Core 2 Duo E6750 Temp

I just finished putting together most of my new PC, minus the drives and a few other minor things. I'm using the following:

- EVGA 680i SLI Motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 CPU
- Cooler Master Hyper L3 CPU Cooler
- OCZ Silver Thermal Compound

My bios is reporting CPU temps in the low 50's, but from what I've read online, idle temps for this processor should be in the low to mid 30's. I plan on re-seating the HSF tomorrow to see if that helps.

Does anyone know what could be causing the high temp? Does too much (or too little) thermal compound make that much of a difference?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm itching to get this thing going for some Half Life 2...

Thermal paste should be smeared over the whole of the contacting surface between HSF & CPU. make sure there is 1-2mm of the stuff, some people say too much is bad, but i find that amount works well.

Just make sure the cpu is flush with the HSF, try taking the motherboard out of the case, disconnecting it and putting it on a table and looking at its level, see how its mounted.

hows the ventilation in your case? any other fans in there? what cpu/psu? good intake/outtake?

The case is still open as I am not finished installing the rest of the components, so case ventilation is not at issue yet.

My heatsink/fan came with thermal compound already on it, but I removed it and opted to use a better compound I bought with the rest of my components. I spread it across the entire surface of the CPU, and I would like to say it was on pretty evenly. I'm going to try adding a little more tonight.

Well, from what I've been reading, apparently I'm not supposed to spread the stuff over the entire CPU. OCZ's instructions say to apply a thin line in the center between the two cores and let the heat sink spread it out.

Looks like I'll be redoing this tonight..

dude, 2 mm thermal pastes wasnt that a bit too much? id been rethinking much several times before. how much thermal paste is enough...

I reapplied the thermal paste as a small line between the two cores, and my temps are down around 38 degrees idle, which is good enough for me right now. I might consider purchasing a better HSF if I want to overclock, which I do.

Thanks for everyone's feedback.

What I do when I apply TIM (Thermal Interface Material) is:

1.) Clean both the processor & HSF with 91% Dimethyl Sulfoxide/H20 or 97% Ethanol/Deionized Water solutions.
2.) Apply small amount of TIM to bottom of HSF and rub it into the copper/aluminum/silver using a plastic baggy over my finger, and then I buff off with a lint-less paper-towel.
3.) Apply a 2mm L x 2mm W x 1mm H drop of TIM to the processor and smear edge to edge on the die.
4.) Seat HSF tightly.
5.) Burn in processor for 24 hours.

My normal CPU temps on Core 2 Quad Q6700 are 33°C idle/49°C load. I only use Thermalright coolers with Panaflo fans.

Burn in processor?

yeah leave it running lol

Is this really necessary? I've been using the computer for a day or two now...

i dout it lol a day your 2 of use should be fine lol i've neva needed to "burn" a processor in

Burning in the processor does a few key things where it is ideal for thermal interface material.

"Burning In" means running the processor under full load for a lengthy period of time.
Also, most of the advanced thermal materials require sustained high-heat to activate them.

What happens is the molecules in the medium realign to provide better thermal transfer. In pastes, it will also ensure there are no air bubbles trapped in the TIM that could cause higher temperatures because the material "settles."

Some adhesive TIMs require a burn-in to actually ensure the best cohesion.

Now, YMMV but I normally see a 2 - 3°C drop across the board after a complete burn-in period. Its nothing major, but it could get you a few more MHz if your overclocking.

Thanks for the info, I had no idea about this. I'll look into it.

When I was in college I did a thesis on the thermodynamics of modern computer processing. I basically duped my college to pay for me to use phase-change and overclock the living daylights out of processors and then wrote a 30-page paper on it.