[cyberspacegenie]

I'm new to overclocking, but recently built a system and was going to try and overclock it to about 3.0GHz. Unfortunately with my current ambient temps I'm not sure whether its a good idea.

The system - main elements

Q6600
P5K-E/Wi-Fi
Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme with S-flex fan (1600 rpm currently set to 1100 rpm)
Transcend DDR2-800 RAM (1GB x 2)
Asus EN8600GT Silent (passive cooled)
Antec P150 case


I`m based in Tokyo and the computer is a room with no aircon and lots of window. I have a thermometer in the room and current ambient temps are getting up to about 35 degrees C.

At 35 deg C ambient temp I'm getting the following CPU and Mobo temps

Idle
CPU 48 degrees C (Core temp & RM clock)
Mobo 43 degrees C　(speedfan)

load (running othos)

CPU 60-62 deg C
Mobo 45-46 deg C


When the ambient temp drops to about 25 degrees C the CPU idles at about 41 degrees C. I increased the fan speed at load on the CPU but it only reduces the temp by 1 degree!

These high summer temps make me feel that I would be silly to try and overclock, but I figured I would I ask people more knowledgable than myself before completely abandoning the idea.

What do you think?

[Krlll]

According to Intel thermal spec is as high as 71C
http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sSpec=SLACR
This seems high to me and I wouldnt want to reach that temp but I guess the CPU doesnt throttle until it reaches 71C.
I dont fancy your chances,overclocking will require extra voltage at some stage and then the temps are really going to go up.
You could try to increase case cooling and increase the speed of the CPU fan to 100% but with such high ambient temps im not sure how much good it will do(not much I think).
Unless you try other methods of cooling other than air I cant give much advice.
You could lap the base of the HSF and CPU then use Arctic Silver 5 as your thermal paste.This will give you maybe 5C less,possibly more depending on the quality of finish on the HSF and how flat the CPU IHS is.
Edited to add There is of course the Motherboard components to take into consideration aswell:(

[alex]

[quote=Krlll;23552]According to Intel thermal spec is as high as 71C
http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sSpec=SLACR
This seems high to me and I wouldnt want to reach that temp but I guess the CPU doesnt throttle until it reaches 71C.
quote]

Just for continuity Krill this figure refers to the max temperature of the cpu's IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader), measured at it's geometric centre at the max TDP of the cpu.

The cpu's thermal trip function, which shut's down the cpu to avoid damage, kick's in at around 20 degrees C above this.

[alex]

Originally Posted by cyberspacegenie

I'm new to overclocking, but recently built a system and was going to try and overclock it to about 3.0GHz. Unfortunately with my current ambient temps I'm not sure whether its a good idea.

The system - main elements

Q6600
P5K-E/Wi-Fi
Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme with S-flex fan (1600 rpm currently set to 1100 rpm)
Transcend DDR2-800 RAM (1GB x 2)
Asus EN8600GT Silent (passive cooled)
Antec P150 case


I`m based in Tokyo and the computer is a room with no aircon and lots of window. I have a thermometer in the room and current ambient temps are getting up to about 35 degrees C.

At 35 deg C ambient temp I'm getting the following CPU and Mobo temps

Idle
CPU 48 degrees C (Core temp & RM clock)
Mobo 43 degrees C　(speedfan)

load (running othos)

CPU 60-62 deg C
Mobo 45-46 deg C


When the ambient temp drops to about 25 degrees C the CPU idles at about 41 degrees C. I increased the fan speed at load on the CPU but it only reduces the temp by 1 degree!

These high summer temps make me feel that I would be silly to try and overclock, but I figured I would I ask people more knowledgable than myself before completely abandoning the idea.

What do you think?

I gather from reading your post that temps are your concern Cyber. Quad core core2's do have a higher TDP than their dual core cousin's. So you can expect higher stock temps.

But as it's already running at 60-65c at load, and the mobo is up at 45c I'd be very tempted to change (as Krill has said) the hsf and the T.I.M. AC Freezer 7 pro or Tuniq Tower are good bet's. A.Silver is about thee best T.I.M on the market. Because your cpu is top-locked getting 3ghz from it will require dropping the multiplier and upping the fsb (something your board is very good at). This in turn will need more voltage to the cpu, creating more heat.

Fitting a new hsf should also cut down on the ambient heat. But I wouldn't worry so much about that as the mobo's VRM's are located in such a was as to be cooled by the hsf. The only slight concern re the ambient heat is the southbridge and the northbridge. But just get some active cooling on them, maybe an Antec Spotcool or mod a 80mm fan over them.

I reckon your goal is do-able but take care of the airflow first.

[cyberspacegenie]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the advice. The TR 120 extreme was not cheap so needless to say I dont fancy getting another heatsink if I can help it. As for lapping the heatsink and the CPU I'd worried about damaging them!

Room temp got up to 37 degrees C today so I've pretty much given up the idea anyway. The room has plenty of light and little airflow even with the windows open so unfortunately so the computer itself is actually adding to the heat because it doesnt go anywhere.

I'm now just working to keep the temps as low as possible. I cleaned up the case cables which were a bit of a mess but it made no difference to the temps. There is actually already an antec spotfan in the case blowing on the area just above the memory. I've also now put 120mm fan on the case to blow on the southbridge - see pic below. Unfortunately the this seems to have made the MoBo temps higher so It may be has affected the course of the airflow in the case.




I'm not sure what the average temps are for a non overclocked Q6600. Most temps I've been able to find are the same as mine overclocked (this is comparing when the ambient temp here goes down to mid 20's when the cpu idles at somewhere between 41-44 degrees C (coretemp & RM Clock)). I'm wondering if I did a bad job of applying the thermal paste. I used MX-2 which I read good reviews about but I've read recently that applying thermal paste to quad core s is a little different. I'm wondering if I should try remounting. There were no application instructions with the packet and the instructions on the website were pretty useless, so its likely that I may have not done it well.

Anyone know what kind of temps I should be looking at? Or is idling at 44 degrees with a mid 20s ambient temp about right?

[cyberspacegenie]

Hi guys, thanks for all the advice. Despite the ambient temp (its midnight here and currently 34 degrees C) I have managed to overclock to 3GHz, which was my target. I heard that others had been able to do it in similar ambients so thought i would give it a go Been running Othos for about an hour so far and CPU temps seemed to have stablised at at 63-65 degres (RM Temp highest core temp is 63c but Core Temp highest core is 65 - not sure which to believe). The system seems stable so far. I had to put the Vcore temp up to 1.325v (unstable below this) although in Probe II it is coming up at 1.28v. Hopefully it will stay stable even in these temps. Do you think the CPU temp is too hot or is 65c acceptable?

MoBo is about 47c. I read that the P5K MoBo sensor is near memory mosfits and this influences the temp reading. Acording to Asus anything bewteen 0-65c is accepteable. Its still a little hotter than I would like though.