I wish I had some more ideas for you. I've been thinking about it for the last day or so and I don't know that I have any new ideas of what to check. I do think it would be good to examine the diamond pin matrix of the block to see if any factory debris has collected in it, reducing its performance. You may be able to see some of it if you drain the loop and peer through the center port, but the best ability to observe would be to disassemble the block and thus void the warranty. That and an imperfect mate with the processor IHS are still my leading candidates--presuming that there is a real problem in the first place and it isn't just an inaccurate DTS. Given how everything else so far has checked out, the latter does become more and more possible.
A 5C variation between cores is completely normal--no reason to be concerned there. > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:hardware- > [email protected]] On Behalf Of James Maki > Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 4:13 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [H] Water Cooling and ambient temperature > > Greg, > > You continue to amaze me with your wide range of knowledge! Some > comments > mixed in below. I am beginning to think I may be chasing a ghost and > shouldn't be so worried. > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Greg Sevart > > > > The temperature behavior (fast rise and then fairly flat) is exactly what > I > > would expect in a properly functioning system. > > That's encouraging news. > > > 3.0GHz at 1.225 is a very mild overclock and not a high enough voltage > bump > > to result in a lot of extra heat. This would also explain the minor > difference > > you observed when underclocking > > One test you could run would be to go further--drop the vcore to around > > 1.1v, frequency to 2GHz or less, and maybe even disable all but 1 core. > > Tried this (except for the disabling of 3 cores) and didn't see an > appreciable difference. > > > Does the radiator inlet feel warm when you touch it? It (and the water) > > shouldn't be much over ambient room temperature. > > The radiator and tubing feels cool to my touch, so I assume it is about room > temperature. > > > of the water--what mix of coolant are you using? > > If I remember correctly, it was a 10% solution of the "anti-freeze" provided > in the kit mixed with distilled water. It looks clear with a green tint. > > > It's possible that the loop has a restriction or the pump is defective, > resulting > > in insufficient water flow. > > When I tested the system after assembly, the flow was observable and > seemed > correct. > > > This may even be a case where it came with > > debris/contamination from the factory or retailer. Along those lines, you > > could consider disassembling the water block and examining the pin matrix > > on the block's internal plate. If there was any small debris, it would > probably > > collect in the very fine mesh on the block's surface, and that would > reduce its > > effectiveness greatly. Be advised that disassembling the block will void > its > > warranty. > > The fact that the temp rises and falls quickly would seem to argue against a > blockage. And I don't want to void the warranty. Except for the higher than > ambient temperatures at idle, the system seems to be working. Under > "normal > usage," the temps peak in the mid 50 (C) and reach the low to mid 70s under > 100% load (which is a seldom seen, long term condition). > > > My instinct is still to suspect a bad physical mating between the block > and the > > processor's IHS. It could be something like a defective mount, warped > > motherboard, warped block, or even factory plastic film on the block (it's > > certainly easy enough to do)... > > I plan on disassembling again when I have some extra time to take another > look at the block's surface. It seems to be spreading the TIM uniformly. Any > hints on determining the other defects (defective mount, warped > motherboard > or block)> > > > Finally, I want to reiterate that your temps are not actually bad, they're > just > > higher than I would expect for that cooling gear given the frequency and > > volts that you're feeding it. > > I guess the real test will come when the temps get into the 90s (F) or low > 100s (and then again, it could be a cool summer here in the northwest). > > Thanks for all your help, suggestions and insights. > > Jim
