Q6600 weird temps skyrocket

[MURDEROUS G]

Very strange, only thing i can think of is the hs is either struggling (which it shouldnt) or its not sitting right. The only other possible cause is ambient temp (which you say is the same) or even a concave ihs but the core temps seem to be close enough to suggest it isn't.

There the only things that can cause this looking at the speedfan graph as it cant seem to shift the temps back down ounce its been under load.

It actually doesn't seem to be only if it's been under load, either... I just switched it off, gave it ten minutes to cool down, switched it back on, and idle temp was initially 42°C, but again gradually crept back up to 50°C over the next few minutes. God knows what's going on here.

Out of interest, is it a retail cpu? (may be worth trying the stock hs to rule some causes out?)

It's OEM, sadly, but I have a second rig with an E2180 with stock Intel cooler. I guess I'll switch them around and see what happens, that's a good idea.

 

[V3g3tto]

I won't be buying a Q6600 again (well i wouldn't buy same chip 3 times anyway lol).

They are made so random, that no two are remotely similar, it's a joke that QA doesn't give a rat's ass.

I have two Q6600 at the moment running in near identical machines, on P5K boards, with very good aftermarket coolers using AS5. The newest of the two runs idle with even temps at around 30C, my main one runs with a 11C gap between core temps at 32C, even after lapping.

Whats most annoying that both have a VID of 1.325, whats the ******* luck in that?

 

[tatts]

my main one runs with a 11C gap between core temps at 32C, even after lapping.

It can't be perfectly flat then

 

[SS-89]

My take on it could be that after prime the chip is heating up and raising case ambient temps, somehow your case isn't shifting the hot air out therefore the cpu idle isn't falling back in line. Have you checked to see if any of your case fans are running lower than their rated rpm? Also have you tried it with the case side off?

Either that and more likely is your hsf is damaged and not dissipating heat after the prime load. Is the ac7 spinning at 1200rpm in the bios?

 

[MURDEROUS G]

My take on it could be that after prime the chip is heating up and raising case ambient temps, somehow your case isn't shifting the hot air out therefore the cpu idle isn't falling back in line.

I doubt it is this because mostly the chip idles at 50°C from the word go. It doesn't just reach >50°C after being put under stress and then fail to cool down again. Most of the time as soon as I start the machine the CPU idles at 50°C straight out of the gate despite not having been put under any load, at all, at any point.

Re. the airflow thing, as I've said earlier in the thread, I really do not think there's an airflow issue because if there is a problem with the airflow right now, then I would have seen the same problems with the last processor, as the entire rig save the new Q6600 is identical.

Have you checked to see if any of your case fans are running lower than their rated rpm? Also have you tried it with the case side off?

IIRC the case fan is running at the same rpm as always; and the case sides have been off the whole time (as I'm messing about with the insides of the rig at five minute intervals it didn't seem worthwhile putting them on).

Either that and more likely is your hsf is damaged and not dissipating heat after the prime load.

This is the same HSF I was using with the previous Q6600 a few days ago and it seemed to be fine then. I'm not ruling out that the HSF is damaged but it certainly seems unlikely. Again, the issue isn't that the machine simply is "not dissipating heat after the prime load". The processor generally idles at 50°C on startup.

 

[IAmATeaf]

What happens if you put the case side back on? Maybe the fans are spinning at such a low speed that having the side off stop the air from circulating.

 

[IAmATeaf]

It's pretty hot, but not significantly more so than any other part of it. What am I looking for here?

Was wondering if the temp probe was telling fibs but if the base is hot then it looks like the HSF isn't taking the heat away once it's heated up.

 

[geekyEd]

The Q6600 proved to be unstable and I had to RMA it. Prior to sending it back, I took a screenshot of its idle temps, OC'd to 3GHz, which follows:

lol RMA a processor with voided warranty?

Some people seem to forget that these are only warranted to run at 2.4GHz any more is beyond specs.

As long as the processor runs, doesnt overheat and shutdown or cause errors at stock then its done what it says on the box and RMA'ing is plain wrong.

just because most processors will do certain speeds definatly doesnt mean that you should expect yours to do so and at exceptionally low temperatures.

If you want to remove luck from the equation buy a 2nd hand already successful chip.

 

[Phil2008]

Stupid question but are you sure the fan is spinning, blowing air into the fins?

Check the speed of the fans using Everest or a simular monitor program.

Another point is to make sure the CPU fan isn't in contention with another nearby fan. These are just initial thoughts.

How much thermal paste do you apply?

You also need to make sure that the CPU and HSF are making good contact. Just apply some fresh paste as normal making sure it's smooth as a babies bum then fit the HSF as you would then remove immediately. Check the paste to see if it's been disturbed. Any remaining "Smooth" areas means the HSF isn't contacting correctly.


This is my Q6600 after 8 months or so - You can see one corner isn't making contact but is away from the die area. However, for maximum displacement the whole area needs to be making contact. I lagged this after the picture was taken.

That looks badly burnt, or is that how its ment to look??

 

[tatts]

That looks badly burnt, or is that how its ment to look??

Thats usually how it looks after a few months, the only problem i can see is the paste looks a little thick & it would benefit from a lap

 

[muon]

Probably a concave IHS on the new chip. You need to recheck to see that youve put enough thermal paste. If its concaave, it might not be making contact everywhere and hence need more paste to fill the gap. Itl unlikely youll achieve the same temps as the first chip though, since more paste is needed. But still you should see an improvement. Consider lapping if you want to improve it further.

 

[MURDEROUS G]

Some people seem to forget that these are only warranted to run at 2.4GHz any more is beyond specs.

As long as the processor runs, doesnt overheat and shutdown or cause errors at stock then its done what it says on the box and RMA'ing is plain wrong.

jesus christ

I RMA'd it because straight out of the box it was unstable under load. At any speed, including stock, even underclocked down to 1.6GHz.

Two thumbs up for blundering into the thread and ranting that sending it back because it wouldn't do 87GHz on air is "plain wrong"

 

[MURDEROUS G]

Probably a concave IHS on the new chip. You need to recheck to see that youve put enough thermal paste. If its concaave, it might not be making contact everywhere and hence need more paste to fill the gap.

When I last reseated the HSF, I checked as directed in a previous post to see if it looked like it was making contact with the whole of the processor, and it did appear to be. I'll have another go at it though and put more paste on there, see if that makes a difference.

Itl unlikely youll achieve the same temps as the first chip though, since more paste is needed. But still you should see an improvement. Consider lapping if you want to improve it further.

I'll have a read up about lapping, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[tatts]

I'll have a read up about lapping, thanks for the suggestion.

Just so you're aware, lapping will void your warranty

 

[muon]

When I last reseated the HSF, I checked as directed in a previous post to see if it looked like it was making contact with the whole of the processor, and it did appear to be. I'll have another go at it though and put more paste on there, see if that makes a difference.

If the paste is spreading nicely across the entire processor, then no more paste is needed. Sorry about my post, I didnt see that you had looked for this already.

Otherwise, your problem is quite puzzling.

 

[HatMan]

My stock Q6600 idles at 50c and has done since I've had it. Nearly a year now. On load it hit 65c easy. I guess some are WAY better than others. I will be pretty annoyed if my new 9450 does the same

 

[MURDEROUS G]

My stock Q6600 idles at 50c and has done since I've had it. Nearly a year now. On load it hit 65c easy. I guess some are WAY better than others.

Is that with stock HSF? Given that my last one idled at 33°C, I just can't believe that 50°C can possibly be normal idle temp for my new one. It just seems like waaaay too much of a jump.

Edit: also the fact that it seems to start up at ~35°C and very gradually creep up to 50°C over the course of about 10-15 minutes makes me think that somehow I must have busted my HSF at some point inbetween RMA'ing the last processor and receiving this one.

Otherwise, your problem is quite puzzling.

It certainly is that, isn't it?

 

[Mattus]

Strange. I'm inclined to agree that this is a problem with the CPU's heatspreader not being flat, and reducing the ability of the HSF to dissipate heat.

Does the chip still run at 55c when under load? If so, I would just forget about the problem. 50c is high for an idle temp, but it isn't going to damage the CPU. As long as the chip never exceeds 65-70c and it runs stable, I don't think the high idle temp is worth worrying about.

 

[decto]

I'll ask what may be a stupid question...

Some mainboards have fan speed control in the BIOS or software where you set a target CPU temperature. Are you sure you don't have this enabled somewhere. 50C just seems to consistant, it should vary from a hot to cold room if it's an installation error or damaged HSF.

I was puzzled a couple of years back, I'd disabled the fans contol in the BIOS but the MSI core utility had it active an it started up by default when windows loaded. I'd had the chip out a few times before I twigged.

AD

 

[MURDEROUS G]

I'll ask what may be a stupid question...

Some mainboards have fan speed control in the BIOS or software where you set a target CPU temperature. Are you sure you don't have this enabled somewhere. 50C just seems to consistant, it should vary from a hot to cold room if it's an installation error or damaged HSF.

I was puzzled a couple of years back, I'd disabled the fans contol in the BIOS but the MSI core utility had it active an it started up by default when windows loaded. I'd had the chip out a few times before I twigged.

AD

The CPU fan is set to 100% speed all of the time, regardless of load or temp. This isn't default obv, I've just configured it as such to see if I could get a more reasonable temp out of the CPU with all the fans going at full whack. Alas the answer is no.