Hello gurus, I just purchased a Zalman CNPS10x Quiet CPU Cooler (My CPU is i5 2500k), after installation I want to share some results with you and ask if its working fine. Okay... With stock Intel Cooler I tried prime95 (No overclock) and it reached 82 - 83 degrees within 5 mins of test run, then I stopped the test because I think that max limit of this chip is 85 degrees. Now with Zalman CNPS10x Quiet (running with max fan speed @ ~1400 RPM) I tried prime95 (Overclocked to 4.3 Ghz @ 1.280 vcore) and my CPU reaches 67 - 69 degrees and stays there even after 25 mins of testing. so is that temp fine for this cooler or it should be lower ? Thanks.
Temps are a little high for me with Prime95 tbh. However, it's a subjective subject. Temperatures depend on so many variables. Ambient temps, the quality of the HSF, the quality of the contact with the CPU, TIM applied correctly, some TIM's are better than others. Air flow, +ve or -ve pressure in your case and so on. Like I said personally I like to be around 60C running Prime. However, remember that most of your PC use will not put anywhere near as much strain on your CPU as Prime, OCCT, IBT etc. Your temps are ok.
temps aren't too bad, maybe a little on the high side but that might be due to high ambients? but nothing to worry about.
Thanks for the reply, well my ambient temp is 30 - 32 degrees, I have carefully applied TIM using dot application method (the one that came with the cooler its called Super Thermal Grease ZM-STG2), I have Storm Sniper case I think it has good airflow. I have couple of ideas for improvement, like removing the stock Zalman fan from CPU cooler which runs around 1400 RPM max and installing a faster fan that has more air flow (thinking about Cooler Master Excalibur 120mm) it runs around 2000 RPM max and has high airflow due to the sharp design of blades, also thinking about using Artic Silver TIM, what do you say ? is it worth it ? Thanks again
Temps aren't bad for 30-32c ambient.The higher flow fans might get you an extra 2-3 c up to on being worth it.
thanks guys, it appears that I found the culprit behind those high temps, actually I am new with this EFI bios interface and the way Sandy Bridge processors overclock so I availed a convenient way of overclocking by using the OC tuner inside bios which overclocks automatically but I think in its quest to achieve stability this OC tuner mode push voltages a bit high which in result produce more heat so I followed this good little guide http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/07/how-to-overclock-the-intel-core-i5-2500k/1 And took my processor to 4.3 Ghz manually but surprisingly now it stays at 60 - 62 during prime95 test so I reduced about 7 - 8 degrees just by setting my overclock manually, that's great
Yeah the auto feature always puts a little too much voltage in the chip, at 4.3 GHz those temps sound quite reasonable.
thats decent for 4.3. If you had a 2600k add 10c per core at 4.3. you would need a better cooler. with a 2500k you are ok
no I stand by my 10c. prime 95 blend adds 10c to my load temps. ht also needs extra voltage to be stable too.
^ i've noticed the same, the extra heat and voltage due to HT does put the temps as much as 10c higher in prime blend.
damn right. perhaps he uses IBT? idk. I have never seen just a 3-5c increase. the 2 middle cores are 10c higher on mine. core 1,4 about 8c higher I would say. EDIT BZ perhaps another space time continuum discussion is needed here?
I have i7 920@3.2ghz and my test in prime dont go passed 62c most the time in high 50's unless I happen to do these tests on really hot days with no ac on. Idle is around 39c and this is with the same hsf you have fan speed at 1300rpm always. I not sure how much hotter your particular cpu run, but these are my experiences with that HSF and i7 920
My Idle around 36 - 37 (but that is only when it runs at lower 1.6 Ghz clock) if I disable switching clocks and make it run at full 4.3 Ghz all the time then idle is around 40 - 42. Loaded temps go to a max of 62 - 64 (if I keep p95 running for long time). Normal application (gaming) load takes this chip to as high as 55 - 56. What else I noticed with this chip is that it responds very quick to voltages, for example my current VCORE is 1.235v for 4.3 Ghz, if I drop my clock to 4.0 Ghz @ same VCORE then temps remain same but if I keep it at 4.0 Ghz and also drops VCORE to 1.2v then temps quickly change to 59 - 61 (p95 running for more than 30 mins) so I think for best overclocking of this chip we need to select as low voltage as possible (that provides stability). I also tried replying TIM but nothing is changed, my temps are same so I think my TIM application is Ok. I will now try a faster fan and see if it makes any difference.
