Jump to content
Corsair Community

H70: Just not impressed. Lackluster block surface


650hpAMG

Recommended Posts

With anticipation, I received, inspected, and installed my H70 on my I7 950. This I7 950 cpu will Prime95,64b 24/7 with the stock cooler at 4.0ghz fine.

 

First off, the block surface on this thing is horrible. We are talking budget block surface with thousands of grooves/ridges. Not smooth, and now seemingly, not flat.

 

After installing I can achieve 4.45ghz but at 100 degrees C on the cpu at times, generally hovering around 98 on all cores! Even at idle it is at 55c. Nowhere do I see anyone with such high temps even running higher voltage and clocks that I am. Granted ambient plays a role, but it is 65f in the room with the PC backed up to the window and blowing in 40-50f air. I changed fans to much more powerful fans, very little improvement to be found. Yes, max speed.

 

So I removed the block and guess what I find? Only 70% of the block is making contact with the cpu over the cores. I remove all of the AS5 and try again. Now mind you, I have easily over 1000 PC builds under my belt. Yes, 3 zeros.

 

So, after replaying with a blade/card, perfect as it can be, still, same thing. Remove, and same 70% cpu block kissing. This is with applying AS5 according to the Arctic Silver site including filling in the ridges first and then applying a line on the I7.

 

What gives??? Is this just a freak or are all of these blocks just poorly surfaced or is the mount itself just a bad design? I will probably just return this one to Amazon as I do not fill like polishing up a block right now.

 

Now, the easy response from someone is, "you mounted it wrong!" BS I say. It it mounted exactly as the little H50 flyer that came with my H70 said to mount it for a 1366 socket. Also read the short sticky on installing. No issue there that I am aware of. Remounted 4 times now and even tried the old spreading technique on the cpu which resulted in a solid 100 degree temp. The Arctic Silver recommend method yielded the best temp albeit only few ticks. Now, I know that it could 200 hours for the compound to cure, but in my experience, only a few degrees, certainly not 10 degrees or so. Tried different fan headers for power as well. Fans at max.

 

 

What gives??? Is this just a freak or are all of these blocks just poorly surfaced or is the mount itself just a bad design? I will probably just return this one to Amazon as I do not fill like polishing up a block right now.

 

 

Thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More info needed here. Cooling wise, there is a significant difference between 4GHz and 4.45GHz.

What were you using for 4.45 before the H70?

Under what condidtion do you hit the Tjmax?

What is your MB, Vcore, VTT and QPI settings?

What RPM is the pump reporting?

 

Since you have built a lot of PC's, pull out some of your Aluminum Oxide based TIM instead of AS5 and try it. Aluminum Oxide based TIM like Shin Etsu 23 or 751 require no cure time and outperform AS5, not to mention, it is non conductive. Put a 5mm BB in the center, clamp it down and roll.

 

As far as the surface being rough or not flat, check the IHS on the 950, it is nowhere near flat. As long as the TIM is applied properly and you prepped the surface with the TIM used, there should be no problem

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...