Intel E6400 idles at 47°C, is that good?

[artofwar420]

Should I get a new heatsink? It still has the stock heatsink. What's the best thing to help cooling?

[gta_bmx]

I think the max temp. for that chip is 61 C. Maybe go to Intel's site and find out exactly, and make sure you're under that temp. at load.

Did you apply the thermal compound correctly? I just try to rub a small amount evenly over the CPU. Some people apply a rice size amount and let the heat sink spread it out. Also, a better heat sink and fan along with good case ventilation/fans will lower your temps. Good luck.

[artofwar420]

Yeah, my case is kinda crappy. And I should get a new heatsink, but about the thermal compound, I applied 3 small drops and evened everything out with a q-tip. Did I do it wrong? It seemed thin.

[tokenuser]

Yeah, my case is kinda crappy. And I should get a new heatsink, but about the thermal compound, I applied 3 small drops and evened everything out with a q-tip. Did I do it wrong? It seemed thin.Yep. Don't use a q-tip. It needs to be a flat smear. I use a credit card.

Follow the instructions found here (http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm).

I have always liked the Arctic range of thermal compounds on both AMD and Intel machines. Not a recommendation, just a personal preference.

[artofwar420]

Crap, I'm gonna have to reapply, I think, but that heatsink is a pain in the butt to realign. Who thought that having the hooks move around was a good idea?

[gta_bmx]

Yeah, trying to clamp down the heat sink with the clips is a major pain in the arse. The heat sink moving around while trying to clamp it down isn't good for your intricately applied layer of thermal compound.

Be careful not to put too much thermal compound on the CPU because then the compound acts as an insulator and keeps the heat trapped inside the CPU instead of dissipating through the heat sink.

[artofwar420]

Thanks, all great advice. I just wish I could try out my new CPU, but my current motherboard doesn't support it (Rookie mistake). The new CPU's heatsink is much easier to align than my current one.

Soon I'll have enough to get a new an improved motherboard.

[dem0072]

47 degrees C isn't the end of the world, there are people with worse.

What I would recommend though is getting a good aftermarket air cooler if you don't have the cash or care to invest in water cooling. There's a bunch of good brands out there, and usually the community over at Newegg.com gives fair results as to the performance or satisfaction with the products they have used. Search for one that's compatible with your chip and board, and copper is usually a good thermal heat exchange material.

You can use Aluminum but be warned it gets hotter. It takes in more heat and discharges it quickly - at the expense of a higher over all temperature. Copper takes it in and dispenses it slowly, but has a high capacity for conducting the heat. Unfortunately this also means your system will take longer to cool down.

What ever you do avoid "Thermaltake" heat sinks. Yes they do a fair job at keeping your system cool, but at the expense of a god awful racket turning your system into a noise maker that sounds like a turbocharger and can be heard from the other end of your house (and from other stories in some cases).

I like Arctic Silver 5, it's treated me well, but bear in mind the application. With Arctic Silver 5 or other similar compounds that are more of a grease, you will have to replace it about once every 8 months to a year to keep it at peak efficiency. You can opt out for a ceramic compound that's good for lasting the duration of the processors life, but you do so at the cost of higher average heat, and thus the ceramic sometimes burns itself to the surface of the CPU, making it a real pride and joy bitch to clean when you upgrade, replace, or sell it.

For cleaning - Q-tips and denatured alcohol is best for getting grease off. Though isopropyl alcohol (80%) (most common for household and medical use) works just fine too.

For application - credit cards work, but depending on your skill you can use anything. Personally I've used butter knives, pocket knives, tooth picks, and anything else workable. Whatever works for you and gets it to a nice thin, smooth, even distribution across the chips surface. Typically if you could envision a green pea on the table, about one half of a green pea is about the amount you should apply to a typical Intel based processor.

The rest is just making sure you have good inflow, outflow, and as few obstructions from wires, components, or "bling" as possible within the interior of your case.

One thing I might recommend to you is if your case supports a larger number of fans, or a larger fan with a higher cubic feet per minute airflow rating (such as a beefy 120mm on the side, top, or back, or several 80mm's) you can mod your cases airflow system to include your own air filters. This cuts down on the dust level within the case. Now contrary to some beliefs that this slows down the airflow, if you find the right material for the filter, it can keep the dust out from the vulnerable places such as plugging up the fan's & gumming up the ball bearings, clogging the grooves or crevices in heat sinks, and providing less of a layer of dust which can actually insulate heat to some components like the RAMDAC chips of a video card. Good materials for this would include old window unit air conditioner filters, sometimes you can go to the store and get a cheap filter solution for one of those bagless vacuum cleaners, or if CFM really isn't an issue and your chip is staying cool, and you just feel like being cheap and ghetto - a tissue or paper towel might do the trick. But I would advise against relying on those too much, a good sized professional bagless vacuum filter or air conditioner filter will be much more effective. They are designed to block dust and keep airflow. Tissues are only designed to block snot.

Best of luck in your thermal endeavors!

[artofwar420]

Wow, that was very thorough thanks a bunch dawg. I'm 'bout to pimp mah pc.

[dem0072]

Wow, that was very thorough thanks a bunch dawg. I'm 'bout to pimp mah pc.

You're quite welcome. When you come around to cracking cases for 5 years to battle Murphy's laws of computer hardware you'll take on many times that information as second nature.

Another tip to keep your work clean, you might consider investing in some cable ties/zip ties and and consolidate all of your disc drives, and hard drives to one power supply strand, and all of your fans to anotherstrand which you secure and fit under the motherboard (don't force anything, be patient when fitting it and routing the wires) and having one video power plug adapter extend from a strand of your power supply and be dedicated to the video, and cable tie the rest and secure it on the top of your power supply.

Make sure your fans are all super quiet but somewhat efficient (reviews) and make sure every wire you can fit or route as close to the motherboard, or out of the open space as possible - that you do that. Improves airflow and makes a cleaner look as well.

Don't repeat my initial mistakes - be weary of flashy cases with 4 different fans, and bedamnware of the thermaltake air cooling product line. It will annoy you to no end.

[artofwar420]

Thank you sir, once I get a new motherboard that's compatible with my new processor I'll redo the innards of my case. Or just start with a new case, get new fans and stuff.