Good cooler for I7-920 OC

IMHO you problem sounds like a Case air flow problem. If it's possible, getting a new Case (tower) with better
air flow. Some computer towers are just designed better than others.

Dave76 said:

That is a nice motherboard.

If they are all having the same issues then I dought that swapping the PSU will help.

If they all have the same motherboard and CPU, then one of them is the cause, hope it's not a bad batch of CPUs.
I would try one motherboard and see what that does, of coarse would be better if you could do it at a shop, it would save the expense if it turns out to be the same issues.
Check if the motherboard can easily be returned.

Motherboards cannot be returned. Nor are they repairable or replaceable under warranty.

I think we eliminated the CPU's yesterday when we replaced the 920 with a 950 and got the same result.

The only things not replaced are the PSU, mobo and case. The PSU is the cheapest item at $120. Since I have a different one here - I will try that later today when I have some time.

The place where I bought the stuff does not stock the Sabertooth. It's not a high seller because it's a bit of a niche board. They'd have to order one in for me.

Layback Bear said:

IMHO you problem sounds like a Case air flow problem. If it's possible, getting a new Case (tower) with better
air flow. Some computer towers are just designed better than others.

Thanks for your reply.

What criteria would I look for in a good case?

Well, after playing around for several more hours I've found that a different PSU makes no difference.

I swapped a couple of fans around - swapped front and rear.

Idle temp is now 48. It's increased 3 - 4 degress, so I'll have to swap the fans back.

I'm going to go to the swap meet tmoz to have a look at some cases.

You might be right about the warranty. I went on to the gigabyte site and it said to go to reseller, who are closed till monday. But either way, RMA processes seem to take 4 - 8 weeks (At least with stuff I've RMA'd in the past). Even if it took 2 weeks, thats two weeks without a computer. I'm better off getting the SABERTOOTH. Gigabyte website says that if there is no fault with the board charges could apply.

I noticed also that the temp in BIOS said 40. Once booted into windows Realtemp, core temp and speed fan all reaported the temp as 48.

I also noticed when I was moving fans around I left the front face plate off the case. The bios reported CPU at 38. When I put the face plate back on, it went up to 40. Even though the case is supposedly designed for air flow from the front.

Tanya

Anyone had any experience with the Antec 900 series cases in terms of cooling?

A Guy said:

I have the Antech 300 Illusion, which is it's "little brother", it has 2 front intake 120mm fans, one rear exhaust 120mm fan and 1 top exhaust 140mm fan. All 4 have a 3 speed setting. this case has excellent cooling, and is said to not be nearly as good as the 900, so that should be a very good cooling case. A Guy

I spent most of last night researching cases. The Antec 900 appears to be a dust magnet. The 902 much better, but for cooling it seems the Cooler Master HAF 932 or HAF X seems to be the way to go.

The swap meets tend to carry cheap stuff only, but I might get lucky and find a good case, and the Sabertooth mobo as well.

If that doesn't solve my cooling problems - there is one other option; Turn it off, disconnect it and throw it off a high cliff.