# i5 2500k + Zalman CNPS10X Extreme temperature



## ChristTheGreat (Oct 28, 2011)

Hi Guys,

I finally upgraded my Athlon x4 635, and moved to an Intel i5 2500k, P8P67 Evo, 2x 4gb Kingston hyperX Genesis PnP 1600mhz 1.5v.

I've installed my CNPS10x on it with Zalman STG2 thermal paste. I installed it like this: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/152/zalmancnps10xextreme26.jpg/

This is not my picture since last picture, the fan was on bottom. Fan is set a little bit higher than Low speed. Everything is in a CoolerMaster CM690 Advanced II, with a 120mm fan rear exhaust, 140mm in front intake, and 2x 140mm low speed 39cfm Fractal fan on the top.

First, let me tell you at the begining, my bios said my CPU was at 44C. I flashed bios, and it went to 31C.

So here is my question. I left everything on stock setting with turbo, CPU-Z telling me my vcore is 1.264v at full load, and I get a core reaching 57-59C (Prime 95).







Temp are normal or not? Room temp is about 21-22C.

Thanks for any help 

Christ


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## mjkmike (Oct 28, 2011)

Temps look good for the cooler you are using.  Going from AMD to Intel is a shock for some because Itell runs hot but can take the heat much better than AMD.  When you start to get over 70c at load look for a better HSF.  For short bench runs even 80c is safe.  Enjoy the new rig.


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## ChristTheGreat (Oct 28, 2011)

Thanks for your reply. Do you have an idea of what cooler could be much better? Noctua cooler? I want to overclock this CPU with a safe voltage, cause maybe he will run some BOINC overclocked, so I think safe voltage is 1.35v. I'll try to keep it under 70C


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## xBruce88x (Oct 28, 2011)

yea those temps aren't bad. I remember my pentium d being able to handle 174deg F (79c)

i think that i5 can handle 99c (but what mike suggested is better)

from what you've said about fan settings, it seems your cooler should handle it fine with an increase in fan speed if needed for overclocking.

how are your top fans set up?


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## ChristTheGreat (Oct 28, 2011)

They are exhaust fan.

Well, I've just se CPU ratio to 40, vcore manual at 1.264, all rest is default. Running prime95 for about 2 hours now, highest core was at 65, but the average is 60-62C max core.


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## LagunaX (Oct 28, 2011)

1.3875v rings a bell but you'd better have the cooling to keep temps in the mid 80's or less.
Go for 4.5-4.6ghz...


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## Pickles Von Brine (Oct 29, 2011)

Those seem a bit high to me, then again I am rocking an H100 so >.>


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## ChristTheGreat (Oct 29, 2011)

Yeah that corsair H100 looks awesome ^_^

Here are some news:

-I did a prime95 at 4.4ghz, 1.264v that CPU-Z report, fully stable 12hrs.
-Now going for 4.6ghz at same voltage.
-When I start the computer, CPU-Z report me 1.3v, but after startup, CPU goes down to 1.6ghz and 1v. When runing back prime it's 1.264v ^_^

Max core temp for now I saw = 65C.

For now, looks like this CPU will be able to reach 5ghz xD


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## erixx (Oct 29, 2011)

First time in my life that I speak to a ChristTheGreat, but whatever, reaching 5GHz on air and stable depends of the quality of your chip.
Mine runs at 1600 at 1,06 v and at 4400 at 1,35. 
In the past different software for sensor reading gave different readings... I check in BIOS or in Aida64.
Mine with Noctuas goes up to 68ºC during stress test at 4400 Mhz.

Haleluya!


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## ChristTheGreat (Oct 29, 2011)

haha you made me laught erixx 

at 4400mhz, I was stable 1.264v if I look at CPU-Z

in bios, it says 1.16v I think, I have offset at + 0.030v, and Turbo voltage at 0.004v.

Now at 4.6ghz it's not stable, so I'll crank a bit the vcore, instead I'll keep 4400mhz for now since it's a nice clock for me xD


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## LagunaX (Oct 29, 2011)

You're not gonna hit 5ghz stable with that cooler if your chip can even get to 5ghz...


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## ChristTheGreat (Oct 30, 2011)

I know  that's why I,m looking maybe for a new cooler, but I want something with very low noise. maybe under 100$ lol


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## LagunaX (Oct 30, 2011)

Nh-d14 or h-100


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## linoliveira (Nov 6, 2011)

Sorry for the late reply, but my graduation is taking me lots of time.

I have the same cooler as you. I'm stable 4.2GHz and temps on prime95 are ~ 58ºC with room temp being  ~ 20ºC.
I am not using the Zalman thermal paste tho, i use arctic silver 5.

My chip looks a bit better, because i can get 4.2GHz at 1.216v and 4.4GHz at 1.246v (cpu-z reads less tho)
Even at 4.4GHz the max core temp on prime95 is 63ºC, but i see you have too much voltage for stock settings, 1.26v? :|  my board was default at 1.20 if i remember correctly.

and btw, any updates on your stable OC? i wanna see what the 10X is capable of


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## radrok (Nov 6, 2011)

If you are looking for an awesome air cooler I would suggest not to look further than Noctua NH-D14, Thermalright Silver Arrow or Prolimatech Megahalems these are beastly coolers that will surely you do well!


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## linoliveira (Nov 6, 2011)

radrok said:


> If you are looking for an awesome air cooler I would suggest not to look further than Noctua NH-D14, Thermalright Silver Arrow or Prolimatech Megahalems these are beastly coolers that will surely you do well!



NH-D14 ftw!! its silent and has great performance indeed


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## PaulieG (Nov 6, 2011)

I love the Noctua coolers, but if you want nearly the performance, with a smaller footprint and a better price, go with a Venomous-X. It's really my "go to" cooler for Intel after playing with many of the high end coolers on the market.
There is also the Swiftech Polaris, which is highly regarded by a reviewer (for another site) who resides here. The Swifty is actually on sale over at Sidewinders. 

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swpo120hesif.html


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## ChristTheGreat (Nov 10, 2011)

linoliveira said:


> Sorry for the late reply, but my graduation is taking me lots of time.
> 
> I have the same cooler as you. I'm stable 4.2GHz and temps on prime95 are ~ 58ºC with room temp being  ~ 20ºC.
> I am not using the Zalman thermal paste tho, i use arctic silver 5.
> ...



I'm still at 4.4ghz with 1.264 (CPU-Z sometimes show 1.256), but I tried going to 4.6ghz and it wouldn't be stable for a lot of time, maybe 1hrs or 2, so I think I can get 4.5ghz with that voltage. but first I'll t ry to get the more stable vcore. I use the Zalman STG2, but I would prefer getting back some STG1 which I think was much better (my Athlon x4 635 @ 3.36ghz with 1.4v was amazing, Coretemp showed up max prime for 10hrs a temperature of 46-48 if I remember xD)

Well, I'll try soon, maybe getting to 4.6-4.7ghz with max temp of 70C (I'll put the zalman at higher speed for the stability test) when I'll get less work from University 



radrok said:


> If you are looking for an awesome air cooler I would suggest not to look further than Noctua NH-D14, Thermalright Silver Arrow or Prolimatech Megahalems these are beastly coolers that will surely you do well!



Okay thanks! 



Paulieg said:


> I love the Noctua coolers, but if you want nearly the performance, with a smaller footprint and a better price, go with a Venomous-X. It's really my "go to" cooler for Intel after playing with many of the high end coolers on the market.
> There is also the Swiftech Polaris, which is highly regarded by a reviewer (for another site) who resides here. The Swifty is actually on sale over at Sidewinders.
> 
> http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swpo120hesif.html



I'll check for some review, thanks also


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## linoliveira (Nov 10, 2011)

ChristTheGreat said:


> I'm still at 4.4ghz with 1.264 (CPU-Z sometimes show 1.256), but I tried going to 4.6ghz and it wouldn't be stable for a lot of time, maybe 1hrs or 2, so I think I can get 4.5ghz with that voltage. but first I'll t ry to get the more stable vcore. I use the Zalman STG2, but I would prefer getting back some STG1 which I think was much better (my Athlon x4 635 @ 3.36ghz with 1.4v was amazing, Coretemp showed up max prime for 10hrs a temperature of 46-48 if I remember xD)
> 
> Well, I'll try soon, maybe getting to 4.6-4.7ghz with max temp of 70C (I'll put the zalman at higher speed for the stability test) when I'll get less work from University



It is normal that a spike of ~ 0.02v may occur during load change in the CPU cores, but that's not an issue.

About the thermal paste, keep in mind that AMD processors run much cooler than Intel ones, so i think it wont make much difference in temps, but you can try it :b

When you can pass the barrier of 4.5GHz - 4.6GHz pls let me know! Because i think we must give it a bit more Core Current in the BIOS and/or a bit more PLL voltage. I didn't try this myself because i want my chip to run as cool as possible, but understanding how it works is interesting.


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## xkm1948 (Nov 11, 2011)

that temp is good for a zalman cooler. but i agree with oithers. you really should not try 5ghz on that cooler.

i hope zalman improved its quality, my last heatsink was zalman9700 and it stinks.


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## Beertintedgoggles (Nov 11, 2011)

Paulieg said:


> I love the Noctua coolers, but if you want nearly the performance, with a smaller footprint and a better price, go with a Venomous-X. It's really my "go to" cooler for Intel after playing with many of the high end coolers on the market.
> There is also the Swiftech Polaris, which is highly regarded by a reviewer (for another site) who resides here. The Swifty is actually on sale over at Sidewinders.
> 
> http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swpo120hesif.html



Damn, had I seen that cooler first I probably would have bought it over the Corsair A70.  I like the 8mm direct touch heat pipes and Swiftech's appear to have a much smaller gap between them than the Corsair.


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## ChristTheGreat (Nov 13, 2011)

Well, very strange this occur right now.

I was on bios 17** I already been able to boot windows with 46x but wasn't stable at 1.256v.

Now, I've flashed to bios 2001 (BIOS CPU temp went from 32 to 24 at idle..) and with 1.272v, can't even boot windows, it freeze at windows logo startup.. 

When I get the board, temp was 42C, went to 32 with flash, and went now to 24... Damn Asus bios xD Anyway, anyone have an idea why now I can't get to 46x? :/


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Nov 13, 2011)

I want your cooler. If it's 26C with the room temp at 21 I could prob have my idle near 10C LOL


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## ChristTheGreat (Nov 13, 2011)

lol xD it's 5C in your room? Playing in fridge?

Finally, just enabled PLL overvolt in bios and I've been able to boot at 46x...

room temp should be near 20-21C. 24C in bios, but core at idle are like 30-32C.

While gaming, it's less hot than my X4 635...


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## de.das.dude (Nov 13, 2011)

contrary to popular belief intels run hotter than AMDs. Intels can take heat better than AMDs as well.


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Nov 13, 2011)

ChristTheGreat said:


> lol xD it's 5C in your room? Playing in fridge?
> 
> Finally, just enabled PLL overvolt in bios and I've been able to boot at 46x...
> 
> ...



Not in a fridge, in canada with the window open


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## ChristTheGreat (Nov 13, 2011)

Mine is closed 

But for AMD vs Intel temp, I was looking at the exhaust top of my case, when I'm gaming, it was hotter on the AMD CPU... 

well going to bed, I'll keep running Prime95 4.6ghz 1.28v

BTW max core temp : 68C for now.


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## ChristTheGreat (Dec 16, 2011)

Just for a feedback, since I couldn't get for now the corsair H100, I did a small mod. Removed the actual fan of the CNPS10x Extreme, and put a Coolermaster R4 blue led 120mm.












You need to remove all the fan fitting, except the plastic that you screw in. By the way, the heatsink is very similar to an ultra 120.. maybe a bit bigger, but is it similar lol. Fan is being controlled by a Zalman Fan mate 2. max speed, is much quieter than the Stock fan at max speed.

Result: Drop the prime95 temp from 67-68 highest core, to 58-59C 4.5ghz @ 1.256v, which is a not bad result 

Will see if I can try fittign a pull fan also, and see if I get better result. This will let me wait a bit for my H100 

P.S. Sorry it's still a bit dusty


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## linoliveira (Dec 16, 2011)

oh... WHAT THA HELL MAN 

I should try that mod too on my CNPS 10X Extreme.

I'm getting idle temps of 20ºC and around 50ºC in prime95 with this cold weather, gotta try a good CFN fan in here and see the improvement.

btw, you need to take the cooler out to unmount the original fan, or is it easy to take the fan out?


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## ChristTheGreat (Dec 16, 2011)

I was able to take it out in the case, you just need a small screw driver, and you need to remove your ram

You will need to take off the 4 screw of the fan, then you will get 2 screw under the fan you need to take off. Then you will be able to remove the top fan controller. You keep the plastic fan mounting as you need it (it's clipped on the heatsink).

for the new fan, you need a small screw driver also, to be able to pass it into the fan hole.

If you were running the CNPS10x on medium or more, you will just get same performance, but with silence. On mine, I was running it at low speed for silence, but now with the CM R4 120mm, it's high flow with low noise. I did a small cleaning also, but I don't think that could make 10C better, since it wasn't that dusty.


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## linoliveira (Dec 17, 2011)

Thanks for the valuable info m8! 

I'm getting tempted to order this fan: COOLER MASTER 90 CFM Blue, it looks like one of the best out there for high CFM + silence. What do you think?


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## BarbaricSoul (Dec 17, 2011)

ChristTheGreat said:


> Thanks for your reply. Do you have an idea of what cooler could be much better? Noctua cooler? I want to overclock this CPU with a safe voltage, cause maybe he will run some BOINC overclocked, so I think safe voltage is 1.35v. I'll try to keep it under 70C



I'm running a 2600k at 4ghz under a corsair A50, my temps stay in the high 60'ties when crunching


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## ChristTheGreat (Dec 17, 2011)

linoliveira said:


> Thanks for the valuable info m8!
> 
> I'm getting tempted to order this fan: COOLER MASTER 90 CFM Blue, it looks like one of the best out there for high CFM + silence. What do you think?



This fan is the coolermaster R4:

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=4355


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## ChristTheGreat (Dec 19, 2011)

Please sahre your result to see the difference with stock fan (low, med or high speed)


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## linoliveira (Dec 20, 2011)

I got a problem with the credit card when transferring money to paypal, dunno why but my bank blocks the transaction.
As soon as i get the fan i'll post some results


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## ChristTheGreat (Dec 21, 2011)

okay


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## linoliveira (Jan 22, 2012)

As promised, here is my feedback after modding the Zalman CNPS 10X Extreme!

Here is the baby naked 






After being mounted:






Prime95 and IBT were run for 15 minutes approx.
Room temp: aprox. 20ºC











The benchmarks with the R4 were run with the room temp a bit higher, but still performed great.
An look at this:

_I based myself in a 1 to 10 rating wich i consider:
1 to 3 - you can't almost hear the fan.
4 to 6 - you hear the spinning a bit.
7 to 10 - irritating noise coming from the fan._






I know this is not a solid rating but... this fan is just extremely quiet! Look at it @ 1300RPM and you can barely hear it! (my case fans were actually louder)
I find this fan at 1800RPM is quieter than the Zalman one at 1600RPM, much quieter...
I set the R4 to 700RPM and it was almost inaudible, really good buy.

Thanks for giving me this idea!


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## ChristTheGreat (Apr 17, 2012)

Didn't saw your post 

Nice mate. Glad to see your happy with it!


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## bonemantis (Apr 17, 2012)

Nice


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