Lower temps all of a sudden = TIM Curing?

For some reason I'm getting 4C lower on my cores all of a sudden. Just last night my Orthos temps went to 68C within the first 5 mins... and stayed that way for 3+ hours stable while I was testing the same settings I'm using right now. All bios settings are still the same, I just ran Orthos and it's still at 64C after 20 mins. My room temp is also the same.

Only thing I turned on was C1E and TM function to down-clock my cpu while idle... but that shouldn't affect anything since it's clocking it back up when I run Orthos. The other explanation I have left is the TIM maybe 'curing' faster than usual?... As far as I know, TIM doesn't magically cure overnight... it takes weeks. It's Arctic Silver 5. What's up with this?

Are your ambient temps the same? Windows open now?

Gunlance said:

Are your ambient temps the same? Windows open now?

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I agree,

We have experienced a sudden temperature drop, in the bay area, in the past few days as well. I am willing to bet that lower ambients are the cause rather than the curing of the OP's TIM.

What this just means is UP YOUR OVERCLOCKs!

I cannot wait until I get my water in. Cold air and water cooling will hopefully get me the frequencies I have been wanting.

bryan d

My ambient temp is the same.

I guess the best explanation I can think of is maybe the TIM didn't cover all the gaps in between heatpipes very well, even though I already put some in there beforehand. HDT heatsinks are known for not making very good contact (and mine isn't even lapped, I'm too lazy) so there were probably some gaps which didn't initially get covered well enough until now. It's probably still spreading/covering everything. Maybe it's something like that.

don'tknow said:

My ambient temp is the same.

I guess the best explanation I can think of is maybe the TIM didn't cover all the gaps in between heatpipes very well, even though I already put some in there beforehand. HDT heatsinks are known for not making very good contact (and mine isn't even lapped, I'm too lazy) so there were probably some gaps which didn't initially get covered well enough until now. It's probably still spreading/covering everything. Maybe it's something like that.

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Don't be lazy. Lap your cooler and CPU and get even lower temps.
Then overclock more.

Is this one of those heatpipe coolers where the pipes directly touch the CPU IHS? If so I don't advise lapping it, I think someone did and ended up sanding through a pipe's thin wall. Lapping the CPU isn't a bad idea though if you don't mind the loss of warranty, just be careful.

Ben333 said:

Is this one of those heatpipe coolers where the pipes directly touch the CPU IHS? If so I don't advise lapping it, I think someone did and ended up sanding through a pipe's thin wall. Lapping the CPU isn't a bad idea though if you don't mind the loss of warranty, just be careful.

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I have to disagree,(Respectfully) with the not lapping HDT Coolers bit. I have lapped 3 HDT Coolers with no problems at all.
You just have to be careful. The base of most HDT coolers really needs a little lapping as they are not always very well finished.
When you lap the cooler take your time. I did not start with very course paper, I started with about 400 grit and worked my way up to about 1600 grit and ended up with a semi mirror finish. But don't overdo it as you can break through the copper pipes as shown in the photo below. Although this would take a while and you would have to have been overly keen and pretty careless. Only lap with 400 grit until the machine marks are gone then go to a higher grit, 600 or 800 and do it with that until the small scratches left by the 400 grit are gone. then move onto 800 - 1000 grit then 1200 grit and end up with 1500 - 1600 grit just removing the small scratches left by the previous paper.
Just take you time, be careful and you should be fine. You will see a good drop in temps doing it.
With regards the CPU, it is worth doing also but be careful and make sure you protect the pins etc from damage that could be caused by the metal filings and water.

The photo of an overlapped HDT Cooler.

^^^ That guy must have been watching a really good show on TV whilst doing his weekly lapping job...