It's certainly possible. I'm a fan of CoreTemp myself, but Realtemp is also popular. Make sure that you're running the latest versions, too, since they could be using faulty Tjmax data. The DTS (digital thermal sensor) on these chips does not report the actual temp--they report the margin between the current temp and the pre-defined Tjmax temperature. Therefore, if the utility is using an incorrect value for Tjmax, the reported temp will be wrong.
Replacing the TIM isn't going to make but a few C difference probably, and it'd be more pronounced at load. What fans are you using on the radiator? A lot of fans don't create much static pressure, which is required to move air through the restrictive radiator. I'm using 3x Scythe SFF21F fans on mine that seem to do a decent job. They don't have the greatest static pressure spec either, but they're extremely reliable and are fairly quiet. I've had the same fans on the radiator for 4 years... I'd also try backing everything to stock frequencies and volts. I think you indicated a very mild overclock, but some boards can take great liberties with vcore and such when left on automatic, so you could be dumping more heat than you realize. These i7-9xx series chips are rated for a 130W TDP, but it isn't that hard to get another 60, 80, 100, or even more watts with big overclocks and/or big voltage bumps--some of which may very well be inadvertent. When you apply a load like LinX/IBT or Prime95 small FFT, does the temp jump up quickly and increase only slightly (a few C), or does it jump quickly and then continue to rise? Is there any way that you could get a temperature reading of the water itself--like a temp probe on the radiator inlet? Do you have any of the power management processor features disabled in the system BIOS? Most overclocking guides say to disable most of them, but I refuse to. I personally don't consider it a stable overclock if I have to disable features. Things like C1E, EIST, etc. can play a big role in idle temps. Finally, some chips just have bad thermal sensors and can be off by a good margin. They aren't engineered to be exact--they're engineered to be an input into the thermal management system. It could also be that my 970 is reading low (and the 32nm process shrink probably means that it's pulling less at idle, too). I just don't remember what my idle temps were on the 930 and 960 that proceeded it. My load temps were close to yours, but that was with a big overclock (4.0-4.1GHz) with a healthy voltage bump. > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:hardware- > [email protected]] On Behalf Of James Maki > Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2011 10:43 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [H] Water Cooling and ambient temperature > > Could the temperature monitors I am using be wrong? > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] [mailto:hardware- > > [email protected]] On Behalf Of James Maki > > Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2011 8:33 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [H] Water Cooling and ambient temperature > > > > Well, I took the cpu block off. Cleaned it off (I may have applied too > much > > TIM the first time.) and reapplied less. I only have the Arctic Silver 5 > at this > > time. Reassembled and was seeing almost identical temps. Took the block > off > > again. Definitely did not have too much TMI this time. Cleaned off and > > reapplied again. Reassembled only to see similar temps again. The pump is > > working, so that is not the problem. Any other suggestions? Seems like a > > simple system that should just work. Can the block be defective? > > > > Thanks for any insight. > > > > Jim
