It's done but not performing!!!

[Ruahrc]

OK the WC is at last complete! Just one problem- it's not performing nearly as well as I thought it would.

Here's the deal: I hooked it all up and slipped a video card in the mobo and fired it up. Went straight to the BIOS and reset the CPU speed from 1000 (Startup default) to 1333. Lowered the core voltage a little bit, gave it a reboot. Went to the hardware monitor, temp was about 100F and rising. I let it go until about 112 and decided something was awry. I took off my waterblock and noticed that only about half the core actually made contact with the waterblock bottom. A couple reseats later, off went the shim. Then disaster struck- the center little plastic clip knob on the socket broke off! Scrambling around I was able to re-hook it up by going diagonally across the core from one side to the other. I looked underneath the waterblock this time to make sure it was making pretty good contact and tried her again. Temps after sitting in the BIOS Hardware Monitor for about half an hour now result in 44C/111F.

Now I've read other WC reports and they all pull around 30C, why is mine 14C higher?

I think I've narrowed it down to three things:

1. Still not good contact between CPU core and Waterblock. (I'm not sure how to check this, any ideas?)

2. Fan is too weak. For those of you who are following, I decided to use the "suck in" method and was able to pretty much air-seal the fan to the radiator. There is about 1/2" of space in between and it's airtight so all 69 cubes go through the radiator. I saw that other WC setups were usually for overclocking so they didn't care about noise and got the Sunon 109cfm monster. Could this be the difference?

3. The temps are correct I just expect better, this is after all about 78watts of heat.

Hmm, any ideas?

Ruahrc

-btw I borrowed my friends digital camera so pics'll be up in a day or two!

[Szech]

I'd suggest taking the radiator/fan out of the case temporarily and see if it changes anything. If your temperatures are a lot better, then there might not be a big enough path through the front panel of your case.

To check the contact between the CPU core and the waterblock, you can shine a flashlight at one side, and check for light on the other side. It sounds like you had a bit of trouble with this, so it might be the culprit.

Oh, and what kind of thermal grease did you use?

[Ruahrc]

I don't think airflow over the radiator is a problem (except for a weak fan) because the way I installed my WC I created a totally clear path and was able to seal the radiator to the fan so that all the intake from the fan is pulled through the radiator.

I'm using Arctic Silver 2, I do use the flashlight method but it only works on one side of the CPU as the motherboard gets in the way of checking all sides.

Ruahrc

[thekingofpain]

How hot is it in the room?
Maybe to check core contact look at the footprint left behind by the h/s compound on the waterblock when you remove it...

[Ruahrc]

I don't know the exact temp in the room but with the case open the MB reports 86F. It is a little warm in there though.

Yeah that is how I usually do it but it is kind of useless to check the footprint because you have to put it back on again, and don't know how good it is when it is back on.

Ruahrc