a ton to do with the exhaust through the back, out the side and the inflow from the front - depending on where fans are and what kind of fan they are. Picking a CPU cooler has a lot to do with case design, for sure. Although, I am surprised that a core 2 duo cpu is running that hot - they use less energy than the Pentium Dual Cores and the older hyperthreaded processors.

Brad

I've only had one computer ever do something similar, make sure that after you clean off the thermal grease/cooling solution just put a dab on the very center of the chip. Since you are new to putting them together let the heatsink pressure do all the work... don't you bother spreading it out. Make sure you clean off the thermal grease well before re-applying. Make sure to use a high-grade Isopropyl alcohol (preferably 99%) when cleaning. When applying the heatsink to the chip, make sure to gently bring it down vertically as possible (try not to bring down the heatsink at an angle).

After you have the heatsink seated properly, clamp it down using whichever tools they have available. After you have secured the heatsink to the mobo, twist it slightly to the left and the right (it shouldn't move much at all, just a little bit in either direction). This will help squeeze out any trapped air bubbles and make for a better seal. After this you really just need to burn the computer in... thermal grease isn't immediately effective, it takes a few days for it to start really cooling properly, especially arctic ceramique (it took about a week before my computer temps dropped a few degrees).

Here is the case...
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811144151

I've been using this one since May. Seems to work well.

http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l...&modelmen u=1

Here's what I use and I love it :) It does a great job for me. Just make sure you have enough room for it, it's a big sucker :)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

its not that hard :winkwink:

Thanks a lot for taking the time to type that up. It's very helpful and I'll be sure to do those things. Thanks!

No problem. I?ve been building computers for over fifteen years. They are so easy to put together now compared to what they used to be, so much choice and freedom in what you want to use and how you want to use it. Most of all they are FUN to put together! Sure, frustrating at times, but still fun.

My core2duo with the stock Intel fan runs between 39C and 50C... occassional bursts to 52C, and that is with it overclocked about 10-15% most of the time.

If you are getting high CPU speeds, check a few things out: Make sure your fan installed right, that all four legs are firmly secured into the motherboard, and that you have 100% contact with the CPU... any gaps, and you get hotspots (death is approaching).

Also, make sure you have the monitoring software that came with your motherboard installed, and make sure it is actually spinning up the fan. At 70C it should be turning something like 3000rpm or even higher trying to cool the CPU.

Also, check your overall airflow. This take a little bit of thinking, when I went form a P4 regular to a core2duo, I had to reverse a case fan to improve the overall airflow and to properly cool not only the CPU but the air inside the case. You cannot cool a CPU if the air inside the case is hot. If you don't have a case fan (outside of the fan on the power supply) consider getting one and installing it to improve airflow inside your case.

You can check to see if this is the situation by running your machine with the case open, and seeing if the CPU temp drops.

Good luck.

Yeah, it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot doing it. I look forward to building another one in the future. :thumbsup

im using the "Big Typhoon VX" from Thermaltake. its got a 120mm fan so its rather large and it has to be installed with the motherboard out of the case because it uses a support on the bottom side also.. if you want to avoid that hassle the thermaltake 775D is nice

that's the one I just bought to replace the one that's fucked up (the stock heatsink and fan)

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...ctic%20Cooling

Make sure the heat sink is seated properly and has some thermal coating. Stock heatsink&fans aren't always the greatest but it shouldn't be getting that hot under loads unless you've heavily overclocked.

I'm using the oem heatsink and fan with my opteron 165 oc @ 2.7ghz. 85F at idle ~125F at extented max loads.

Zalmen's are good, but I check other things first, no reason for it to be that high.

I think there's good advice in this thread. Definitely reseat the processor. Also, on that case make sure that the top fan is exhausting air out of the case, not blowing air in. The rear fan should be blowing air out the back and I noticed that the rear fan is rather small and that at any regular computer store you could buy a larger fan to replace it. That might also be a consideration on the front fan as well. Based on what Alex posted, I think that it's probable that the processor just needs to be cleaned, re-goo'd and put back on. As far as replacing the heat sink, if you feel that you need to just buy one from NewEgg that has good consumer reviews that isn't the cheapest of the lot.

Good luck!

Brad

Lol, I read fans as people and not cooling devices. I'm a big fan of the Core 2 Duo myself....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835106078

All in one water cooling for a CPU. Cheap and easy to install if you wanted to go with water cooling.

Update!
I replaced the fan with the Zalman
fan. I cleaned the processor with rubbing alcohol and applied the thermal paste. My proc is running at about 34c on low loads and around 50c max. I'm very happy. I appreciate all the help you guys gave me. I would have been confused had I not come here and asked.
Thanks!!