i5 2500K Cooling Questions

[src1425]

Not real happy with the temps in my i5 2500K rebuild - idle in the upper 30's and running Prime 95 I hit upper 80's. I already tried reapplying thermal paste (Geil GC Extreme) and reseating my old cooler, a CNPS9900A LED. I have a new Hyper 212 Plus I can use, but I don't know how it compares. Don't want to take the board out, etc. if it's not significantly better. Any thoughts one way or the other?

Also, I have stock cooling in my CM 690 II advanced - 140mm fans in the front and top, and a 120 mm fan in the rear. I have my cooler oriented to exhaust air towards the top 140mm fan.

Any suggestions on how I can increase airflow? I can add a 140mm fan to the top (for a total of 2), and 120mm fans to the bottom (2 total), left side (2 total), right side, and HDD cage.

I was trying to draw from front to top, so I might add another 140mm to the top and/or the 120mm HD cage in front. I was concerned that drawing from the bottom and/or sides would simply disrupt the airflow. Or, I could remove the front fan and add two 120mm fans on the bottom for more direct airflow from bottom to top.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[s1175290]

How high is your overclock?

I have an Antec 900 (two 120mm fans in the front, one in the back, and one 200mm fan at the top) and am using the same Hyper 212 cooler. I did not add a fan to the side as I felt airflow was ideal with the front-to-back and out the top of the case flow. I set my overclock to 4.2, and my chip idles at 22 to 24, and hits the high 50s running prime. Your temps do seem high - I would try the 212 and add a fan to the front and top.

 

[BoomerD]

I suspect you'll get a noticeable difference if you change your cooler.

I only found one review that compared the two, and the difference wasn't significant in that test...

Perhaps it's your thermal paste. I'm not familiar with the Geil brand of TIM. (or do you mean Gelid?) I prefer Shin Etsu when it's available, or Noctua, or AS5.