Phenom II X4 965BE - Stock temps/cooling

[opethmmad]

I have just had a look on the giga website and I found you're problem with the vcore option! You're board does not support the proc that you ate using, don't panic! It doesn't mean it won't work, it just means that they don't have a bios revision to support that or any am3 chips, but I like the way you have managed to overcome you're vcore problem "very intuitive" if a pain on every start up

Hehe, I was aware of the AM3 issue when buying the Phenom II. It wasn't like that though back when I bought the board:

Check here to see what I mean:
http://club.myce.com/f7/gigabyte-ga-ma770-ds3-rev-1-0-supports-am3-cpu-306295/
I can live with lowering the Vcore from AMDOverdrive if I manage to keep the temps low - which I think I will soon.

think the cooler is a really good choice for the price. Its getting pretty nice reviews.

Also, if you want to save few bucks, buy the non-EVO version CM Hyper 212+. They are almost identical except the fan. EVO cools a bit better though. As I said earlier, the cooler plus new case with big exhaust fan cooled my cpu by 12C+ during full load and with the addition of front intake fan and smaller intake fan on the side it allows me to overclock pretty nice while still being under 50C. (Gotta stick to a minimal OC though as my mobo needs upgrade)

Saving a few bucks now would cost us more later, as it's a nice cooler to keep for a new system in a couple of years huh? Ok challenge accepted, I will buy TWO FANS too (one for the side). Omg what a copy cat am I?

 

[Mitukczuk]

The side fan is there mainly to blow some additional air on my OC'd graphics card, its optional. The front intake and rear exhaust 120+mm fans are standard as of late.

Try to save up for a new mobo and DDR3 RAM to go with it. And definitely post your new temps after you upgrade the CPU cooler.

EDIT: I can recommend you my new mobo (in the signature)...can't complain at all, and the thing was cheap!

 

[opethmmad]

Hello again!

It's been over a month now and I had enough of the stock cooler.
Despite the fact that I had zero BSODs and the CPU temperature was ~39-40C on idle and ~52C max load, it was TOO noisy.

The last days the ambient temperature went to 30C so the stock cooler didn't stop working its *** off all day, so I couldn't concentrate as it was giving me a headache

MeStock Cooler​

So I bought the CM Hyper 212 Evo and installed it today.
Here's a prtscr after 20mins of a blend test.
Note that I still use AMD Overdrive to keep the Vcore at 1.300V.




On idle the temps are ~33-34C.
Thermal Paste : Arctic Silver Ceramique 2, center dot method.

I think it seems pretty descent, considering the general temps of Phenom II X4 965 and also the fact that I still have no rear case fan (my case doesn't support it as it seems).


Of course even on full load, the 120mm fan of the Evo is silent, I am completely satisfied with this purchase.


After all, I think this upgrade is complete. Month by month, I'll try to upgrade more things (case, mobo, GPU, probably RAM )..

Thanks to Mitukczuk and of course everyone else that helped with this! If you got any questions, hit me!

 

[Mitukczuk]

Good to see some improvements.

As for your case it does support a rear fan if I see correctly in the description.
- Detachable front panel design
- Fits standard ATX motherboard
- Dual 120mm front and rear fan (front is optional)
- Tool-free for easy installation
- Dual USB2.0, Audio & speaker ports

Trust me, in combination with front and rear panel fans your EVO 212+ and temps will truly shine. Remember, the air needs to get in and out of the case, especially in summer.
But if the ambient temp is 30C and you are still below 50C on your cpu, you are golden.

 

[opethmmad]

Good to see some improvements.
As for your case it does support a rear fan if I see correctly in the description.
- Dual 120mm front and rear fan (front is optional)

I made a language mistake, I meant I have no front fan (the case included a thermaltake rear fan in a nice orange colour hehe, and it does a pretty nice job) . Sorry about that.

The thing with this case is that, although it does support a front fan, it has this black plastic at the front which isn't removable. At the front bottom of it, there is a small gap, facing the ground, from where some air is supposed to come in (tends to gather hair lol ) and then goes to the fan.

So it does support it, but... in a weird manner.
I've read that it doesn't make a real difference on the flow in this particular case due to the weird position of the gap, but that might be just an opinion.
I will order a fan and try it though, I got curious now.

 

[Mitukczuk]

Even this hole facing downwards will help you if you instal the fan. Problem is that you probably don't have fan filters so it will collect dust. But that's nothing a weekly dust clean wouldn't solve.
Don't believe everything you read and try things yourself. Best way to learn about computers, in my opinion. You WILL see improvements if you throw those front/rear fans in there.

 

[tikithorsen]

The 965, if its C3, or at least mine can rune stable at stock speed @ 1.275v and the difference between the CM Hyper Evo with the Plus is the fact that the Evo has a "flat" surface where it contact the CPU, unlike the Plus which has gaps. In reality this means that is just harder to apply thermal compound on the Plus and a few degrees higher.

 

[opethmmad]

The 965, if its C3, or at least mine can rune stable at stock speed @ 1.275v and the difference between the CM Hyper Evo with the Plus is the fact that the Evo has a "flat" surface where it contact the CPU, unlike the Plus which has gaps. In reality this means that is just harder to apply thermal compound on the Plus and a few degrees higher.

Thanks for sharing information about your rig.
True, Evo is flat. Does a great job for me. Currently, I am ~11C higher than ambient temperature. Still with no front fan. Lowest temperature I saw (early in the morning) was 29C on idle.

I am at stock speed too.
I experienced two unexpected instant shutdowns since my last post.Like the power went off. I then noticed that I had the turbo-key of AMD overdrive set to ON, getting my CPU working to max all the time . I set it to OFF and now the clock isn't always at 3400MHz + no shutdowns at all.

I will lower try to lower the Vcore when I got time to run Prime tests, if you say it runs stable! thanks!

 

[tikithorsen]

I tried AMD Overdrive and I found it to be more complicated to use then my BIOS. Just don't like it, at all.
Not sure if your MoBo supports it, but you can just use TouchBios and do most stuff from Windows then reboot and all the changes are applied. The only problem is that TouchBios lack a few options, but is still somewhat handy.

As a side note, it was on this great forum that they helped me realize how low then VCore could be, and let me tell you that it made an immense impact on my temperatures, because by default this MoBo sets my VCore to 1.475v.

 

[tikithorsen]

I don't know how precise is this, but I reckon is reliable at least.

 

[opethmmad]

I tried AMD Overdrive and I found it to be more complicated to use then my BIOS. Just don't like it, at all.
Not sure if your MoBo supports it, but you can just use TouchBios and do most stuff from Windows then reboot and all the changes are applied. The only problem is that TouchBios lack a few options, but is still somewhat handy.

As a side note, it was on this great forum that they helped me realize how low then VCore could be, and let me tell you that it made an immense impact on my temperatures, because by default this MoBo sets my VCore to 1.475v.

I don't see my mobo listed, so I don't think it supports it.
In any case, I don't use AMDOverdrive for anything else but to change the Vcore.It's the only tool I found which can do it, since my BIOS didn't have such an option (if you read the whole thread you''ll get the idea, my mobo isn't even supposed to support this BIOS or this CPU lol - it works like a charm though)

I came across your threads inhere, when you posted! Guys do a really nice job, helping us, starters. My Vcore was set by default at 1.475v too, might be a Gigabyte "issue"? Dunno!
About the graphs, if they were made with the 965BE, -speaking only about the Evo - it seems accurate with a better case than mine, and a proper airflow ( it helps if its winter )

 

[tikithorsen]

I posted a at least 3 more forums and this was the only one where the actually give you proper assistance.
Yes, the test system was a 965 B.E.