I'm Confused
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I'm waiting for a CPU water cooling system to arrive to fit to my AMD Phenom x4 940 Black Ed. processor. The standard AMD heatsink & fan supplied don't do a brilliant job at keeping the CPU cool; 50 degrees when idling at 3.0GHz (stock speed). Now, here's where i'm confused. Windows 7 x64 rates the CPU at 7.3 in the WEI. If I drop the CPU speed to 1.0GHz and re-run the assessment, Windows still rates the CPU at 7.3. Now why would that be? Surely the WEI rating should have changed. :confused::confused:
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. - Col. Flagg
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I'm waiting for a CPU water cooling system to arrive to fit to my AMD Phenom x4 940 Black Ed. processor. The standard AMD heatsink & fan supplied don't do a brilliant job at keeping the CPU cool; 50 degrees when idling at 3.0GHz (stock speed). Now, here's where i'm confused. Windows 7 x64 rates the CPU at 7.3 in the WEI. If I drop the CPU speed to 1.0GHz and re-run the assessment, Windows still rates the CPU at 7.3. Now why would that be? Surely the WEI rating should have changed. :confused::confused:
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. - Col. Flagg
Water cooling isn't necessary. Believe me - I've done it, and it just costs more and is noisier with no tangible benefit. If you used the HSF that came with the CPU, try scraping off the heatsink compound that comes on the heatsink, and apply a thin layer of Arctic Silver to the CPU, and re-seat the HSF assembly. Next, make sure your case provides reasonable air circulation. The only real way you can accomplish this is by having AT LEAST a mid-tower case that features a front and rear 120mm fan. The front fan sucks air in, and the rear fan pushes inside air to the outside. If you're REALLY interested in keeping your CPU cool, get a large aftermarket heatsink (make sure you check out the reviews before buying one) that uses a standard 120mm fan. Avoid heat sinks that appear to have a proprietary fan on them because they're almost impossible to replace if they go tits up. Lastly, blow the dust out of your case, and make sure you blow the dust from between the fins on your heat sink. Let me repeat - you shouldn't need water cooling.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001modified on Monday, November 22, 2010 11:26 AM
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I'm waiting for a CPU water cooling system to arrive to fit to my AMD Phenom x4 940 Black Ed. processor. The standard AMD heatsink & fan supplied don't do a brilliant job at keeping the CPU cool; 50 degrees when idling at 3.0GHz (stock speed). Now, here's where i'm confused. Windows 7 x64 rates the CPU at 7.3 in the WEI. If I drop the CPU speed to 1.0GHz and re-run the assessment, Windows still rates the CPU at 7.3. Now why would that be? Surely the WEI rating should have changed. :confused::confused:
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. - Col. Flagg
I have an AMD Phenom X4 955 Black Edition that runs at 3.2 GHz and it idles at around 35 degrees with the stock cooler. There must be something wrong with your setup.
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Water cooling isn't necessary. Believe me - I've done it, and it just costs more and is noisier with no tangible benefit. If you used the HSF that came with the CPU, try scraping off the heatsink compound that comes on the heatsink, and apply a thin layer of Arctic Silver to the CPU, and re-seat the HSF assembly. Next, make sure your case provides reasonable air circulation. The only real way you can accomplish this is by having AT LEAST a mid-tower case that features a front and rear 120mm fan. The front fan sucks air in, and the rear fan pushes inside air to the outside. If you're REALLY interested in keeping your CPU cool, get a large aftermarket heatsink (make sure you check out the reviews before buying one) that uses a standard 120mm fan. Avoid heat sinks that appear to have a proprietary fan on them because they're almost impossible to replace if they go tits up. Lastly, blow the dust out of your case, and make sure you blow the dust from between the fins on your heat sink. Let me repeat - you shouldn't need water cooling.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001modified on Monday, November 22, 2010 11:26 AM
John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Water cooling isn't necessary
I changed my setup at stock cpu speed to watercooling and it is nice and quiet now. As far as i am concerned, it was worth it! I agree that watercooling isn't necessary for keeping the CPU cool, the stock CPU fan should be rated to keep the cpu within design tolerance.
Dave Find Me On: Web|Facebook|Twitter|LinkedIn My Latest Article: ESD System Communication Failure Fail Safe Software Implementation
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Water cooling isn't necessary. Believe me - I've done it, and it just costs more and is noisier with no tangible benefit. If you used the HSF that came with the CPU, try scraping off the heatsink compound that comes on the heatsink, and apply a thin layer of Arctic Silver to the CPU, and re-seat the HSF assembly. Next, make sure your case provides reasonable air circulation. The only real way you can accomplish this is by having AT LEAST a mid-tower case that features a front and rear 120mm fan. The front fan sucks air in, and the rear fan pushes inside air to the outside. If you're REALLY interested in keeping your CPU cool, get a large aftermarket heatsink (make sure you check out the reviews before buying one) that uses a standard 120mm fan. Avoid heat sinks that appear to have a proprietary fan on them because they're almost impossible to replace if they go tits up. Lastly, blow the dust out of your case, and make sure you blow the dust from between the fins on your heat sink. Let me repeat - you shouldn't need water cooling.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001modified on Monday, November 22, 2010 11:26 AM
John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Water cooling isn't necessary. Believe me - I've done it, and it just costs more and is noisier with no tangible benefit.
... at stock speeds. It comes into its own when you're redlining the chip. A good waterblock and a 2x120 radiator still outperforms the best aftermarket monster heat sinks. If you're limited on space to install a radiator though, watercooling your GPU and using a decent aftermarket heatsink on the CPU will give better returns in most gaming applications and more importantly the air coolers on high end GPUs are much louder than a decent CPU fan.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Water cooling isn't necessary. Believe me - I've done it, and it just costs more and is noisier with no tangible benefit.
... at stock speeds. It comes into its own when you're redlining the chip. A good waterblock and a 2x120 radiator still outperforms the best aftermarket monster heat sinks. If you're limited on space to install a radiator though, watercooling your GPU and using a decent aftermarket heatsink on the CPU will give better returns in most gaming applications and more importantly the air coolers on high end GPUs are much louder than a decent CPU fan.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
I had a separate circuit for both the GPU and CPU - two pumps, two radiators, four fans (two per radiator), and then there were two case fans, all the hard drives, and two power supplies on top of that. After getting it all setup and running, the system eventually sprung a leak (after a year), so I yanked it all out.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
I had a separate circuit for both the GPU and CPU - two pumps, two radiators, four fans (two per radiator), and then there were two case fans, all the hard drives, and two power supplies on top of that. After getting it all setup and running, the system eventually sprung a leak (after a year), so I yanked it all out.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001Separate loops are mostly a moneypit unless you're chasing the absolute lowest temps. I currently have my CPU on a 2x120 loop; next summer I plan to upgrade to a 3x120 (possibly 3x140) loop and bring my GPU into it. The only open question will be if my CPU or my GPU block goes first. I'll probably be upgrading to a giant mountain mods case as well; my current one doesn't lend itself to dual 240's without minor mods, or to a 360 except mounted as the intake and with short cards. The only thing I don't like about MM's cases (aside from the price) is that they don't have any front panel IO and the 3rd party USB/mic/million-in-one memory card readers universally have the aesthetic appeal of a rotting cow flop. Judging by Newegg reviews; the dung would probably work better than most of them too. Edit: PS what triggered your leak? I'm at 3 years and 2 distinct loops; the only leak I've had was 100% operator error when I used the wrong size screw and punched a hole in the rad while reinstalling it. :doh:
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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Water cooling isn't necessary. Believe me - I've done it, and it just costs more and is noisier with no tangible benefit. If you used the HSF that came with the CPU, try scraping off the heatsink compound that comes on the heatsink, and apply a thin layer of Arctic Silver to the CPU, and re-seat the HSF assembly. Next, make sure your case provides reasonable air circulation. The only real way you can accomplish this is by having AT LEAST a mid-tower case that features a front and rear 120mm fan. The front fan sucks air in, and the rear fan pushes inside air to the outside. If you're REALLY interested in keeping your CPU cool, get a large aftermarket heatsink (make sure you check out the reviews before buying one) that uses a standard 120mm fan. Avoid heat sinks that appear to have a proprietary fan on them because they're almost impossible to replace if they go tits up. Lastly, blow the dust out of your case, and make sure you blow the dust from between the fins on your heat sink. Let me repeat - you shouldn't need water cooling.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001modified on Monday, November 22, 2010 11:26 AM
John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
get a large aftermarket heatsink
I've researched this area. Unfortunately, because of the large size of the vast majority of aftermarket heatsinks, I can't fit them because of insufficint clearance between the heatsink and the close proximity of the heatsinks on the memory modules. I must admit, I haven't tried the artic silver.
John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Let me repeat - you shouldn't need water cooling.
I quite agree, the rig isn't overclocked, or though i'd like to give it a try but not without getting the cpu to run cooler. However, the wife asked me what I wanted for christmas, and I thought why not give it a go.
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. - Col. Flagg
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Water cooling isn't necessary
I changed my setup at stock cpu speed to watercooling and it is nice and quiet now. As far as i am concerned, it was worth it! I agree that watercooling isn't necessary for keeping the CPU cool, the stock CPU fan should be rated to keep the cpu within design tolerance.
Dave Find Me On: Web|Facebook|Twitter|LinkedIn My Latest Article: ESD System Communication Failure Fail Safe Software Implementation
Especially at stock speeds you could go entirely silent with a giant cooler in passive mode. I'm not sure how well the biggest fan cooled monsters (densely packed fins do poorly with low speed fans) would do without a fan but there are dedicated passive coolers that do a respectable job in still air.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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I have an AMD Phenom X4 955 Black Edition that runs at 3.2 GHz and it idles at around 35 degrees with the stock cooler. There must be something wrong with your setup.
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
Richard Andrew x64 wrote:
I have an AMD Phenom X4 955 Black Edition that runs at 3.2 GHz and it idles at around 35 degrees with the stock cooler.
What do you use to measure cpu temp? I was going on temp displayed in the bios screen. I'm still confused as to why there was no change in the WEI score for the cpu after I underclocked it by a whole two GHz; down from 3Ghz to 1Ghz I would have thought that should have made a big difference in WEI score.
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. - Col. Flagg
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Richard Andrew x64 wrote:
I have an AMD Phenom X4 955 Black Edition that runs at 3.2 GHz and it idles at around 35 degrees with the stock cooler.
What do you use to measure cpu temp? I was going on temp displayed in the bios screen. I'm still confused as to why there was no change in the WEI score for the cpu after I underclocked it by a whole two GHz; down from 3Ghz to 1Ghz I would have thought that should have made a big difference in WEI score.
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. - Col. Flagg
Euhemerus wrote:
What do you use to measure cpu temp?
I was going on the BIOS screen as well. Unfortunately, I don't have any insight about the WEI score.
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Separate loops are mostly a moneypit unless you're chasing the absolute lowest temps. I currently have my CPU on a 2x120 loop; next summer I plan to upgrade to a 3x120 (possibly 3x140) loop and bring my GPU into it. The only open question will be if my CPU or my GPU block goes first. I'll probably be upgrading to a giant mountain mods case as well; my current one doesn't lend itself to dual 240's without minor mods, or to a 360 except mounted as the intake and with short cards. The only thing I don't like about MM's cases (aside from the price) is that they don't have any front panel IO and the 3rd party USB/mic/million-in-one memory card readers universally have the aesthetic appeal of a rotting cow flop. Judging by Newegg reviews; the dung would probably work better than most of them too. Edit: PS what triggered your leak? I'm at 3 years and 2 distinct loops; the only leak I've had was 100% operator error when I used the wrong size screw and punched a hole in the rad while reinstalling it. :doh:
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
Dan Neely wrote:
I'll probably be upgrading to a giant mountain mods case as well;
I have one of those. It's much more case than I need since I got rid of the water cooling. It now doubles as a handy horizontal stacking surface...
Dan Neely wrote:
PS what triggered your leak? I'm at 3 years and 2 distinct loops; the only leak I've had was 100% operator error when I used the wrong size screw and punched a hole in the rad while reinstalling it.
The fluid (automotive anti-freeze) seeped out at the fittings. Luckily, it pooled in the bottom of the case. I promised my wife that if it ever leaked, I would get rid of the water cooling because we didn't want our dogs to drink any of the cooling fluid. The funny thing is that I don't know how long the fulid had been "gone" because the CPU never really got that warm. Since the CPU and GPU were on different loops, the GPU wasn't affected (it still had all its fluid). I'm damn lucky that the leaking fluid didn't damage the electronics in the case.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
Dan Neely wrote:
I'll probably be upgrading to a giant mountain mods case as well;
I have one of those. It's much more case than I need since I got rid of the water cooling. It now doubles as a handy horizontal stacking surface...
Dan Neely wrote:
PS what triggered your leak? I'm at 3 years and 2 distinct loops; the only leak I've had was 100% operator error when I used the wrong size screw and punched a hole in the rad while reinstalling it.
The fluid (automotive anti-freeze) seeped out at the fittings. Luckily, it pooled in the bottom of the case. I promised my wife that if it ever leaked, I would get rid of the water cooling because we didn't want our dogs to drink any of the cooling fluid. The funny thing is that I don't know how long the fulid had been "gone" because the CPU never really got that warm. Since the CPU and GPU were on different loops, the GPU wasn't affected (it still had all its fluid). I'm damn lucky that the leaking fluid didn't damage the electronics in the case.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
The fluid (automotive anti-freeze) seeped out at the fittings. Luckily, it pooled in the bottom of the case. I promised my wife that if it ever leaked, I would get rid of the water cooling because we didn't want our dogs to drink any of the cooling fluid.
Moot point now, but if you were concerned about pets drinking a leak, then the way to go would've been distilled water with a silver coil in your reservoir to do anti-microbial duty. Antifreeze hasn't really been needed since the bad old days of mixed copper/aluminum loops. I'm also curious if it was a slow leak all along or of something came loose later. I use a dye in the loop and tissue paper wrapped around all the connections to test for slow leaks during validation testing.
John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
The funny thing is that I don't know how long the fulid had been "gone" because the CPU never really got that warm.
Your loop was completely empty?! Not only am I surprised your CPU survived the experience but running a pump dry tends to result in failure; I'd've assumed that would've been noisy/stinky when it failed.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
get a large aftermarket heatsink
I've researched this area. Unfortunately, because of the large size of the vast majority of aftermarket heatsinks, I can't fit them because of insufficint clearance between the heatsink and the close proximity of the heatsinks on the memory modules. I must admit, I haven't tried the artic silver.
John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Let me repeat - you shouldn't need water cooling.
I quite agree, the rig isn't overclocked, or though i'd like to give it a try but not without getting the cpu to run cooler. However, the wife asked me what I wanted for christmas, and I thought why not give it a go.
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. - Col. Flagg
Euhemerus wrote:
I must admit, I haven't tried the artic silver.
AS5 is no longer king of the hill. You can probably pass on IndigoExtreme because it's much more expensive than anything else options and you only get a single use out if it, (you're buying a very thin sheet of metal that melts at ~90C on first install and then flows into and fills gaps allowing your heatsink/waterblock to carry off the heat at which point it solidifies again, but if you're trying to keep heat down a high end grease is your best bang for the buck. Scroll down to the bottom 2 graphs on the page.[^]
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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Euhemerus wrote:
I must admit, I haven't tried the artic silver.
AS5 is no longer king of the hill. You can probably pass on IndigoExtreme because it's much more expensive than anything else options and you only get a single use out if it, (you're buying a very thin sheet of metal that melts at ~90C on first install and then flows into and fills gaps allowing your heatsink/waterblock to carry off the heat at which point it solidifies again, but if you're trying to keep heat down a high end grease is your best bang for the buck. Scroll down to the bottom 2 graphs on the page.[^]
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
Thanks for that, most informative. I'd been researching heatsink compounds and came across an interesting compound based on diamond rather than silver. http://www.innovationcooling.com/[^] Only problem is, everywhere I looked online to buy in the UK, it was out-of-stock :( I've managed to get the CPU temp down to 40 degrees now, cleaned the CPU fan, absolutely clogged with dust and muck. :-O
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. - Col. Flagg
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Thanks for that, most informative. I'd been researching heatsink compounds and came across an interesting compound based on diamond rather than silver. http://www.innovationcooling.com/[^] Only problem is, everywhere I looked online to buy in the UK, it was out-of-stock :( I've managed to get the CPU temp down to 40 degrees now, cleaned the CPU fan, absolutely clogged with dust and muck. :-O
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. - Col. Flagg
