Stock speed check point before OC

[smoth]

I have been running the system in my sig for 4 years now at stock speeds. I had been living in a house without air conditioning and had the case stuffed with hard drives, extra cards, and DVD drives, but I have just move almost all of the add-on cards and drives to a media server. Also, I am moving and will have AC now so I am looking to give myself a little speed boost as I really dont NEED a new workstation.

However, just checking my temps running Prime95 at stock with a Scythe Mugen -2 cooler with a 120 on it, and 4 120mm case fans, I am getting load temperatures hovering around 75-77C in an ambient of 25C. It is a D0 stepping chip.

I havent touched it since I installed it 4 years ago and it has been shipped back and forth throughout college so I am thinking I may need to try to reseat the heatsink.

I am also hoping to drop down to 2 or 3 case fans to cut down on the noise. So I want to make sure everything is set up properly before I start tinkering.

Does a reseat seem to be in order? I dont have any TIM on hand so I would have to order some, which is why I havent just redone it yet.

 

[azanimefan]

how about you clean out the inside of your case, and clean off the cpu cooler.

4 years is a long time without "touching" the inside of the case. I'd be willing to bet the inside of your case and case fans are caked with dirt/dust.

A good cleaning from top to bottom probably will net you 10-20C. I can attest to this, i just cleaned out one of my pastor's computers. He went from 79C under load down to 58C... his fans don't even speed up on a prime95 run the system runs so cool.

 

[smoth]

I suppose I wasnt the most clear, by haven't touched, I meant haven't reseated or changed settings, but I do clean it out every few weeks with some compressed air and a little duster for the heatsink. Sorry for the confusion. I can see some dust between the fins deep inside. If I reseat I will be sure to wash it thoroughly.

 

[azanimefan]

I suppose I wasnt the most clear, by haven't touched, I meant haven't reseated or changed settings, but I do clean it out every few weeks with some compressed air and a little duster for the heatsink. Sorry for the confusion. I can see some dust between the fins deep inside. If I reseat I will be sure to wash it thoroughly.

the thermal paste also can become less effective over time... so it might be a good idea to start with reseating the cpu cooler.