H70 heat issue

[moskwiz]

Hi all, I did post this already to another thread with a similar problem, but since it's largely inactive I thought I'd create a new thread just to get some attention :p:

 

I just finished installing my new rig - Rampage III Extreme, i7 950, H70 ...

 

Tried installing with the stock thermal paste - temps were 45-50 idle - I mean intel stock cooler has the 950 running at the same temps or lower!! On load @ prime95 I got 80c+ in 10 seconds! In Stock?!?

 

Then went on to Arctic Silver 5, remounted the pump unit, tried different positions for the radiator (same slot but tried tubes below and tubes above) - whatever I do though the idle stock temps will not go below 40.. I let the pc prime all night and now it doesn't get above 75c anymore.. what does that mean? Thermal paste issue? Pump issue?

 

I'm using a Chieftec Aegis miditower case http://www.nix.ru/autocatalog/cases_chieftec/83120_2235_draft.jpg, and the H70 is installed to the system fan position as intake push/pull, with the above mounted PSU's 14cm fan and the secondary 12cm opt.fan on top doing exhaust.

 

One more thing that's odd - The radiator fans' duty cycle does not affect the cpu temps any whatsoever at all - I even switched them off and looked at idle temps for 10 minutes.. at best the temp rose 1c..

 

My rooms ambient temp might be around 23-25c, since the H70 is doing intake - that should be good right? Is there any chance my H70 is flawed?

 

Thx in advance for all posts

[moskwiz]

Um.. anyone?

[andyvee]

From what you posted i can suggest that if you run prime 95 and then turn off the fans you should see your cpu heat up fairly fast , at idle the rad should cope for a quite a while before heating up a lot .

 

Artic silver has a breakin period so some cooldown/heatup cycles will improve its performance which may explain the overnight change .

 

As performance is better after remounting i would guess that the pump was'nt correctly seated in the ring lugs first time around but only guesswork as we can't see it ! .

 

For reference i'm ambient at ~ 20 and my stock i7-930 idles ~ 25-28 degrees across the cores and won't go over 60 no matter how long i run Prime 95 for , and thats with an H50 push/pull with Xigamtek fans , i7-950's are apparently quite hot running chips but thats only from what i've read .

 

Hope some of this helps

[moskwiz]

Hmm.. yeah I did notice that if i left the fans off altogether the cpu got pretty hot eventually.. took about 25 mins though but it got to around 60ish idle.

 

Maybe I should run my 950 on the stock cooler and see what temps i get with that for reference..

 

So you think 40c on idle is normal for my cpu? How the hell am I going to overclock it if I get 75c on prime95 at stock speeds??

[moskwiz]

Ok, Corsair have recommended an RMA so I'll ship it to them and see what they think of it.. I did just put my rig up at a friends place whose room temp is about 4c less than at my home.. And the CPU temps are now idling at around 35-37c for stock i7950.. This is an improvement and my ambient temps are effecting the cpu temp however i think it's still a bit too high for the price I paid.. Most reviews and many users report this H70 doing ~27c on idle

 

Anyway I'll keep whoever's watching posted ^^

[Eno]

Eh there. Just noticed you had your push pull combo plugged into a system (chasis?) fan plug in... which would explain why it's not changing to meet your increasing CPU temp / needs. Perhaps I've missread?

 

Ensure you plug your combo into the Y that is provided and into the CPU fan plug in (4 pin). I'm not sure if that'll help but it's something I recently changed too having missed it in the instructions.

 

I admit, RMA sounds like a great idea and I'll be looking forward to seeing a new H70 give you the temps you're expecting. I've been reasonably impressed with mine so hopefully you will soon be too!

 

 

Eno

[moskwiz]

Eno, my fans are in CPU via the Y yes.. doesn't change anything.. But does your H70 change temps if you modulate fanspeed?

[Eno]

I just re-read your first post a couple times and pulled more out of it. Sounds like you've got a dead pump. Did you try plugging the pump into different 3 pin connectors? I imagine you have-

 

I also take for granted you wiped the stock paste off before applying the AS5... Did you apply the AS5 in the way they recommend for the I7 chip? (Pea sized glob in the middle).

 

I read somewhere that a guy used the wrong mounting plugs and it caused a gap between the CPU and the pump surface... but that would generate much more heat than what you're getting- even at stock. Like- the CPU would turn off during a bootup... so I don't think that's the problem. I presume you're all tightened up and locked in place...

 

I think if you're RMA'ing then all there is to do now is wait... I'm still pretty new with it so problem solving is tough.

 

Eno

[moskwiz]

@Eno

Yes I've tried plugging it in the cpu 3-pin, a power fan 3-pin (which Asus claim always outputs 100%) and even directly to the PSU with no changes.. Everest claims that the pump is doing ~1450rpm (which should be fine i think).. Just maybe it's not properly mounted inside the unit.. maybe it's not moving the liquid as much as it's supposed to.

 

I'm using AS5.. I tried all kinds of different methods, tried using really little, really lot, applied as a sheet and as a grain.. Nothing is doing anything..

 

The heatsink is screwed on really tight (I could pretty much lift the pc by it) although I also tried playing with the screw tension to see if that made any difference.. The mounting plugs are the ones with the two round holes in them (not the one and a half holes as per the AM3 plugs) as the manual stated is right for LGA1366..

 

Whatever I do I can't get the temps to idle lower than ~40c and stock 950 voltage/freq I'm hitting 75 in prime95 large-FFT after 20 mins.. Fan duty cycle does not affect temps (I'm modulating between ~1300 and ~1700 with stock fans.. however at first tried 2000rpm with no changes).

 

I'm sending it off on monday.

[Synthohol]

http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf

Did you apply the AS5 in the way they recommend for the I7 chip? (Pea sized glob in the middle).

incorrect info.

never spread the compound on an i7/5/3 read the proper instructions linked above and allow 200 hours before expecting AS5 to do its proper job.

 

there are 168 hours in a week so report back in 10 days when the AS5 has been applied properly and allowed to cure.

 

[moskwiz]

Well I've never taken such a scientific approach to applying thermal paste, but once Corsair ship me another H70 I'll do it right this time ^^

 

The temps are still too high for what you're suggesting.. so better be safe than sorry.. Let Corsair determine if the unit is faulty or I'm doing something wrong/my room's too hot etc.

 

Just to let you know I achieved a 36c idle on my Q9650@4GHz and a Zalman CNPS10X Extreme in the same room so...

[Synthohol]

curious.. on initial install did you verify the pump was running 1400+RPM before dismantling? this is a far common oversight i have noticed here and since you did not post this info i just wanted to ask ;)

[moskwiz]

@Synthohol

I honestly cannot recall. I remember that I installed the cooler first with the paste that came on it and got about 60c in BIOS idle.. Then started trying to get the temp down and tried AS5.. I think I didn't check to see the pumps rpm until I'd taken it off at least once.

What are you getting at though? I fail to see how this would be relevant in the case

[Synthohol]

if the pump was not running at 100% initially that would explain the high idle temp, it was only cooling by convection.

when the temps get over 50c the air coming out through the rad should be kinda warm and the rad should be even warmer. if not then the pump is either not working or there may be too much AS5 and it cannot transfer the heat properly into the cooling system.

 

its just a thought or 2 here, i would never talk you out of an RMA, sometimes there are checkpoints that don't readily come to mind especially after spending good money and not seeing the results you expect :):

 

best way to see if too much paste was used is if there is ANY paste that overlapped the CPU when you remove it for the RMA, if so then you used too much and that will throw off the desired effect. i tell you this from my own past mistakes, not from a spec sheet or manual FAQ.

 

hope you get it sorted out soon!

[moskwiz]

Thx synthohol

 

However, I have encountered an issue which pretty much nullifies my reason to RMA. Namely I tried the config with the reference Intel cooler instead of the H70 and idle temps were 60c, full load got to 90+ in UNDER A MINUTE!

 

So clearly this is not a H70 issue, my cpu is acting up instead.. I don't know whether to laugh or cry really =D

[Synthohol]

please take a pic of the cpu and the heatsink after removal, i want to see the contact impression in the TIM.

 

thx!

also try resetting the bios, maybe waaay to much volts to the CPU.

[Eno]

Eh there... interesting stuff happening there.

 

I scanned the thread again to see if you had posted any overclock settings? If what you say is true and the stock sink was ineffective as well it begs the question about what you're running for voltages. Sounds like a lot of extra heat down there for some reason?

 

Oh, and my apologies on the false information earlier... I didn't realize there was a special way to apply AS5- and neither did many others since I've seen that post in about 5 different threads ;)

 

Keep us posted!

 

eno

[moskwiz]

Ok, there have been some rather interesting developments

I applied the AS5 in the correct way as shown in the AC manual which Synthohol provided (thx!) .. I even did that heatsink polish thing with the credit card.

 

The voltages were all set to Auto, with the exception of DRAM that I set to 1.64x and with those volts I got ~60c idle on stock and ~42c idle on the H70.. Now I think my Auto vCore was around 1.20V on idle and got to 1.375V on full load.. at least that's what I remember Everest posting. So I thought, screw the default settings and started lowering the vCore while also going a bit down on CPU PLL (which was 1.81V on Auto)..

 

To my amazement I think I have a weird kind of chip which doesn't like conventional voltages yet instead is stable at lower volts??? Anyway, I've managed to get it down to 1.075V for vCore and 1.75V PLL and prime95 (largeFFT) is stable 3 hours and running (I'm literally stressing it as I'm writing this). Is 1.075 vCore something that any 950 can pull off @ 3200MHz (Turbo-stock)?

 

With those voltages stock cooler idled at ~45c and full load got it to ~84c eventually while the H70 is idling at somewhere around 40c and under full load doesn't seem to exceed 61c.. Is that normal or still a bit too hot? My Bridges are 63c and 62c, MB temp is 35c.. I also put the VGA on the lower PCI-Express slot (farther from the CPU) and the H70 is now doing exhaust instead of intake in push/pull.

 

What are normal ICH and IOH volts and how low should I set them? That would get my Bridge temps down ie. my systemp down ie. my cpu temp down.. I'm also goin to follow instructions and not screw around with the CPU cooler for 10 days to allow 200h of setting time for the AS5.

[Synthohol]

0.800V-1.375V are normal CPU voltages. i would start at stock speed and maybe 0.825 and let it sit in the bios for a bit and watch the temps if ok and no reboot you can see if it will go into windows. if not try 0.900 then keep going up by 0.025 increments until its stable.

ive seen less than 1.3v get 4Ghz.

take your time and dont get discouraged, its really the journey that you will appreciate, the destination will come later!!

 

as far as ich and mch i would google around and see other system specs or maybe YB can help as i dont have the $$ for an i7 system yet.

[moskwiz]

1.000 at current settings BSOD'd @ prime..

haven't tried 1.025 or 1.05.. 1.075 seems to be perfectly stable but running an all nighter to be sure

[Synthohol]

keep us posted and again, dont get discouraged, it sounds like you are on the right track!!

[moskwiz]

1.075 vCore was stable 16h prime95

I am now testing 1.05 vCore @ 3360MHz (160*21)

CPU PLL is 1.6, Bridge volts are at their lowest .. Will keep you posted.

[Phayze]

I have a 950 personally, and stock voltage is 1.182 volts, and I had temp problems when the voltage was set to auto on my bios, and CPU-Z regularly had the voltage read 1.3xx. Set it to manual 1.082, and began to OC.

 

After OC, 166x23, 3.82Ghz, On a night of prime 95 my temps never go over 63degrees (23degrees ambient). This is probably what you want to shoot for. It idles at 37/35/35/37 maximum but sits around 34-35. (28 without overclock).

So thats 63 degrees max with 1.21V core and 1.195 QPI / PLL

 

Your voltage does seem quite low, as it's even lower than stock. You should be able to go to 1.3V vcore without problems with a h70 assuming the thermal compound is applied in the correct amount and if required allowed to set, and if the h70 is seated properly. I believe your heat problems are caused by using too much thermal paste, or the heat sink is not tight enough. You only use a little bit, like () sized, the size of an uncooked rice grain. If it has reached the edge of the processor, and god forbid it is going down the side of the processor, you must clean and reapply. You would be surprised how much thermal paste can insulate a processor.

 

I would recommend completely removing the compound and getting some MX2 or Noctua NH-1. Start by applying a really small amount, if you think it needs more add more. There is no "set" time with those compounds and they perform better than AS5(by 5 degrees on many reviews). Remember with thermal paste less is more, you only need an uncooked rice grain sized dot with the compounds recommended above. Its either a paste problem, improper seating, or you need to RMA the cooler.

[moskwiz]

thanks for your input Phayze

 

I'm going to try out your settings in a while.. I think my thermal paste has been applied correctly and the heatsink is on as tight as possible

 

I am currently running 3.2GHz with 1.0625V and so far so good.. 1.05 proved unstable although it passed OCCT and Prime with flying colors - it just randomly BSOD'd like once a week.. I think my high temps are caused mainly by ambient temp and a shabby case.. When I open the window then after a while my idle temps are ~35-39c, window closed though, it's ~39-45c.. I think I won't get much better temps until I buy a new case =/

[patchesanook]

hey guys i just found a problem with my H50 and fixed it.the motherboard headers do not carry enough power to the H50 pump.i was idle at 50 degrees cel on cpu temps.i bought a sunbeam fan controller plugged the pump into that and my temps dropped a full 12 degrees cel at idle and under load.hope this helps.