Windows 7: Ivy CPU temperature range...

This is more of a question than actual issue...

First time around with the Ivy CPU (i5-3353P) with Zalman CNPS9500 heatsink, currently being bench tested. The processor is working just fine, albeit not noticably faster than the i5-760 CPU. The older processor had Noctua NH14 heatsink with pretty good temperature ranges during Prime95 test:



And this is the Ivy CPU temperature, running Prime95 test:



Shouldn't it be the other way around where the i5-3353P would run cooler than the i5-760? While not all heatsinks are created equal, that much difference seems execessive.

Yes, there's Arctic Silver paste between the heatsink and CPU in both cases...

According to many websites, the increased transistor density of the Ivy Bridge as well as its poorly made head spreader (only the Desktop models) contributed to its high temperatures per GHz. Keep in mind that while the Ivy Bridge is a little hotter than the Lynnfield i5, it gives at least roughly 1.8 times or more of the performance of the same GHz compared to your old i5-750. BTW, your temps are excellent and don't even bother about it unless your getting excess of 70 degrees centigrade.

Noctua air coolers are really, really good. If it bothers you that much, take your air cooler off, clean up both surfaces with some CPU safe solvent and a coffee filter, and reapply your thermal paste(don't use too much) and re-seat the heatsink. See if you get the same temps under load.

EDIT: I'll assume you had the Noctua NH-D14, which runs about $80.......the Zalman you have now is half that. You get what you pay for most of the time.

For some reason I believed that the Ivy Bridge CPUs run cooler, hence the choice of Zalman heatsink. It wasn't about the extra cost, it was about what the system needs and Noctua seemed to be overkill. Oh well...

While running the system on the bench is OK, once it is installed in the case the temperature will rise about 5-10 degree Celsius. The system seldom will be running at 100% CPU utilization and as such, the temperature will be just fine even in the case. I was just curious about the reason why the Ivy Bridge run hotter.

Performance wise, the Ivy CPU is certainly faster; my system boots a lot faster with the same hard drives. Within Windows, the performance increase is not that noticeable when compared to the i5-760 CPU performance. Maybe when I replace the current SSD with the Intel 520 drive, it'll be better.

My prediction of temperature increase for in case was wrong for the Zalman heatsink; comparing to the bench test, it ended up close to 30 degree Celsius increase. The heatsink had been reset couple of times to ensure correct seating, but the results were the same:



The temperature of around 80 degree Celsius at full load is too high and maybe kbrady1979 was right, "You get what you pay for most of the time."

The Zalman CNPS9500 AT 2 was replaced by Noctua NH-D14 and rerun the turture test by Prime95. The open case test looked good:



After closing the case, the results didn't change much:



That's pretty good temperature for full load with the case closed. At idle temperature of the CPU is also pretty good:



What can I say, you were right kbrady1979...

* The case is an Antec P183 with four 120mm case fans for both heatsinks. The ambient temperature was around 20-22 degree Celsius during both tests.

The thing about that case is it is made for a silent build instead of having ample airflow. How many fans do you have installed in the case and do you have intake and exhaust orientations?

Cr00zng Those temps should make you happy. Money well spent.

In my experience with the Antec P series cases, they do have pretty good airflow and they are quite as well. Provided that the case fans are arranged correctly and evidently, the right heatsink is installed. I've used the P180, P182, and now the P183 cases.

The case has two intake 120mm fans on the front bottom, the top and the back have 120mm exhaust fans each. The two 120 mm heatsink fans exhaust into the back exhaust fan. The case is about two feet from me on the desk and hardly can hear it. The keyboard is a lot noisier than the case...

Here's a review of the P183case:

Antec P183 Mid-Tower Computer Case | Antec P183,Antec P183 Computer Case,Antec P183 Performance One Silver and Black Mid-Tower ATX Computer Case Benchmark Performance Test System Chassis Review

Their test results are pretty much in line with mine, or the other way around...

What I meant by what I said about them not having ample airflow was in relation to other Antec cases, like the Antec Eleven Hundred. The P series are a "quiet" in mind line of cases and sometimes run a little warmer than other cases that are more open and free-flowing. Those temps are fine though, the Noctua cooler is obviously the better cooler!

Thanks Bear...

Well, I actually used the Noctua heatsink from my burned computer, but it still makes me happy. Two years old already, but cools a lot better than Zalman.

I don't believe that Zalman heatsinks are as bad as I've seen it in my new system. I've used them before and they were working quite well, in other computers. While the CNPS9500 fits the LGA 1155 board, maybe it's not that great for the i5-3350P CPU; alternatively, I might've done something wrong...