Not really asking for help, more griping about the thermal characteristics of the stock solution.
Running mprime (linux port of prime95, small fft) the CPU hits *80C* in approximately 9 or 10 seconds. My 3.2 ghz E2180 never went over 73 in the same case with the same peripherals running mprime for hours and idle temperatures were 10C lower under similar conditions. I have no idea what temperature the i7 tops out at, I kill the test as soon as my 80C motherboard thermal alarm trips and I see all those "80s" on my screen -- I'll try stress testing again after this beast is on water.
By now you might be thinking "you have the heatsink on wrong, fool!" Possible -- but unlikely. The temperature drops back to low 40s even more quickly than it rises (5-6 seconds). Oh, and I did verify all the heatsink posts were properly showing through the back of the MB before inserting into the case. The quick drop to idle temperatures tells me the heat is getting from the CPU to the sink just fine, the problem is shedding it quickly enough not to build up.
There are two 80mm extractor fans inches from the CPU heatsink, a 120mm side intake fan blowing almost directly into it and two distant 80mm front fans pulling air into the case. Plus the PSU fans. The case is a full tower. Removing the side panel did not appreciably change the idle CPU temperatures -- they seemed a degree or so higher at most. With the E2180 removing the side panel also increased idle temperature by about 1-2C and load by 5C.
Why am I bringing this up? I'm coming to the conclusion that the factory heatsink is completely and utterly inadequate for dissipating load heat generated by the i7 CPU at the rated frequency of 2.66 ghz, even in a reasonably well ventillated full tower case. It's complete and utter junk severely underengineered for the task of cooling the CPU it ships with at stock speeds.
Running mprime (linux port of prime95, small fft) the CPU hits *80C* in approximately 9 or 10 seconds. My 3.2 ghz E2180 never went over 73 in the same case with the same peripherals running mprime for hours and idle temperatures were 10C lower under similar conditions. I have no idea what temperature the i7 tops out at, I kill the test as soon as my 80C motherboard thermal alarm trips and I see all those "80s" on my screen -- I'll try stress testing again after this beast is on water.
By now you might be thinking "you have the heatsink on wrong, fool!" Possible -- but unlikely. The temperature drops back to low 40s even more quickly than it rises (5-6 seconds). Oh, and I did verify all the heatsink posts were properly showing through the back of the MB before inserting into the case. The quick drop to idle temperatures tells me the heat is getting from the CPU to the sink just fine, the problem is shedding it quickly enough not to build up.
There are two 80mm extractor fans inches from the CPU heatsink, a 120mm side intake fan blowing almost directly into it and two distant 80mm front fans pulling air into the case. Plus the PSU fans. The case is a full tower. Removing the side panel did not appreciably change the idle CPU temperatures -- they seemed a degree or so higher at most. With the E2180 removing the side panel also increased idle temperature by about 1-2C and load by 5C.
Why am I bringing this up? I'm coming to the conclusion that the factory heatsink is completely and utterly inadequate for dissipating load heat generated by the i7 CPU at the rated frequency of 2.66 ghz, even in a reasonably well ventillated full tower case. It's complete and utter junk severely underengineered for the task of cooling the CPU it ships with at stock speeds.