Need a cooling solution for intel sandybridge i7-2600k

[Armifer]

I'm set up in an Antec 900 case, 2 intake 120mm fans bring air from the front of case, and 1 exhaust 120mm fan in the back, and 1 exhaust 200mm fan on the top. The intel sandbridge i7-2600k uses the stock heatsink and fan. The case is cleaned regularly to keep it dust free.

The issue I'm having is that the CPU is idling around 44C, and when any gaming or many applications are used, the temperature ramps up to about 75C to 90C. When this happens CPU usage is no more than 20-30% across all cores, all timings are set to default in bios, it is also set to standard performance mode. Scanned the hard drives many times, no virus or malware. Everything else in the box is running at low temps, and there cases cooling works just fine for those.

After talking with stallion, I monitored the CPU fan's RPMs which consistently run at 1800rpm or so, even when set to run at the max of 2000rpm in the bios, regardless of performance. It used to run at almost 1900rpms, and has been slowly declining, which leads us to believe the fan might be wearing down, and probably needs to be replaced.

So, What I need is some suggestions from anyone who uses this line of CPUs, to share what they have used to keep their CPU cool, and if that solution allowed turboing or any OCing of their CPU without issues. I am not looking to go with water cooling, so a heatsink with a fan would be the preferred recommendation.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[WebRat]

Bought back in 2011.
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - CPU Cooler with 4 Direct Contact Heatpipes
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

There is a newer version now of the same design.
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

[StallionFire]

One more thing to check is a BIOS update.  Read the fixes in the update if there is one. Or, read all the fixes in your current BIOS level.  See if there is something about CPU temperature being reported wrong.  You will have to go to the website of your motherboard manufacturer and look at all the bios levels they have to offer.  sometimes you may have to downgrade your BIOS to a previous level.  Just read all the fixes for the last 3 Bios Updates and pick the best one for your issues.

Also, sometimes just re-flashing with the same bios level will cure strange issues.  You can also flash to a level down and then Re-flash back to the current updated one to make sure the new firmware is not missing something.  The latest Bios should include all previous but sometimes in strange cases I have seen boards that needed the previous Bios Level in order to update to the current Bios level.  make sure your board does not need incremental updates.  This means you may have to flash in order.  Bios 1, then Bios 2, Bios 3 etc... to get up to the current bios level.

If this does not work, It very well may be the heat sink and fan.  Or could possibly be the Heat Sink Paste.  Use Arctic Silver for the best thermal contact.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4DA1GN6641&cm_re=arctic_silver-_-35-100-007-_-Product

Here is how Arctic Silver 5 should be applied to your Particular Processor:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf


Here is the index page for all processors:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html#


Not sure if this will help but if the paste does not cover the CPU and Heat Sink properly it will result in high or fluctuating temps.

P. S.  I have always used a stock Intel Cooler with no issues.  This does not mean that you can't or should not.  I am simply saying I have had good luck with the stock coolers.

There are indeed better ones out there to choose from.

I have used one close to what WebRat posted in one of my servers and it works great.  I used it because the stock Xeon Coolers were just Heat Sink Fins with no fan.

[Armifer]

Thanks for the helpful links. So far I have reverted my bios to previous version, and I still had the temperature fluctuation issues. Then I updated back to latest bios. Set all settings to default in bios, set all switches to default on the mobo as in the manual, still same issue.

So I decided to pull everything apart and clean out the old thermal paste, used a different paste from a friend that contained silver. I also took the stock fan apart and put the smallest amount of machining oil on it as per my convo with stallion, and this got the RPMs up to 1980's, so very close to the max.

So far it hasn't gone over temp, and now idles around 39/40C, which is an improvement. So I re-enabled turbo and put it in performance mode, and the temp rises to 60/65C when I max out my CPU by running intensive programs and scans simultaneously. According the manufacturer's manual this is in the high end of the normal operating range, so I could still cool it down further by getting a new heatsink and fan,which would also allow me to overclock a bit.

Very surprised at how much a thermal compound with silver in it makes a difference. I will never get the cheap stuff ever again!

[StallionFire]

Nice! Glad to hear you got the temps down.