Quick help needed. E6600 temps, not overclocked.

[lightman]

Ok, this thing is driving me crazy...

First off, the system :

- Asus P5B (without -E, -Deluxe, -whatever)
- Core 2 Duo E6600 at stock
- Zalman CNPS9700 led
- Corsair Twin2X 1024-6400C4
- Enermax Liberty 400W
- Asus 7600GS-Silent (passively cooled) (****ty, but I'm waiting for my 8800GTS to arrive)
- X-Fi Extreme Music (in second PCI slot)
- Maxtor 300GB SATA II
- Lian Li 767 case, Adda 12cm intake fan, Enermax 12cm rear fan (both to be soon replaced with two Noctua 12cm, I'm after a silent system)

Ok, here's the problem, at stock speeds, the system idles at about 40 °C, and so does the E6600 (Tc, as per Speedfan and Probe II). TAT reports about 30-31 °C for the first core, and 27-28 °C for the second one.

The CNPS9700 fan is at about 1900 rpms.

Now, I think the temps are somewhat high, and what is really puzzling me is the about 10 °C difference between the cores and the Tc.

Under load (Orthos + TAT, 100% on both cores), the Tc goes up to 56-57 °C, and the cores (as per TAT) up to about 42 °C.

Here's a graphic of the run (data from TAT) :



56 °C on Tc isn't what I'd call a good temperature for stock, even if AS5 is still not cured (I just reapplied it, this time with the credit card method ), and even 42 °C on the core is quite high, but what's really strange is that huge difference between the cores and Tc...

Any idea ? Suggestions ? I would like to overclock it to at least 3.2 GHz, but given these temperatures I don't think confident, at all...

[Roadhog]

its fine. the IHS on your cpu is probably not flat. You could LAP it if you wanted to. The temps are fine if they don't go over 60c.

[Stoneyguy]

Are you sure you have the 9700 positioned correctly? The whole fan section moves so make sure that the fan is facing the CD drives.

[lightman]

Originally Posted by Roadhog

its fine. the IHS on your cpu is probably not flat. You could LAP it if you wanted to.

Could be. But it still doesn't explain the 10+ degrees of difference between the Tc (which is from the thermal resistor position right under the center of the ihs) and the cores temps (taken from the digital sensors)...

The temps are fine if they don't go over 60c.

From the Intel specs sheets the thermal specification for the E6600 is 60.1 °C Tc, and that leaves me with about 3 degrees to play with (remember I hit 57 °C on the Tc, at stock). Way too little to even consider an overclock...

[lightman]

Originally Posted by Stoneyguy

Are you sure you have the 9700 positioned correctly? The whole fan section moves so make sure that the fan is facing the CD drives.

Yeah, sure it is.

Just to clear things a little. This is (by far) not the first pc I configured/built. I'm no newbie, at all.

But this thing is really driving me mad, and I can't seem to understand what's wrong in this particular situation...

Oh, by the way, I already tried using the Zalman ZM-STG1, but it didn't make any real change, at all...

[Stoneyguy]

sorry didn't mean to imply that you were a nOOb. I remember reading somewhere that somebody was having a similar problem and was surprised to find that his 9700 was out of alignment.

[Roadhog]

Originally Posted by lightman

Could be. But it still doesn't explain the 10+ degrees of difference between the Tc (which is from the thermal resistor position right under the center of the ihs) and the cores temps (taken from the digital sensors)...

No, where intel says the max temp is from ON TOP in the CENTER of the IHS. Not underneath it.

EDIT: and yes, you WILL get up to 10c difference from an uneven heat spreader.

[lightman]

Originally Posted by Stoneyguy

sorry didn't mean to imply that you were a nOOb. I remember reading somewhere that somebody was having a similar problem and was surprised to find that his 9700 was out of alignment.

I know you weren't implying it, I just wanted to make it clear

[lightman]

Originally Posted by Roadhog

No, where intel says the max temp is from ON TOP in the CENTER of the IHS. Not underneath it.

Uh, yep, just reread the specs and you're right. My fault.

By the way, I haven't been able to find out where the thermal diode is placed in the Core 2 Duo... I would guess it's on the bottom in the center of the ihs (well, it would make sense, in my humble opinion) but I could be wrong...

EDIT: and yes, you WILL get up to 10c difference from an uneven heat spreader.

Maybe, but it still doesn't explain why I'm seeing HIGHER temps on the thermal diode (which should be around the Tc temp, I guess) than on the core (the DTS, as read by TAT)... I would expect the DTS reading to be higher than the Tc, not the other way around (and, by the way, this is what I saw in almost every thread on the web about C2D temps)...

Edit: Another thing... The IHS flatness should be defined by the datasheet, with little tolerance, the only thing that could influence it is the retention mechanism, but I don't think it would be enough to really change things dramatically... Dunno, though...

[lightman]

Ok, quick update.

I tried enabling PECI in the bios, and guess what ? TAT temps are the same as before (well, a little lower with orthos and tat running (about 44 °C, both cores), but Speedfan and Probe II readings are incredibly lower: about 18-19 °C at idle, and 34 under load.

Something's wrong with the thermal diode readings, but I don't know what it could be...

[nippyjun]

Originally Posted by lightman

Ok, quick update.

I tried enabling PECI in the bios, and guess what ? TAT temps are the same as before (well, a little lower with orthos and tat running (about 44 °C, both cores), but Speedfan and Probe II readings are incredibly lower: about 18-19 °C at idle, and 34 under load.

Something's wrong with the thermal diode readings, but I don't know what it could be...

What is PECI?

[SlieTheSecond]

Originally Posted by lightman

I tried enabling PECI in the bios, and guess what ? TAT temps are the same as before (well, a little lower with orthos and tat running (about 44 °C, both cores), but Speedfan and Probe II readings are incredibly lower: about 18-19 °C at idle, and 34 under load.

TAT and Core Temp both read the same for me. They read from the digital sensors located in each core.

Probe II reads from sensors near the cpu, so they will be lower. Speedfan, I never used it. Unsure about that one. I would go with what TAT or Core Temp says.