TT Kandalf LCS Temperatures

[Draetor24]

Just put together my first water cooling kit. I went with the TT Kandalf LCS because it was packaged together, and not too expensive. I'm running a C2D E6600 CPU on the EVGA 680i board. Corsair 620W PSU, OZC Reaper series 1066, and EVGA 8800GTS 640MB.

 

I just got everything put together last night, and haven't had the time to install an O/S yet. Anyways, my BIOS shows my CPU temp at 33C. To me, it seems pretty high, as that seems normal on a stock air system.

 

I've made sure I applied the thermal paste very neat, and the water block is sitting firmly on the CPU with the LGA775 bracket. The room temperature where my machine is in is pretty cold. I have central air plus a big fan constantly blowing in a small basement room. I don't know how to check for exact temperature, but I know the room isn't a problem temperature wise.

 

Is this normal to see 33C on CPU temp in the BIOS after using this setup? If not, what could I possible have done wrong? I just want to know if it's normal or if there it is too hot for some reason.

 

I seen a review where someone mentioned they had an idle temp of under 20C and 25-30C load with the same CPU/setup.

[Verran]

Well first of all, idle temperatures don't tell you nearly as much about your system as load temps do. Also, temperatures that you get from other reviews may have been done at different room temperatures. I know some people that quote their temps from runs they do with the window open during a snow storm So keep in mind that system temps are relative to room temps.

 

Also (and I'm sorry to say this), the Kandalf LCS is not exactly a top-performer when it comes to cooling. It is not uncommon to see a good air cooler match or beat it on the same system. A lot of people think that water should always beat air, but this is simply not the case, especially with the amazing air coolers that are on the market today. To be honest, I have a pretty high end water system that I assembled myself about a year and a half ago, and I'm pretty sure that some of the current air coolers could match or beat it.

 

If you run some load temp tests, we might be able to gauge the performance a little better, but ultimately I don't think the performance you're describing is that surprising.

[Draetor24]

I know there are much better water setups and I know some high end air coolers can be just as good, if not better. I wanted the case for something different and to get first experience with a water setup. I did it mostly for the fun and something new, not to achieve the lowest temp possible.

 

I just want to make sure that the temp is fine and not abnormal, indicating there could possibly be something wrong somewhere. I'll be doing more testing tonight with benchmarks and try to check the load temp. It just seemed shocking to me when all these reviews show low 20C idle temps with the same water setup and when I first check mine, I see a 33C, and start to get worried if everything is alright or if I'm in "dangerous territory."

[Verran]

The temps in the BIOS usually are not exactly idle. You should keep that in mind too. Your actual idle temp will probably be lower than that. You should get some temp software so that you can watch your temps in Windows. You will probably find that your idle temp is below 30c.

[Draetor24]

Hmm, that's something I didn't know. Is it not idle in the BIOS because it's using processing power to run the BIOS?

 

What is a good simple applet in Windows to get accurate CPU temps? I know about Speedfan, but I don't want something that big, just a little applet I can manually open and close to display temps.

[Verran]

Hmm, that's something I didn't know. Is it not idle in the BIOS because it's using processing power to run the BIOS?

The best answer I can give you is: "I don't know."

 

I would generally assume that while in the BIOS, the system usage would be lower than any other time, but that doesn't seem to be the case. In my experience, the BIOS usually lists tempereatures that are somewhere between the idle and load temps that I measure in Windows. I can't begin to tell you why, but I can tell you that it does happen

 

What is a good simple applet in Windows to get accurate CPU temps? I know about Speedfan, but I don't want something that big, just a little applet I can manually open and close to display temps.

Well most of the ones I use for my A64 don't work for C2D systems, so I'm not entirely sure. But according to the Essential Overclocking Software thread, Core Temp and Intel Thermal Analysis Tool will probably work for you.

[Draetor24]

Well, I did my normal software setup (and I get really anal about how I do this too).

 

Updated both motherboard and video card to EVGA's latest BIOS revisions.

Setup my BIOS the way I liked it with all stock clocking and RAID 0.

Setup my RAID array.

Install Windows XP Pro.

Customize UI the way I like and get all Windows Updates while rebooting until no more updates.

Install latest DX 9.0c.

Install latest motherboard chipset drivers and played around with my new Nvidia chipset.

Install latest Forceware drivers.

Install latest X-Fi drivers and update.

Install Logitech device drivers and configure.

Clean my services and registry startup items and check MSCONFIG to make sure only the items I want are listed with a "Normal Startup".

Install all my internet utilities like flash, shockwave, adobe reader, java, etc.

 

Then I installed Core Temp application and check my CPU cores. 18C and 19C respectively, and I never touched my hardware since my original post in this thread. Looks like I'll be getting a good overclock for myself.

 

Safe to say I'm excited. I wouldn't have wanted to do anything extreme like lapping my CPU/waterblock because I get too paranoid that I might screw up or do something to ruin my invested money. The only thing I would have done if my temps were bad would be to go out and get some AS5 and isopropyl and do a whole new cleanup and thermal job on the CPU/waterblock and re-seat it.

 

Now to get some good info on best way to O/C an E6600 on 680i SLI. I have SLI-Ready Memory modules (OCZ Reapers 1066) which are supposedly great overclockers too, so I'll prob want to have a linked FSB for both components for all around effectiveness.

[iKillSteal]

Then I installed Core Temp application and check my CPU cores. 18C and 19C respectively, and I never touched my hardware since my original post in this thread. Looks like I'll be getting a good overclock for myself.

Unless your room is at 64f, I'm guessing that core temp isn't right. I've seen a ton of reviews for WC kits and never have I seen any temps that low(obviously ambient is at play here but even then it was always about 5c+ above that). I'm not sure of any other temp monitoring software but I suggest you look again because that seems too low to be accurate to me.

[Draetor24]

Those are idle temps at stock clocking (2.4Ghz), I'm still downloading benchmarks for load temps and to stress the CPU.

 

Ambient room temp has to be real low as I have central air plus a big floor/room fan constantly blowing in rotation. As I type this I'm getting slight goosebumps when the fan hits me. I also have an air cleaner in the room. Overall, I treat the air in this room because of 2 computer setups and a small room, it needs cold air pumped throughout.

[Draetor24]

Running Orthos and Core Temp, it shows both cores idleing around 21-22C when I stop Orthos. If I immediately start Orthos using the CPU stress, they jump to 35-37C each core. If I stress using the memory/CPU blend test, they go to 32-34C per core.

 

Judging by these temps, I'd say their pretty accurate. The fluctuations and the fall in temp or rise in temp depending on the test make it believable.

[Bleeble]

Welcome to OCC! :thumbs-up:

 

Safe to say I'm excited. I wouldn't have wanted to do anything extreme like lapping my CPU/waterblock because I get too paranoid that I might screw up or do something to ruin my invested money. The only thing I would have done if my temps were bad would be to go out and get some AS5 and isopropyl and do a whole new cleanup and thermal job on the CPU/waterblock and re-seat it.

Does this mean that you didn't use AS5 in the first place?

 

Those temps seem reasonable if you've got a cold room. When checking load temps, keep in mind that it will take some time for the fluid in your loop to reach a stable temperature. So your immediate load temps aren't going to be accurate. Make sure you post your OC results!

[Draetor24]

I used the thermal paste supplied by the cooling kit. Maybe it's not as good as AS5, but if it's the one supplied then it should be able to handle the job. I didn't build it to get the absolute coolest solution ever imaginable, but I just wanted a good overall setup.

 

 

I'll be doing some OC'ing this weekend and post results. Most of my past OC'ing was done with Asus boards and their AI NOS carebear OC'ing options. I'm going to do more research to do some good manual OC'ing.