2600k Idle temperature issue?

[seitil]

I recently purchased a 2600k with a Coolermaster 212 plus cooler and was excited to get it up and running on my new MSI P67 board, when I booted it up into the BIOS I noticed it said it was running at 46c. After I booted up completely I ran the newest version of Core Temp and most of the cores were showing 41c on IDLE. I have reapplied the thermal paste a few times in hopes it would fix the problem but I am completely confused at this high idle temperatures. I ran prime 95 at stock speed to see how well it performed and the temperatures got up to about 65-70c on the cores.

This all seems like typical temps from a stock cooler, not an aftermarket one. My ambient temps are around 24c and I have the 120mm fan (the one that came with the heatsink) pulling air from over my ram and out the back through a 120mm fan at the back of the case.

Does anyone know what I might be able to do to fix the temps?

 

[Edrick]

Sounds like your cooler is not set properly or you may have air pockets. Try taking it off and clean it, re-apply paste and reset it.

 

[seitil]

I always get nervous when I am applying thermal paste, i have some arctic silver 5 i have been using and trying to apply a rice grain sized dab in the middle of the proc. Should I maybe apply the thermal paste to the heatsink, or try to lap the heatsink a little bit or fill in the small grooves on the heatsink?
Also does anyone use the CM Hyper 212 plus and have any recommendations on what works best, it seems when i am using the crossbar thing to screw down the cooler that there is a pin that is supposed to line up with a notch in the middle of the cooler that seems to be loose until I really crank down the screws.

 

[Edrick]

I always, always lap the CPU and Cooler. Then I apply a rice size portion of paste in the center of the cpu. Apply the cooler evenly and try not to move it too much as that can create air pockets. Tighten the screws as tight as you can without stripping them.

 

[seitil]

I have never lapped a heatsink before, i know with the direct heat pipes there are some grooves and channels that might not come in contact with the cpu, what would you do for lapping the heatsink, and the materials to do so?

 

[brandonb]

Seitil,

I've lapped my CPU before, you need to go to an auto parts store and get metal sandpaper. Not the wood 100 grain stuff you get at home depot. You need like 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 grain sandpaper.

You usually start with low grain (500) then go to a finer sheet, lap again, finer sheet, lap, until you get to the 3000 grain and it should look like a mirror by then.

 

[Edrick]

And after I lap it, I will apply a small amount of compound on both the cpu and cooler and work it in with a credit card, covering the entire surface. This gets a little bit into any remaining valleys and groves. Then scrape off any excess with the credit card so it almost looks like nothing it on it (you should only see a little gray). Then apply the rice sized dab and apply cooler.

 

[Lemon law]

As a machinist with some experience with lapping and hand scraping of metals, step one is to determine which mating surface is not flat. Although the best way usually involves a known flat surface plate, just ordinary window glass cut to the size of the top of your cpu is a good substitute. Then place some artist oil colors on the top of the cpu, place the glass on top, and as the color transfers to the other surface its easy to see the areas in contact, and not in contact. Or you can use a known flat straightedge on the diagonal corners of the cpu to see if there is any rocking effect. Good for telling if the CPU is high at the center and low at the corners, but not very good if its low at the center.

But since lapping the top of your cpu voids its warranty, were in me, I would try hand scraping the mating surface of the heat sink itself until its matches the top of the cpu. You can always lap the heat sink surface back to flat.

But if the top of the cpu is flat, and so is the mating heat sink, you will gain nothing. IF you have a temperature issue and flat mating surfaces, the next tree to bark up may be to reduce cpu voltages.

 

[Diogenes2]

Not a good idea to lap the 212 + .... The direct contact surface of the heat-pipes are very thin..

' Rice sized dab ' is not good for direct contact either ..

You need to experiment with something like this..

http://forums.pureoverclock.com/showpost.php?p=46959&postcount=11

Apply paste - press sink onto cpu then check the pattern .. Remove excess or apply a small dab in dry areas - rinse - repeat ..

 

[smakme7757]

It really depends on the size of the heatspreader, so just use a little logic when deciding the best method to use. A nice sized dot in the middle of the heatsink is usually enough for Intel CPUs.

I'm going to try this when i next resize my CPU: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/10..._-_2_Pack.html
website

 

[seitil]

Thanks for all the help, i am going to try some different methods tonight to see if it helps, i was wondering what people are getting for their idle temps with their 2600k processors with the cm 212+

 

[sxr7171]

Not a good idea to lap the 212 + .... The direct contact surface of the heat-pipes are very thin..

' Rice sized dab ' is not good for direct contact either ..

You need to experiment with something like this..

http://forums.pureoverclock.com/showpost.php?p=46959&postcount=11

Apply paste - press sink onto cpu then check the pattern .. Remove excess or apply a small dab in dry areas - rinse - repeat ..

The two line method looks good, but I question if there really needs to be that much paste in the interface. What I always thought was that the paste should just fill microvoids in the heat spreader and HSF metal and that the contact should be metal to metal as far as possible.

 

[Diogenes2]

Thanks for all the help, i am going to try some different methods tonight to see if it helps, i was wondering what people are getting for their idle temps with their 2600k processors with the cm 212+

My temps are in the high 20's - low 30's..

 

[Hogan773]

Mehhh, all this talk of lapping sounds like too much fun for me.

I think there may be more risk in lapping than its worth.....more chance you'll be sanding not perfectly even and then exacerbating the problem.

On my 212+ I DID use the credit card method, ie put some paste on the bottom of the heatsink and work it back and forth with a credit card edge to help fill in some of the grooves where the pipes connect with the base. Then I put a line on the middle of the CPU and attached it. Found out my line was too much cause it was spilling off the side, so I wiped some off around the edge and then reattached.

My idles are in the 25-30 range and under load at 42x its 50-55C.

 

[paperwastage]

i5 2500k + 212+

idle - 30+C
stress on stock clocks - 45C
stress on 4.4ghz - 50C

i5 2500k + stock cooler
idle - 45C
stress on stock clocks - 60C
stress on 4.4ghz - 80C

it looks like you aren't installing the cooler properly. go to youtube to find 212+ install videos. the manual sucks at conveying data, but it'll be clear once you see someone install it

 

[john3850]

You need to list your vcore voltage with your temperatures for anyone to compare it correctly.

 

[seitil]

so I took the heatsink off again and did the credit card spreading on the heatsink itself, it was a bitch because 2 of the screws came loose on the backplate and i had to take the entire mobo out to redo those. Anyway I just booted up at core temp is showing 37-39c on the cores during idle at around .9 volts on the core, it moves between a few different voltages in cpu-z. I noticed there was quite a bit of play with the heatsink, like i can physically turn it a bit with just a little force even when its fully cranked down on the mobo, is that normal?

 

[Edrick]

so I took the heatsink off again and did the credit card spreading on the heatsink itself, it was a bitch because 2 of the screws came loose on the backplate and i had to take the entire mobo out to redo those. Anyway I just booted up at core temp is showing 37-39c on the cores during idle at around .9 volts on the core, it moves between a few different voltages in cpu-z. I noticed there was quite a bit of play with the heatsink, like i can physically turn it a bit with just a little force even when its fully cranked down on the mobo, is that normal?

So thats better than before right?

The compound needs to set. This takes time and cycles. Your temps will go down even further once the Artic Silver sets.

If you feel the cooler is too loose, maybe return it and get a new one.

 

[Diogenes2]

i can physically turn it a bit with just a little force even when its fully cranked down on the mobo, is that normal?

Nope not normal.. You shouldn't be able to move it at all..
Did you view the installation video that was pointed to earlier ?

 

[jm0990]

Nope not normal.. You shouldn't be able to move it at all..
Did you view the installation video that was pointed to earlier ?

Yeah, definitely shouldn't move. You should be able to feel the screws tighten and become difficult to turn...that's when you should be able to stop without it being able to swivel. When I installed the 212+ on an i7 870, I used the above posted link and worked AS5 into the cracks between the heat pipes and the aluminum cooler base (I also tinted the processor's heatspreader). After that, I used the line method and put three small lines on the aluminum portions of the heatsink as depicted in the link someone else posted. I idle around 29C, and prime 95 load of about 59C. I think that's pretty decent.

 

[seitil]

i did watch the installation video a few times, what seems to be the issue is that the pin on the back of the aluminum block lines up with the little notch on the crossmember but for some reason there is a little play in the notch, thus creating this issue.
Another thing i dont understand is the middle screw in the crossmember, it doesnt screw into anything but just sits in that little indent in the aluminum block, i assume it gets tightened down as i tighten the outer edge, but i feel like i am missing something there, i am going to try to reinstall it again later tonight but i feel like i might risk loosening one of the backplate screws again and having to take out the whole mobo and going through that hassle once more. Its also kinda odd in Core Temp because one of my cores is running at like 35c now and then rest are around 42-45c (i am just using the ghetto OC Genie on my mobo that clocks it to 4.2ghz and changes the voltage to 1.3)

 

[Diogenes2]

It seems to be normal for core's 1 & 4 to run as much as 10c hotter than 2 & 3 under load..

 

[tweakboy]

Thermal paste helps with those areas that are not in full contact.

 

[Hogan773]

i did watch the installation video a few times, what seems to be the issue is that the pin on the back of the aluminum block lines up with the little notch on the crossmember but for some reason there is a little play in the notch, thus creating this issue.
Another thing i dont understand is the middle screw in the crossmember, it doesnt screw into anything but just sits in that little indent in the aluminum block, i assume it gets tightened down as i tighten the outer edge, but i feel like i am missing something there, i am going to try to reinstall it again later tonight but i feel like i might risk loosening one of the backplate screws again and having to take out the whole mobo and going through that hassle once more. Its also kinda odd in Core Temp because one of my cores is running at like 35c now and then rest are around 42-45c (i am just using the ghetto OC Genie on my mobo that clocks it to 4.2ghz and changes the voltage to 1.3)

IIRC the screw in the middle is just the pivot point that attaches the 2 crossmembers together - and they can move position and latch in different configs to fit different mobos and also to slide the bracket underneath the cooler assembly before attaching to the screwplate.

Mine is able to move a little and I've got the 4 screws torqued down pretty tight. I mean its not LOOSE, but if I put a little force on the cooler, I can make the whole thing swivel about 10 degrees either way. I think it can still be pressing nice and tight against the CPU but the "grease" of the thermal paste allows it to turn if it wants to. I get idles in the 25-30 range so I'm not worried that its not seated tightly enough. Maybe if I risk stripping the screws I can get it a wee bit tighter and bring my temps down by 1/4 of one degree C, but I don't want to break the darn thing

 

[imported_Parasite]

I have the same cooler with a 2500K and I can also move it a little bit to the sides like Hogan mentioned. My temps are around 33 idle and 60-64 at load when I'm running 4.8GHz 1.4V, so it's definitely seated correctly.