Intel Q6600 running hot. Help!

[kzrssk]

Hey all,

I got a Q6600 running in a steel Antec ... mini-tower? case with a 120mm fan in the back, the power supply's fan, and a 80mm fan in front. It's running stock speed @ 2.4 GHz with the stock Intel cooler and stock BIOS settings (never bothered to try and OC it). At idle, CoreTemp shows and average of like 58 or 60 C. While under light load (game, 5-30% variable load) the other day, that jumped to over 70 C, and my motherboard started whining at me. I dusted it out and checked to see if wires were in the way of the fan and that the heatsink was properly seated. Nothing seemed out of place. So the dusting alone has made it to where my motherboard doesn't whine at me anymore, but it's still running close to 70 in-game. I don't even wanna know what kind of temps it would hit at full load.

I'm kind of worried; are these normal temperatures for a Q6600 given an ambient room temperature of 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit? Am I going to have to replace the stock Intel cooler with something more robust as we move into summer?

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[graysky]

Ditch the stock HSF and get yourself something like a TRUE.

 

[ShadowFlareX]

I say it's too hot for that kind of ambient temperature, but quite possible if the Q6600 is not receiving enough cooling or air flow in the case is bad. My ambient room temp is pretty much 32oC / 90oF at average, often up to 33oC / 92oF, but my idle temp will only hit 55oC at most while Prime95 full load will hit 75oC max, although gaming (UT3) will only stress the CPU up till 70oC.

Make sure you're giving it good air intake and exhaust, and use This method when applying your thermal paste.

Edit: Oops, I missed the part where you're using the stock heatsink.... yeah... that would be why. I agree with graysky get a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, but I wonder if it'll fit in your mini-tower.

 

[Idontcare]

Hey kzrssk, with two fans in your case (the PSU + Front intake) combined with stock HSF your temps at stock should not be that high provided you managed to get all 4 pushpins of that HSF locked correctly.

I suspect first and foremost that at least one of your pushpins "clicked" as if to say "good job! you got me in place" but in reality the base of the push-pin actually pushed off the motherboard rather than locking to it.

This is extremely common, mostly because it is sooooo easy to convince yourself you did it correctly. I struggled with my stock HSF, put it on, take it off, put it on again, take it off...I could never tell if I really had all those pushpins down or not because they click no matter what you've done and if you get three of the four locked in place then the damn thing doesn't move just because you twist on it but your temps will still be crazy high like yours are.

The only way I personally have successfully installed a stock HSF with the pushpins was to do it with the motherboard out of the case so I could flip the mobo over and visually confirm all four of those damn pushpins actually locked thru the motherboard. Once I went to that painful extra effort of pulling the mobo and then reinstalling it into my case again did my temps finally come down to the reasonable 30-40C idle and 50-60C load at stock clocks on stock HSF.

(and don't make the mistake of adding thermal paste to the CPU or HSF when using a stock HSF, its already got a thermal pad on the HSF)

No doubt getting another HSF such as a TRU or a Tuniq120 will help reduce your temps even further over what your stock HSF will provide you once you get the thing installed correctly.

 

[Drsignguy]

Originally posted by: Idontcare

The only way I personally have successfully installed a stock HSF with the pushpins was to do it with the motherboard out of the case so I could flip the mobo over and visually confirm all four of those damn pushpins actually locked thru the motherboard. Once I went to that painful extra effort of pulling the mobo and then reinstalling it into my case again did my temps finally come down to the reasonable 30-40C idle and 50-60C load at stock clocks on stock HSF.

No doubt getting another HSF such as a TRU or a Tuniq120 will help reduce your temps even further over what your stock HSF will provide you once you get the thing installed correctly.

This is great information for the "piece of mind". Yes it may be a PITA, but if you want it done right, this is the only way it can be done. Good call!

 

[kzrssk]

Hey all, thanks for the advice. I'll try checking to see if the heatsink is all the way down. I had a problem like that before when I was coming back from a LAN party where it came off completely x_x. I was thinking about getting an aftermarket HSF before, but heard that the new Intel coolers were good.

Anyway, thanks again.