High Temps for custom water?

iB CoMpL3XiTy

iB CoMpL3XiTy

iB CoMpL3XiTy

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Cornwall, England
Hey guys I'm coming to the end of my Core i7 960 overclocking and have settled at a speed of just under 4.1Ghz (HT on) with 1.296V under load, but my temps are concerning me.

After an hour of prime 95 my temps were 84,89,83,84C this seems like the
kind of temps I would expect from high end air cooling, not good watercooling.

My watercooling loop is as follows (in this order)

EK Advanced 150 Res>Dual Laing DDC's>GTX570(2)>GTX570(1)>Core i7 960>XSPC RS 360>EK 360>RES.

GPU's are cooled with the Aquagraphx GTX580/570 blocks and the CPU block is a Heatkiller LGA1366 LC 3.0

Thermal paste is MX2. Fans are 1200RPM enermax and 1000RPM Bit Fenix (3 on each Rad)

GPU's load at just under 40C (both factory overclocked to 841/1682/1980)

CPU idle's at about 50C! Room temp roughly 22C

Temps seem high to you guys?
 
I would have been inclined to put the cpu first in the loop from the Rad instead of the GPU'S.

Double check install of the water block, I use the Heatkiller on mine and needed to really screw down on the block to get contact with the cpu.
 
RJC said:
I would have been inclined to put the cpu first in the loop from the Rad instead of the GPU'S.

Double check install of the water block, I use the Heatkiller on mine and needed to really screw down on the block to get contact with the cpu.
Click to expand...

+1
 
RJC said:
I would have been inclined to put the cpu first in the loop from the Rad instead of the GPU'S.

Double check install of the water block, I use the Heatkiller on mine and needed to really screw down on the block to get contact with the cpu.
Click to expand...

Loop order surely doesn't matter as the water temp will reach an equilibrium after a short period of time right?

I've tightened the block down as much as I'm comfortable with, used a wrench to hold down the screws on the back side of the mobo and tightened with the allen key until it became differcult to tighten anymore.
 
If we make the brave assumption that the built in thermometers are vaguely accurate, a cpu temperature 45 degrees over the gpu load temperature strongly suggests that your cpu block is mounted badly. Or that you're measuring the cpu temperature badly, are the barbs hot to the touch?

When my cpu was last hitting around 100 under water the barbs were definitely hot to the touch, and the tubing connected to the cpu block was rather softer than usual. That was with a correctly mounted cpu block. So if the barbs feel like they're at room temperature but the processor insists it's at 85 degrees, the mount must be bad.

Considering it's all in one loop, and indeed that the temperature variation throughout will not be much, pretty much everything else is ruled out. The only other option is that your cpu temp reading is wildly inaccurate, which is also plausible.

^I'm with with RJC on cpu block placement. It's not likely to be significant, but you may as well put the cpu in the fractionally cooler section if it doesn't mess up the tube routing.
 
Block order will make absolutely no difference (less than 1C) to temperatures.

CPU block isn't making proper contact, check to see if your TIM is showing good signs of contact between CPU and block. Do you have the backplate installed with the block?
 
I agree, loop order makes no discernable difference once your water temp has equalised. I'm also inclined to go with the cpu block making poor contact. I'd remove it and check the TIM pattern for any areas not covered and reseat it. Keep us informed :)
 
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There's something very wrong there. 50 degrees at idle is way too high. That's higher than my day to day load temps. To give you a idea of blocks making a difference to the water temp i have a inline temp sensor before the first block and another after the last block. Usually there is only a difference of 0.8-1.2 degrees between them.
 
Are you using coolant or distilled water? If your using coloured coolant it could be clogged in the CPU block. You may need to replace the water/coolant and clean out the block (if it is seated correctly).
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I'll check the mount later tonight :)

Compressions are no warmer than ambient air whilst running prime.

Using Bi-distilled water + A few drops of Petra's Tech PT PHN Nuke.

Ninja: @ Jokester, no backplate, Should I have one?
 
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Yeah. I'd go for it being a problem with your mounting, as the GPU temperatures are fine suggesting the loop is handling the heat fine.
 
Hey guys Got a few Photo's for you, did have one of the underside of the CPU block, but when I try and upload it IE gives me a very helpful and informative error message saying "No files where uploaded" Anyways here's a pic of the CPU and loop layout.

20110405063614.jpg


Notice damage to the Caps to the left of the CPU socket caused by the heatkiller, the heatkiller seems to be to large and so sits on top of some of the caps.
Also it seemed like to much paste so I removed it and applied a smaller amount but temps haven't improved.

20110405064613.jpg
 
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wayyyyy too much paste! You need the tinyest, smallest layer on top of the cpu!

Did you say you didnt use a back plate as well?

Maybe the heatkiller isnt actually sitting on the CPU that tight as its resting on the caps instead?
 
teknokid said:
wayyyyy too much paste! You need the tinyest, smallest layer on top of the cpu!

Did you say you didnt use a back plate as well?

Maybe the heatkiller isnt actually sitting on the CPU that tight as its resting on the caps instead?
Click to expand...

Yeah I know,I said earlier I've re-applied the thermal paste, using a lot less, but temps remain roughly the same

The left side of the CPU block is patchy, suggesting poor contact with the CPU.

You guys got any suggestions for a compatbile and high performance block??

Much appreciated
 
Cant 100% tell from the pics as half is missing :)
But going by the first post
EK Advanced 150 Res>Dual Laing DDC's>GTX570(2)>GTX570(1)>Core i7 960>XSPC RS 360>EK 360>RES
Click to expand...
it look like you are running your block back to front.
Water usually should be entering the block on the centre barb. This would probably explain your crappy temps on the CPU
 
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To add to my post and twist3d0n3
A couple of snips from the heat killer instructions pdf
Caution: For some socket 1366 motherboard types, the heatsink must be rotated and mounted at 90
degrees. This prevents the capacitors, which are to the left-of the CPU socket, from touching the
cooler.
Click to expand...

All coolers of the HEATKILLER ® CPU Rev3.0 series have a defined inlet and outlet. The opening
always located centrally in the middle of the cooler.
Click to expand...
 
lol, so its a complete fail install by me. Haha! :)

I'll have to rotate the block 90 degree's and get the inlet and outlet the correct way around tomorrow, I'll post back with (hopefully) a large temp reduction.

Thank you.
 
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