And finally.... My system has arrived...

[bandieramonte]

Finally I tested the system inside windows. I ran prime95 again, and the system froze after two minutes. While I was doing that test I was also opening other applications and I thought that maybe my system froze because of that. So I decided to run another test but this time leaving my system alone, and it could finally survive the prime95 test for more than 30 minutes, after passing the 8k test on all 4 cores. The temperatures reached after 30 min were not nice though; it reached a maximum of 57 °C and an average of 55 °C on the last minutes... Are these temps high for a 30 min prime95 run? I think I will now remount the heatsink and use AS5 to see if I can reach better temps (the thermal paste being used right now is the one that came with the GeminiII heatsink, a cooler master thermal paste, I don't know if this one is good).

I am not very sure why the first run of prime95 froze after 2 minutes and the second run could lasted much more... I'm concerned about this.

So if now the system survived 30+ min, does this mean that the problem was that I incorrectly mounted my motherboard to the case, causing short circuits? Is there anything else I should be aware of before mounting my motherboard back again inside the case and deeming my system as stable?

Martin:
I did not quite understand your manual. In fact, my case came with 4 little round pieces of plastic and all are of the same size. The manual does not describe how to use them though, so I don't still know what to do with them.

[ibleet]

Are you running everything at stock (advertised) speeds and voltages?

You froze the first time because Prime runs all 4 cores at 100% load and you were still loading programs in the background. Wait until all programs are loaded before running stress tests. Also go into msconfig and limit the services and startup programs. Most aren't necessary and just slow down boot time and hog resources.

Your temps are a bit high for aftermarket cooling, even at full load. That is even a bit warm for the stock cooler, assuming you are running at 2.4Ghz. Whats your vcore (cpu voltage)?

Lastly, I would run prime for a minimum of 2 hours. Most people here would suggest 8 hours for true stability.

[DMB2000uk]

If you want to know if the issue has gone away, leave the system running prime95 overnight and don't use it. If it passes the whole night then you can consider the problem gone.

I don't have a Q6600 but it does seem to be idling a bit high, how much thermal paste are you applying, you should be applying it like this for a quad:


(Pic from XS)

The red arrow is the direction the gold arrow on the CPU will be pointing.

You can find the official installation instructions here:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinst ... d_wcap.pdf

Dan

[ibleet]

Sorry I missed this previously, but YES I think you had a grounding or short-circuit issue with your board. Be careful next time you install it in your case. There are holes in the board that are NOT intended to be used with standoffs. I noticed this in my first build and it made me scratch my head. Luckily for me, the incorrect holes did not line up with the holes in the case, so I was fine.

[martini161]

ok i cant really look at it now in my case (theres a mobo over it) but ill try to explain the sticky things the best i can.
when you look at the back of your case where all the holes are, there should be i believe 4 things, i guess you can describe them as almost like hooks, protruding from the metal. you have to remove the piece of paper from the back of the sticky pads on the plastic things and place them on these hook things.

[bandieramonte]

Martin:
I managed to understand your explanation and could attach the plastic things to the case's holes. Perhaps this may help me avoid short circuits when I install the motherboard in the case.

Ibleet:
The CPU's vcore is not static though. My system is all the time changing it. I went to the BIOS and watched it for a while and saw that its average is around 1.26V. I'm guessing that if this vcore is stable for 3.0 Ghz then I could just overclock to this speed leaving the vcore unchanged. But you tell me.

And Dan, thanks for your instructions on applying the AS5 to the CPU. I will apply it this way and post back the results. If my temps are significantly restrained, then I shall proceed to the 3.4-3.6 Ghz overclocking range.

I'm not sure about leaving prime95 running overnight. What if my CPU's temps reach dangerous levels while I'm sleeping? I would not even sleep.

I could play my first game without problems UT2007 and it ran smoothly. Of course, that is not a demanding game. Little by little with your valuable help, my system is being prepared to play Crysis..

[ibleet]

Ok, if the voltage isn't static, that means you have it set to "auto". On auto, the bios will typically apply more voltage than is necessary. Thats fine, but at 1.26v your temps are a bit high for aftermarket cooling. Reinstalling the HSF with AS-5 should do the trick.

You can leave Prime run overnight with confidence. Just set a cpu temperature limit in the bios and if it reaches those temps, it will shut down automatically. Most people set it to 70c.

[bandieramonte]

Okay, I have now reinstalled my CPU cooler to try to lower my core temps. But this time I used the AS5 thermal paste. Also, I followed every instruction from their site regarding the application of AS5 over Quad cores. Also, I took double care on that the GeminiII is properly adjusted over the Q6600.

Then I turned on my machine, ran CoreTemp and realized that the temps are exactly the same....... no change whatsoever.... I didn't understand this. My temps at idle are around 39C, just like before. I did leave every parameters from the BIOS exactly the same as they were before reinstalling the GeminiII cooler.

Any thoughts as to why the temps remain identical?

[martini161]

what is your ambient temp aproximatly?

[bandieramonte]

Well, the average ambient temp here is dwelling around the 32C. Why? Is this relevant to my cores' temps?

[Alathald]

The ambient air is what a air cooler uses to cool so the ambient temps have everything to do with the processor temps. Those temps sound more reasonable if your ambient is that high...if you want them lower you'll either need to lower the ambient temps or switch to watercooling (and even then, the ambient will still affect the overall temps). You should still be safe with a MILD overclock but I'd wait for a second opinion cause I'm no expert.

[bandieramonte]

Definitely, the ambient temp has got a lot to do with the processor's temp: right now is at night, and in Venezuela, the nights get a lot cooler. So now the ambient temp is around 28C, 4C less than at noon. And now my processor's temp is around 34C at idle, 5C less than the 39C of noon. Interestingly enough, the 5C less of the processor almost coincides with the 4C less of the ambient temp. So, is 34C at idle reasonable having ambient temp at around 28C?

In other words, do you still think that the problem is the bad seating of the GeminiII and/or the AS5, or that my room's temp are high enough as to consider the processor's temp normal enough? The answer to this question will determine whether if I shall try to reinstall the GeminiII again or to find a way to lower my ambient temp, or any other thing I haven't still considered...

[DMB2000uk]

They are very acceptable CPU temps given the high ambient temperatures.

Dan

[martini161]

those are actually very good temps for that high ambient

[bandieramonte]

So you think I should instead work on lowering my ambient temp rather than trying to reinstall the CPU cooler?
This is a really warm place, I will work on it then.

Meanwhile I will overclock the Q6600 using the good overclocking guides found here.

[ibleet]

So you think I should instead work on lowering my ambient temp rather than trying to reinstall the CPU cooler?
This is a really warm place, I will work on it then.

Meanwhile I will overclock the Q6600 using the good overclocking guides found here.

Why not just put the thing under water? Is that a viable option for you? It may end up being easier and less expensive over time than lowering your room temp.

[martini161]

actually it will not notice much difference. water needs a low ambient temp to, unless your chilling it

[DMB2000uk]

actually it will not notice much difference. water needs a low ambient temp to, unless your chilling it

It may not make that much difference with the idle temperatures, as those are already pretty good for how hot it is there, but the load temperatures will be a good improvement over the air temps.

Dan

[bandieramonte]

Well that's a good idea, I never thought of going water cooling, it can be cheaper than lowering the temp of a whole room.
The only concern I got with this is that I'm new to all this hardware stuff (well not so new now) and the water cooling option seems kind of pro for me. I will research in google to see what I find about water cooling. Also, remember the problem I have regarding the availability of products here in Venezuela. The only water cooler I got here is the Thermaltake Big Water Se. Is it a good one for a Q6600?

But as of now, if I leave the GeminiII and don't lower the ambient temp, I can't overclock much right? In the worse case scenario when my ambient temp reaches peaks of 34C, my processor idles at 40C. In this case, there is no room for overclocking right? The Vcore is set to automatic reaching peaks of 1.27V. At full load running Prime95 my temps reach the highs of 57C. What do you thinks of this?

[martini161]

Well that's a good idea, I never thought of going water cooling, it can be cheaper than lowering the temp of a whole room.
The only concern I got with this is that I'm new to all this hardware stuff (well not so new now) and the water cooling option seems kind of pro for me. I will research in google to see what I find about water cooling. Also, remember the problem I have regarding the availability of products here in Venezuela. The only water cooler I got here is the Thermaltake Big Water Se. Is it a good one for a Q6600?

But as of now, if I leave the GeminiII and don't lower the ambient temp, I can't overclock much right? In the worse case scenario when my ambient temp reaches peaks of 34C, my processor idles at 40C. In this case, there is no room for overclocking right? The Vcore is set to automatic reaching peaks of 1.27V. At full load running Prime95 my temps reach the highs of 57C. What do you thinks of this?

if thats all youve got then stick with air. to get the performance of a good air cooler out of a water cooler you have to spend a LOT of money. like at least 250 american. good air>bad water