# Boiling Point



## thraxed (Apr 23, 2009)

Had to run 2 or 3 days at that temp   Though stepping back tell I figure out a better air cooling solution, and ideas?


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## Athlon2K15 (Apr 23, 2009)

what are you using for cooling? stock intel?


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## thraxed (Apr 23, 2009)

specs


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## hat (Apr 23, 2009)

i7 does run awfuly hot. the i7 920 is a 130w processor. F@H does a pretty good job of loading your processor at 100%. combine 130w processor, 100% load, shitty stock cooler, and shitty thermal paste and you get boiling temps 

Buy a Xigmatek cooler and this bolt-thru kit and get under 60c load
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233027

really now, seeing that the lowest end i7 takes 130 watts...  I never noticed that before, I always figured it was around 95w.


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## DonInKansas (Apr 23, 2009)

Might have bad cooler contact;  try reseating it.


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## dark2099 (Apr 23, 2009)

hat said:


> i7 does run awfuly hot. the i7 920 is a 130w processor. F@H does a pretty good job of loading your processor at 100%. combine 130w processor, 100% load, shitty stock cooler, and shitty thermal paste and you get boiling temps
> 
> Buy a Xigmatek cooler and this bolt-thru kit and get under 60c load
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233027
> ...



You're best bet honestly is water.  Fitseries has a really nice 920 so he is able to get his to run nice on air, but mine, at similar volts to him on my Xig DK would be pulling 80-90c.


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## hat (Apr 23, 2009)

well yeah not not everyone has $200+ to spend on a decent WC system, nor does everyone want to go through the pains of setting one up


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## sneekypeet (Apr 23, 2009)

hat said:


> well yeah not not everyone has $200+ to spend on a decent WC system, nor does everyone want to go through the pains of setting one up



I think you missed the point of the comment. I took it this way. If you run air cooling on a not so good (in utilizing the voltage) proc, air is really not the answer for i7 folding. Water is the solution to keeping i7's reasonable at load. Not that he should run and buy one, but even on a higher end cooler D2099 was still seeing relatively similar temps.


EDIT: @ thraxed. Your specs show a Thermaltake 120 cooler, could you please bit a bit more specific, or possible link my to the cooler in question?


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## dark2099 (Apr 23, 2009)

sneeky hit the nail on the head for what I was going for too.  Also to add a bit to my first post, a bigger rad is better, now I might be seeing some poor temps on my loop due to the fact its kinda half assed, but with my BIX240 with 2 80cfm fans on it, my load temps still can get into the 80c range depending on ambient temps in my room.


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## MoonPig (Apr 23, 2009)

Well, look at the guys specs, im sure WC is possible for him. 

But a Heatsink would be recommended. After re-seating of course.

Is that the standard for i7 temps? Making me not want to upgrade.


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## dark2099 (Apr 23, 2009)

MoonPig, those temps might seem high, but mind you most of the equipment out there cooling these chips was originally developed for the Core 2 Duo chips or old AMD chips which don't give off anywhere as much heat, hence why the performance will vary.  Give these manufactures a bit of time and they should come out with newer heatsinks that perform better.  Even some of the water blocks out there with Core i7 compatibility have trouble cooling i7 chips well due to the size of the IHS and die.  Plus I think with the memory controller being moved to the chip that too adds to the heat production.


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## sneekypeet (Apr 23, 2009)

MoonPig said:


> Well, look at the guys specs, im sure WC is possible for him.



I agree, but he may have spent the full lot to get where he is after a year of saving too.



MoonPig said:


> Is that the standard for i7 temps? Making me not want to upgrade.



Put it this way. if you want to OC and fold, the guys I see are taking their LGA775 waterloops and getting bigger rads and better blocks. That alone says that they ARE hotter than &&% and you just need to be a bit more prepared when taking the leap. In this case it is making sure you leave a fair amount of money in the budget for cooling, depending on your comfort levels with the temps you read.

I will say this .... 

I no longer have a fear of temps, especially if folding on stock settings, for 45nm or i7's. They are designed to shut down once a certain temp requirement is made. If your proc fails at this, that is where the warranty kicks in. What I have found is that Overclocking is expected from every CPU, and to be honest a bit should be possible, but dont be suprized to see the chips run that high, just dont worry so much.


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## MoonPig (Apr 23, 2009)

Yea, thing is though - i can't do watercooling unless i make a Rad box like Fit did. I learnt that the hard way.

My E8600 idles at 32c (40c load) with a Xigmatek HDT-SD964 (one 92mm Fan). So im used to these temps.  Don't think i need the performance gain anywhos. May just get a Q9550/9650.


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## sneekypeet (Apr 23, 2009)

you bring up a good point. Everyone is so impressed with the temps of the E8's and Q9's due to the simple fact that they are 65W/95W (repectively) procs. Now jump back to i7 at 130W, stock, that puts a better spin on the temps they produce.


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## MoonPig (Apr 23, 2009)

Is the performance difference between a Q9650 and an i7 920 that big?


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## sneekypeet (Apr 23, 2009)

you would have to look at someone who has ran both or google for bench results. I really cant say for day to day, just what I read, and that isnt always true. Im looking at this from the angle of basic heat due to the wattage for the OP. I think the last question is more suited for another thread.


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## MoonPig (Apr 23, 2009)

Yea, true. Sorry.

Back to the OP. Water Cooling looks the best option. But if you can't afford it, maybe a massive Heatsink? Or even a ghetto mod?


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## thraxed (Apr 23, 2009)

As far as I can tell, its just a silver basic thermaltake 120, when i bought the cpu it was the only cooler that egg had at release..  It never did get great reviews, from what i read i think the stock cooler would of been better..   Though it was my first build, and mounting the cooler didn't go as smooth as planned.  So whats the best way to remove the silver compound to start over?

Buy a Xigmatek cooler and this bolt-thru kit and get under 60c load
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233027 

Is this actually a coolor or just a mounting clip?  Couldn't really tell from the pics.   Saw on egg a fanless cpu heatblock from intel for xeon nahlem chips, any ideas on this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835203003

A wc setup a little out of my budget right now.


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## MoonPig (Apr 23, 2009)

I just wipe the paste off with toilet tissue. Then do a blob in the middle of the CPU and place the Heatsink on.

Get the Xigmatek, the other thing is a passive cooler. That would be death on an i7.


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## dark2099 (Apr 23, 2009)

Grab some isopropyl alcohol from the local grocery store or pharmacy, higher the concentrate the better.  Use a soft, lint free cloth or similar, and dab in alcohol and wipe off the heatsink and CPU till clean.  This will best remove the thermal paste and leave a clean surface for better spreading.


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## hat (Apr 24, 2009)

MoonPig said:


> I just wipe the paste off with toilet tissue. Then do a blob in the middle of the CPU and place the Heatsink on.
> 
> Get the Xigmatek, the other thing is a passive cooler. That would be death on an i7.



Yeah I wipe off the thermal paste with toilet paper/tissues/napkins etc and then I break out the 91% isopropyl and clean the surface of the heatsink and whatever component I am working on (cpu, gpu etc) with the isopropyl and a cotton ball if I can (heatsink bases, cpus) but for things like gpus with lots of little resistors and shit to get stuff caught on to them I use q-tips


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## sneekypeet (Apr 24, 2009)

if you are going to grab a Xig and you like black, you might as well go for this.... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 

Bonus is it comes with the Crossbow mounting system (Only the 1283 "V" version has this) as well. Great cooler for under $40. If your case is huge the Scythe Mugen 2 is nice as well. A bit cheaper too IIRC. Hmmm Antec 900, I know Cyber Druid got it in one.


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## CyberDruid (Apr 24, 2009)

The Mugen2 is about equal to a TRUE and I still get 66C load in Real Temp. More air through the cooler barely changes it.

My 920 is hot one.


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## alucasa (Apr 25, 2009)

Yep, my i7 920 does run hot, too. It remains in 65c range at full load running 100% on all threads/cores. It's 130w CPU after all. Intel has got to refine their design more efficient soon.


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