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Should I let Intel RMA my cpu?

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PR

Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Location
New Jersey
Hello to all as this is my first post here. This a overclocking forum so I figured there are experts here to help me with my problem. Ok, I will begin listing all my system specs.

CPU: Core 2 Quad Q9550s (highest stable oc so far is 3.6 Ghz)
MBD: Asus P5Q-EM with latest bios (highest stable fsb so far is 1688 Mhz)
VGA: Ati x800xl PCI-E 256Mb
RAM: 2 x 1Gb OCZ Gold ddr2 800Mhz (haven't really focused on ram oc but I got 1014 MHZ out of this while at 1688 Mhz fsb)
HDD: Western Digital 250 Gb Eide, Seagate 120 Gb Eide
DVD: Samsung sh-223q 22x sata dvd-rw
Other addons: floppy drive slot multi card reader (connected internally to usb),
OS: Windows XP SP3 32bit + all current updates and drivers loaded, Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit + all current updates and drivers loaded (not activated and only installed for testing on separate drive)

Software used in testing: Prime95, SIW, Speedfan 4.40, Core Temp 0.99.5, Cpu-Z 1.53

I have built this system as a portable gaming system that also has capability to be a HTPC in the future when I purchase a blue ray drive and a tv that has hdmi input. For now I will use it mostly for gaming. For cooling the cpu I used arctic silver 5 and the original Pentium 4EE Intel heatsink and fan (stock heatsink and fan that came with my cpu was alot smaller and proves to do a worse job cooling than the Pentium 4EE one so I will not use the stock one). I let the system and arctic silver 5 stabilize for a week of everyday on and off use of the computer while I play games and browse the web. For gaming I mainly used Flight Simulator X as it uses all cpu cores).

2 days ago I started testing the computer and the overclocking ability of it. Here is where I see a problem with my cpu.

BTW for testing I have the case cover off so actual temps will be little higher when the computer is closed.

At idle load with minimal set of programs loaded at start up I have these temperature readings on cores 1 to 4: 27c 27c 34c 37c @ 26c (79f) room temp and right off the bat I notice a problem with this. With room temp of 26c the first 2 cores are only 27c? I measure the room temp with a fairly accurate set of 2 digital thermometers standing in front of the intake fans for my case.
Next is full load temps. After running Prime95 small FFTs test for half hour resulted in these core 1 to 4 readings: 69c 63c 63c 63c @ 26.5c (80f) room temp. This tells me that at least 2 of the temperature diodes on the cpu may not be working correctly. I did the same test with the cpu not overclocked and the temps were lower but also the first core was hottest at the end of prime95 and at idle the last 2 cores were much hotter than the first 2 cores. Seeing how different the temperatures were I decided that maybe the heatsink was not properly mounted so I removed and reapplied arctic silver and tried Pentium 4EE heatsink again and then the stock one and got the same pattern of unbalanced temperatures in the end.

I have contacted Intel about this and they are ready for me to RMA them the cpu. So my question is this. Is this a normal occurrence among quadcore cpus to have this large temperature differences among the cores? I predict it will take at least 2 weeks for the cpu RMA process to take and I really do not want to waste that time if i will have the same result again.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
 
The temp sensors are dubiously accurate at best under 50*c, all of them are.
They're built to be extremely accurate at Tjmax, which is ~95-100*c depending on the cpu. The further away from tjmax they get, the less accurate they are.
For bonus points, some sensors are "stuck", and don't register below a given temp. As that temp is always (as far as i've seen) below normal load temps, it doesn't really make a difference.

All in all, this sounds pretty normal so far really, i wouldn't worry about it.
 
The temp sensors are dubiously accurate at best under 50*c, all of them are.
They're built to be extremely accurate at Tjmax, which is ~95-100*c depending on the cpu. The further away from tjmax they get, the less accurate they are.
For bonus points, some sensors are "stuck", and don't register below a given temp. As that temp is always (as far as i've seen) below normal load temps, it doesn't really make a difference.

All in all, this sounds pretty normal so far really, i wouldn't worry about it.

I have to agree with this. The only way you are really going to see a difference is to replace those stock type coolers with a good HSF, something like the TR Venomous X, Megahalems, or even the TRUE is still a good choice.
 
The sensors work pretty good when the cpu is too hot, itll restart for you, I wouldnt worry abou tit. You should probably look into a better hsf as mentioned :thup:
 
Thank you all for your replies. I guess I will leave it alone then. And as far as upgrading my cooler well I dont really have too much of a choice. I had a Thermaltake heatpipe cooler
DSC_6926.JPG

which damaged my previous motherboard as it went on too tight after 3 days of use. This is the reason i now have the mobo and cpu listed in my first post. If anyone has any suggestions for a better than stock cooler that is the same size or smaller than the cooler above. you can see here that i dont really have much room to work with.
http://photos-1.dropbox.com/i/o/FvCQnFd7Q2neZodPdt7R-BAs1j8AltYVXzHgtWBJMAg
 
Doesn't overclocking your CPU void the warranty? No?

Well.... sort of. Officially yes, unofficially they have no way to tell, unless you've run a LOT of volts through it and roasted something.
CPU failures these days are extremely rare, i've read of one or two people that have RMAd theirs, both for stuck sensors.

The only dead modern cpus (AMD or Intel, AM2/775 and newer) i've run across have been killed by extreme overclocking with substantial vcore, or high vcore and extreme heat in the case of a couple AMD cpus (their thermal protection has never worked as well as Intels that i'm aware of), they just don't die anymore.
 
I used to get a 9c variation at full load on my q8200 at approx 25c room temp.
70c core 0 ,61c core 3.
Idle temps were closer 1st 2 were hotter like 42,41 then second 2 38,37
on the q8400 its different (room temp is colder now its winter),
1st 2 cores reading 37,37 next 2 40,40

under prime 95 load now tcase and tj are all within a few degrees of each other
cpu =69 core 0=69 core 1=67 core 2=66 core 3=65

as long as sensors work ok under load just work off the highest shown temp.

nb these temps go up to approx 80C with intel burn test/linpac.
 
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yes thank you for confirmation. i will not rma this chip. but what i will want to buy is a cooler that is about the same size as stock and is better. can anyone recommend something good and small?
 
This might actually be a good use of the Zalmon orb (with heatpipes) coolers.
Or a Thermalright XP90, if you can find one.

Check out frostytech.com for heatsink testing, and http://www.silentpcreview.com/ for small size stuff, they're more focused on quiet, but they're trying to make HTPCs and such quiet which means they have tiny cases to deal with.

Scyth makes a bunch of low profile coolers too.
 
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