alexonfyre

My stats are almost exactly what yours are, down to the RAM speed and timings, your QPI voltage and Core voltage are way lower than mine, and from what you have said, so are your temps. Weird... I feel like I could still bump up the BCLK a bit, but I don't like the idea of temps nearing 75.

I can't keep stability under 1.22, any ideas why that might be? I have all other voltages at Default, Mem clocked at ~1254, RAM voltage at 1.65, QPI at 1.4 and PLL at 1.8

So I tried doing the TIM in multiple ways, reseating the heatsink, added fans to the top of the case, my temps won't go below 70C. At this point, I worked the voltages down to 1.22v, which is the lowest stable voltage I can get, I am giving up on OCing past 3.5GHz until I can afford watercooling. Thanks guys.

Okay, so here is how the TIM spread out on my first application, dot method. Looks to me like I didn't put nearly enough. I am going to try again with more, but awaiting advice from you guys. EDIT: Reinstalled, pea method, larger amount, temps dropped about 1C, which is in the margin of error, so I assume I need to change my application method or there is a bigger problem.

Your friends really need to bone up on their ethnic serbian victory signals. ............. <closes wikipedia tab>

<3 D14 Yeah, bigger usually means more surface area, more surface area means better heat disbursal which means better cooling. But sometimes better heat pipes positioning and thermal materials beat size. The Hyper 212+ is smaller than both of those, but cools better, for example.

Honestly, the best way is simply to test them both yourself and pick the one that works better

I run on sadness. I know that whenever I stop playing I have to go back to my actual life, which is a thought so upsetting that it keeps me playing games I don't even like deep into the night.

Huge =/= good

Direct heatpipe contact coolers are also unique in that you should put the TIM on the heatsink itself. I saw those videos a while ago, but forgot about them. I was a personal fan of the happy face. Watching those I will use the line method, but I have to look up which direction to go in.

Yeah, the NT-H1 doesn't have a curing time, but I have always had issues with thermal paste. When I apply it again I will use the 2 line method, what dimensions, orientation, and locations are the lines?

I used the Noctua NT-H1 that came with the cooler, I used the small dot application method that was recommended in the manual, 2-3mm in the middle. I pushed down and turned it from side to side a couple of times before fastening it. The cooler is facing the right way. I tried using 1.2v and Windows wouldn't boot. at one step above that I was getting weird visual glitches and programs would start and crash. At one step above that, (1.21v) it was completely stable on prime all night long. My RAM has been at 9-9-9-24-1T throughout. EDIT: I am going out of town this weekend, but next week I will remove the heat sink and reapply the thermal paste.

So a few days ago I clocked my i7-950 at 3.5GHz, 1.25v. My temps after an hour or so of Prime were 73-75 (fluctuating) with a Noctua D14. I then dropped the voltage to 1.23 which brought me in around 70-72. Last night I installed 3 exhaust fans (S-Flex 50CFM, 1200 RPM) to the top of my case (800D) and dropped the voltage to 1.21, now my temps (after running prime all night) are 70-73. Did installing more exhaust actually decrease my cooling efficiency?

It also seems like your intake may be having issues, if like you said, there is no true front grill for it to draw on.

The Xigmatech is much better.