Temp Fluctuations on e6300

Hello Everyone,

I've been lurking for a month or so, now I've got a problem that some of you might have experienced that I haven't found an answer for.

I've recently bought the e6300, DS3, 1Gb G.Skill Hz Ram, Enermax Liberty PS, no case of of yet. Overclocked everything to about 3.0Ghz.

I bought the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro and lapped it as well as the IHS for the e6300. It's reflective, but not quite a mirror finish. I used some AS5 on it last night (maybe too much) and the temps that I was getting in TAT seems to jump around a bit. It never did it with the stock cooler just after I applied AS5.

The difference between the stock HS and the Arctic Freezer with the lapping was about 15 degrees lower idle and 12 degrees load on both cores (with the fan on high). The weird thing is that in TAT the temps jump around a lot, within a second or two the cores goes from 56, to 61, then back to 57, then to 62...etc...etc. (side note, this is with the fan on low...if I put it on high, temps are closer to 50 on load.)

Does anyone know why the temps would fluctuate so much in a few seconds. Is this the AS5 settling. Or could I have done a not so good lapping job? Any ideas?

Sounds like inaccurate readings to me. How much AS5 did you use? When lapping the goal is not to make is shiny, you want to make it flat. You did lap on glass did you not?

I used a fair bit, probably what people would consider 2 or 3 grains of rice. When I took the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro out of the box and looked at the massive amount on it, I thought maybe I should put more than usual on a chip with a IHS. I started with AS5 the size of 2 grains of rice and spread it out with a credit card, then put the last grain right in the middle and let the heat sink squish it down.

I didn't lap on glass, instead I used a sanding block that appeared really flat.

Here's a new development, at idle with the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro on full blast, the temps are a very steady 43 and 41....not moving at all. So it only seems to fluctuate rapidly when it's on load.

Any thoughts?

Definitely too much AS5.A piece about the size of a large grain of rice is good enough.As for lapping look's level don't do the job.A sheet of glass does.
And last but not least WELCOME to the forum

A sheet of glass eh? Any suggestions where I could get a sheet of glass? I never quite understood what that meant....to me a sheet is large.....to lap the heat sink on the Arctic Freezer Pro 7 you need something about 2 inches wide max to fit between the mounts....unless you can take them off somehow.

try these guys out.. http://www.easypckits.com/
& you can always use a glass cutter to get the
glass sized just right for you

studmaster said:

I used a fair bit, probably what people would consider 2 or 3 grains of rice. When I took the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro out of the box and looked at the massive amount on it, I thought maybe I should put more than usual on a chip with a IHS. I started with AS5 the size of 2 grains of rice and spread it out with a credit card, then put the last grain right in the middle and let the heat sink squish it down.

I didn't lap on glass, instead I used a sanding block that appeared really flat.

Here's a new development, at idle with the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro on full blast, the temps are a very steady 43 and 41....not moving at all. So it only seems to fluctuate rapidly when it's on load.

Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

Um... doesn't sound to me like you have a good lap job. If you used a sanding block with the padding under the paper then you are not flat. If you didn't lay the block down and move the HS ontop of the sand paper then you are not flat. Hold the HS base to a sheet of graph paper and look at the reflection. Are the lines skewed in the reflection? If so it is not flat.

You also used way too much AS5 you are suposed to use a drop about 1/2 to 1 grain of rice. Personally I like to just put it in the center of the IHS and let the HS do the spreading. The stuff that came on there was think b/c it was not AS5 it was Artic Cooling MX-1 it is meant to be applied much thicker.

It was just a wood block, with no padding under it. But I didn't lay the block down and moved the hs on it. I took one in each hand and sanded (I tried to sand it with the block flat to the heatsink). I think it would be almost impossible with the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro because of the way the mounts/clips are. They get in the way and you need a block/glass that is not more than a couple inches wide.

Has anyone tried to lap the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro?

I'm going to try the graph paper idea to see if it's flat, and try lapping again and reduce the amount of AS5 that I put on it. Honestly I think you would need a larger amount of AS5 or any thermal compound if you didn't lap the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro because it was really rough on the bottom of it. I could take my finger nail and feels the bumps easily.

AS5 is one of those less is more type situations. It is not meant to be a layer between the CPU and HS like MX-1 it is meant to simply fill all the inperfections in the two surfaces...

BTW if you didn't lay the block of wood on a table and move the HS on it you are not flat. The edges are rounded off which = a whole lot of material that needs removed to get it flat. You need to lap on a flat surface and wood is not flat by any means. Glass is accepted as the best surface but many will argue with its flatness.

Next time do a little research before jumping into a project...

Yes enz has lapped his Freezer 7 Pro he has a couple of threads about it here in the cooling section, look for em.

I dug up his (enz's )results:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=480214
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=480434

Thanks Immortal_Hero,

I did do some research before jumping in, I couldn't find anywhere (within a reasonable amount of time) to show a decent way to lap the Arctic Freezer Pro 7. The mounts come out beyond the heatsink so I couldn't figure out a way to rub that on a flat surface.

The threads that enz wrote doesn't say how he lapped his Arctic Freezer Pro 7, just that he did. I'll PM him to ask.

Once I get it lapped better, I'll add just a small amount of AS5 and compare the results.