CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

[Stev0esque]

Well I opened up my BIOS on my GA-X58-UD3R and found that my CPU is running at 96 fucking degrees Celsius (Yanks have to figure that one out themselves. I'm not preconverting, but I will say that 4 more degree's and I can probably cook myself up a cup of tea). Reading up around the internet I have read that one reason is that the stock Cooler is pretty shite so I figure if my PC is going to survive the 40+ Degree C summers we have here I'm probably going to need a new one. What recommendations would you guys have for my system? Is watercooled CPU coolers better?

Full specs include:

Cooler Master Elite 370 Midi ATX case
GA-X58-UD3R MoBo
i7 930 @2.8Ghz
8gb DDR3 ram @1066 mhz
Powercolor AMD 6870
Antec True Power TP750

[Stev0esque]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

well just to clear up, only my BIOS says its running at that. CPUID Hardware monitor says its running between 76-86 degrees, but thats with the case lid off...

[signa]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

Water cooling obviously works good but you need to do some planning and research on it. the easiest would be something like the Corsair hydro series. I kind of like going with one of the air coolers with heat pipes that uses 120mm fans. That gives you a lot of choice if you have to replace fans. Right now I'm using a cooler master 212+, and so far its been excellent. Also don't forget to use a good thermal paste like arctic silver 5 and check their website on how to apply it.

[Stev0esque]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

Ah ok. Been using the Cooler master thermal paste.

Also, I just bought another 120mm fan today as a partial quick fix, now I already have one that directs air outward, should I place it so that air flows inward, or just go outward again?

[CptainCrunch]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

Can you take a few pictures of how your case is setup?

I always like to have a fan in the front and in the back and they should all be blowing the same direction and thats front to back.

Also, I have the 950 processor using the stock fan and have had no problems. I have found that the new design Intel put on these heatsinks with the pushNtwist pins that sometimes the pressure will pop the pins off the board and then your heatsink isn't actually resting on the processor. You might double check that.

As for a good cooler, I like this brand:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008000%2050001647%20600110700&IsNodeId=1&name=LGA%20775%20%2f%201155%20%2f%201156

The downside to this, and other heatsinks like them, is that they mount with a bracket that has to go under the motherboard, so you usually have to take the motherboard out to install them.

Crunch

[Stev0esque]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

Ah ok, so Zalman isn't a bad brand. Couldn't find much on them on google when I was doing an ebay search for CPU heatsinks. Was available in this country though, albeit for $80 not including shipping.

Well I re-placed my new fan so its extracting off the top as the processor is the only thing that seems to be overheating at the moment, but was that a mistake? (not sure how much air was getting to it through the 6870 I got)

Here are a couple of pics





I know, a crapload of wires. Not sure where to put them though... While I am here would someone like to help me out?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Arctic-Co...item335ef24839

also, what does that one sound like? mainly because its pretty cheap, but I know with PC parts that can also be a downside. Will the heatsinks you guys have recommended also be good for overclocking? Because I have been planning to for a while but I know I need a better cooling system before I even attempt though.

And with the current fan setup I managed to get CPU temp down to around 75 on average

[Stev0esque]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

those pics may be slightly off soon, a friend I showed pointed out that I may have put in too many PCI wires, but other than that, nothing may change

[CptainCrunch]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

Yeah, you need to redo your cable management. That clog in the front is breaking up the airflow for sure.

Also, I noticed that your heatsink for the CPU is dirty. In fact, the insides are dirty in the case. You need to clean all that out with compressed air. When you do, hold on to the fan blades, dont spin them with air or you will burn them out.

One final note, the pins on the heatsink are not positioned correctly, meaning it doesnt look like the heatsink is locked in like it should be. I mentioned about them being bad to do that and it looks like you may be having the same issue.

To show you what I am talking about, I edited this pic:



Looks like you have some work to do!

Crunch

[CptainCrunch]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

Also, this case looks a little like mine. Does it have a fan in the front? If so, make sure its clean and the air flows. Also, the case looks flushed on your desk, is there a gap between it and the bottom so your power supply can breathe?

Your cables in the back need to be moved out of the way also. They are messing up outflow.

Crunch

[CptainCrunch]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

And why is your harddrive sticking out like that? It should be in the lower bay.

I should have studied the pics more before commenting

Crunch

[Scinto]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

Artic Freezer will be fine.

Always preferred using after market coolers than the stock ones.

Also where is the Ram? it seems to be missing?

[Stev0esque]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

Yeah, I did manage to re-turn one of the legs, but as I got the processor and HS second hand it didn't always slip on right, but could be my own fault. It seems a lot more stable now.

It doesnt come with a fan in front as standard sadly, but putting hard drives in a lower bay is good to know space wise, especially since I'm considering crossfiring another 6870 if I can't afford a 6990 or 6970 when the 7000's come out (ati fanboy here, as I haven't dealt much with Nvidia apart from the 8300gs stock graphics card...)

also, in retrospect I did needlessly put extra PCI cables in. Shows how much I took notice of my own system 2 months ago.

well also, my PC is actually UNDER my desk. I was wondering if that was going to be an issue. This room is cramped though, but I'm sure I'll manage.

Also, we need to fix the edit function.

Artic Freezer will be fine.

Always preferred using after market coolers than the stock ones.

Also where is the Ram? it seems to be missing?

Look in the 2nd and 4th slots. Its just I managed to take some pretty poorly timed shots as I took them while it was still on, and under my desk

[PCKiller]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

i use a boss prime II to i7 950, its very cool and i am happy for it, but i like this too:

my i7 950@ 3.3ghz temp:

[CptainCrunch]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

If you put it under your desk, be sure you have gaps underneath and behind it to get the air to move. If your desk is solid in the back, it may be an issue as the heat builds up around the case, the fans are just going to suck the hot air back in.

Crunch

[signa]

Re: CPU cooler Recommendations for an i7 930

crunch is correct. clean out that cpu heatsink with some compressed air, that is most likely most of the problem and verify the heatsink is mounted correctly.

Imo, i would take the whole tower outside and hit it with a air compressor and get all the dust out and with those high temps i would take off the heat sink and re-do the thermal paste with some arctic silver 5 and re-mount the heatsink- or better yet, get the aftermarket sink and mount with arctic silver 5.

Try to work on cleaning up that wiring. you can probably connect your case fans 3 pin connectors to the motherboard's 3pin fan connectors.
I would move that top blue colored fan to the front of the case so it is sucking air in, and leave the back black fan where it is.
Also when dusting out the computer, don't forget to blow some air through the video card and as crunch said, don't let the fans overspin when using compressed air.