Is this too much TIM, pictures included.

[mad_pc_man]

Hi,
my previous post was on getting temps of around 60oC at stock speeds at near idle. We found out it was probably either a fault with the temp sensors in the CPU, OR that I put on too much TIM. So here are some pictures, can you tell me if it is too much? The same amount is roughly on the CPU as well.

 

[pascalbrown]

It's not a grotesque overuse, but you could do with less. The distribution of it implies that the contact between heatsink and cpu isn't very good. Only the centre looks like it made contact!

 

[mad_pc_man]

So, how do I fix that, lapping the HS? If it is, the mounting mechanism is in the way of being able to lap it against a flat surface

 

[WonderingSoul]

I have seen a lot of Arctic Cooling heatsinks and almost all of them have been very flat, it may be your CPU that is not true.

 

[bryan_d]

So, how do I fix that, lapping the HS? If it is, the mounting mechanism is in the way of being able to lap it against a flat surface

Dental floss is your friend, or string, or a shoelace, or tape,... you get the point. Basically just keep the retention system against the aluminum fins while you lap. Worked for my Sunbeam Silent Whisper 775 (Exact Copy of whatever you are using).

Here is proof:





Good luck and post back,

bryan d

PS - You might need to remove your push-pins, but nothing a small flat head can't tackle

 

[mad_pc_man]

Well, I lapped the HS and the CPU. Temps are now 65oC(realtemp) 60oC(CoreTemp) at load (stock) and around 57oC idle. Both the CPU and HS looked very flat, both were quite reflective, I put less TIM on than before covering about the same amount of the CPU as the stock HSF did when applied. I used the stock HSF and stressed that, temps were about the same, perhaps slightly higher.

What in the heck is wrong with this CPU. I had a PentiumD 820 (Essentially, 2xPrescotts) before that ran at MAX. 50oC load.

ARGGGHHHH

 

[mad_pc_man]

Bump

 

[RGE]

With water cooling at 1.1Vcore, stock clock, idle 6x333 (speedstep) my core temp reads ~40C, but using IHS testing + 5C it is actually 30C, so my E8400 core sensor reads ~10C too high AT IDLE from slope error, which is about average for E8400, but have seen anywhere from 8 to 30C of slope error at idle on these.

When I remove my water cooling and TIM and run at same settings with no heatsink, temps slowly rise over few minutes to 80, 90 etc when I am temp testing.

But I place my Zalman 9500, fan off, NO TIM and cool it passively very quickly back to core reading ~45C (actual corrected temp ~35C) (granted if I hit load it gets toasty quick with no TIM)...these E8400 put out very little heat at idle, stock.

Point 1) if your heatsink is firmly attached, idle temps that high are unlikely from TIM problem, and likely just high idle slope error ?20C as opposed to my 10C.

2) If your load temp is fine, again that suggests your TIM is probably ok, and your sensors are not (though you can gain a few C with good TIM, but not 20C idle problem). If you had a problem with TIM or heatsink attachment your load would get very high.

 

[jason4207]

Way too much TIM imo. When you take the HS off you should see a circle that does NOT extend past the edges of the CPU.

 

[jonspd]

When you take the HS off you should see a circle that does NOT extend past the edges of the CPU.

thats how I like mine to look

 

[w2richwood]

i agree with jason to much is not good
Rich

 

[The Watcher]

Ya man..too much. Why r u using some crap stuff? Use a reputable brand like Arctic Silver. Also shiny mirror is not the same as flat. Only noobs like shiny stuff and not test for flatness.

 

[dicko555]

The Freezer 7 pro ships with MX-2 and that is a good TIM and it is pre applied I think. I am not sure if they supply extra but if so did you apply the TIM as shown on the MX-2 web site. If you did not get extra TIM with the cooler buy some Personally I like MX-2, Ceramique, and I have heard good reports about IC Seven Carat Diamond and T-C Grease 0098. Also remember various TIM's like to applied in different ways.
Also how did you check for flatness of the CPU and HSF. I use a razor blade and hold them up to the light to see if any light get through that will show any peaks or valleys.
When it comes to shiny or not that's up to you I have a semi mirror finish ( Lapped to about 1500 Grit) and that seems to work pretty well for me.
Lastly when you have the cooler in place make sure it is making good contact with the CPU and there is no movement and that it is attached good and tight.
Good luck.

 

[madhatter256]

I'd lap both the heatsink and the CPU until both are level.

HOwever, because of the way your heatsink attaches to the motherboard via the plastic clips, there can be a larger gap between the CPU and heatsink.

For applying thermal paste, if it's the high quality stuff, put down a small amount, about the size of a grain of rice if its an LGA775 CPU or 2 grains if its an AM2 CPU.

Second, if you do notice a gap, simply try to bend the metal bracket that connects the heatsink with the plastic clips. Bend the bracket up, towards the top of the heatsink. ONLY do this slightly because.

Only way to tell if you did it right is that installing the heatsink, you'll notice it touching the CPU right a way as you have put down two clips into the holes in the motherboard.

If you have any difficulty at attaching the heatsink, then you bent them, too much and can destroy the CPU if you put too much force, even the motherboard.

I had a friend who had the same problem. Turns out that the heatsink he bought (an artic cooling), had a 1mm gap between the CPU and heatsink, that's what caused his overheating.

 

[gottcha]

I have lapped my artic cooler freezer pro and my Q6600 and didn't need to modify it for any additional pressure. And i used Artic silver tim. overclocked to 3.4 and idles around 39c and loads to 65ish with a 75f room ambient temp.
the q6600 should be putting out alot more heat than the 8400.

the ACF7 should be able to cool much better than what yours is doing. Not to make you sound dumb at all but i have issues with the push pins at fist not clipping into the motherboard all the way but enough that it looked and kinda felt like they were in(felt like i was going to snap the board in half when installing). I doubt that is the issue just throwing it out there. I think "Real Temp" can test the temp sensors(someone correct me if i'm wrong) maybe the sensor reads wrong at idle.

Can heat pipes be bad? it sounds like you have covered all the bases except for the temp senors or maybe a really hot chip.

 

[HDCHOPPER]

no thats not toooo much tim
yes thats tooooo hot

maybe higher cfm fan might help
have had plenty of pent "D" also and thay are hot muthas something is worng with your setup or ihs is louzy on your chip

 

[jason4207]

Way too much TIM imo.

When you take the HS off you should see a circle that does NOT extend past the edges of the CPU.

thats how I like mine to look

i agree with jason to much is not good
Rich

Ya man..too much.

no thats not toooo much tim

HDCHOPPER, why do you think it's not too much? When I first started installing HS's I kept using way too much TIM (like you see in the pic above), and kept having temp issues. Once I figured out how very little one actually needs my temps dropped ~10*C. Also of mention is that it's much easier to clean up b/n mounts if you don't have TIM oozing out the sides and getting down into your socket area.

 

[WorshipMe]

What TjMax are you using to calculate temps? Older versions of Coretemp use 105c, the correct value is 100c. So your temps could be 5c too high.

 

[w2richwood]

do it your way hdchopper but its to much tim
Rich

 

[mad_pc_man]

I have taken out the motherboard
Checked for FLATness, and they both (HS & CPU) are.
Put on just the right amount of TIM. So it has the same size squashed oput blob as when the stock HS is put on with the preapplied grease, so I know its the right amount.
Put fans on to MAX.
The temps in realtemp (with 100oC TjMax) never go below 50oC.


THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS

I can't get to a more comfortable temperature, I can't overclock.
I Paid £117 for a CPU and I'm feeling thouroughly disappointed, angry and p***ed off!