New problem: Well not really a problem at the moment but it will become a problem when I finish all software installations and begin experimenting OC. Core i7 920 Temp readings at stock frequency: 50-51C centigrade at idle. Its a hot summer here in southeastern Europe and my thermaltake armor+ full tower case with 9+ fans and the prolimatech megahalems heatsink with 2 12cm fans seem to be inadequate :(. And yes, the heatsink sits properly on the socket. I doublechecked that. And I did apply thermalpaste but not as much as the last time (on my previous CPU QX9770 I had applied too much although it didn't affect thermal dicipation: temps 40-45C at 3.8GHz at iddle and 60-65 at full load) This time I applied only 3 thin lines and made sure that they spread evenly after contact with the heatsink base. One thing I had really a hard time mounting the 2 spring-screws on the 2 metal plates on its side of the socket and there was a long period that the two surfaces (the cpu heat spreader and the base of the heatsink) remained on air (i.e without contact with each other) but with thermalpaste on their surfaces. Maybe they became contaminated with dust particles. Any ideas greatly appreciated.

New problem: Well not really a problem at the moment but it will become a problem when I finish all software installations and begin experimenting OC. Core i7 920 Temp readings at stock frequency: 50-51C centigrade at idle. Its a hot summer here in southeastern Europe and my thermaltake armor+ full tower case with 9+ fans and the prolimatech megahalems heatsink with 2 12cm fans seem to be inadequate :(. And yes, the heatsink sits properly on the socket. I doublechecked that. And I did apply thermalpaste but not as much as the last time (on my previous CPU QX9770 I had applied too much although it didn't affect thermal dicipation: temps 40-45C at 3.8GHz at iddle and 60-65 at full load) This time I applied only 3 thin lines and made sure that they spread evenly after contact with the heatsink base. One thing I had really a hard time mounting the 2 spring-screws on the 2 metal plates on its side of the socket and there was a long period that the two surfaces (the cpu heat spreader and the base of the heatsink) remained on air (i.e without contact with each other) but with thermalpaste on their surfaces. Maybe they became contaminated with dust particles. Any ideas greatly appreciated.

That does sound rather high for stock settings. I doubt whether it has to do with the method of applying thermal paste but in case you want to try an alternative how about the method recommended by the manufacturers of Arctic Silver 5, here:http://www.arcticsilver.com/ins_route_step2intelas5.htmlTim

That does sound rather high for stock settings. I doubt whether it has to do with the method of applying thermal paste but in case you want to try an alternative how about the method recommended by the manufacturers of Arctic Silver 5, here:http://www.arcticsilver.com/ins_route_step2intelas5.htmlTim

Well I used a similar method but I extended it a bit and applied 2 more thin lines of thermal paste above and below the main line that covers the cores:http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/9906/i7di...imacrossthe.jpgI think I am going to buy an air-condition for my living room. Ambient temperature is around 27-29 Centigrade.

New problem: Well not really a problem at the moment but it will become a problem when I finish all software installations and begin experimenting OC. Core i7 920 Temp readings at stock frequency: 50-51C centigrade at idle. Its a hot summer here in southeastern Europe and my thermaltake armor+ full tower case with 9+ fans and the prolimatech megahalems heatsink with 2 12cm fans seem to be inadequate :(. And yes, the heatsink sits properly on the socket. I doublechecked that. And I did apply thermalpaste but not as much as the last time (on my previous CPU QX9770 I had applied too much although it didn't affect thermal dicipation: temps 40-45C at 3.8GHz at iddle and 60-65 at full load) This time I applied only 3 thin lines and made sure that they spread evenly after contact with the heatsink base. One thing I had really a hard time mounting the 2 spring-screws on the 2 metal plates on its side of the socket and there was a long period that the two surfaces (the cpu heat spreader and the base of the heatsink) remained on air (i.e without contact with each other) but with thermalpaste on their surfaces. Maybe they became contaminated with dust particles. Any ideas greatly appreciated.

What's the temp in the room where the computer is? And are your voltages at stock as well as your speeds?If it's 30 deg C in the room, 50 deg at idle is possible, but still on the high side. Are you sure both fans on the CPU HS are blowing the same direction? Are the other temps (i.e. VREG, NB etc) running high as well?RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

What's the temp in the room where the computer is? And are your voltages at stock as well as your speeds?If it's 30 deg C in the room, 50 deg at idle is possible, but still on the high side. Are you sure both fans on the CPU HS are blowing the same direction? Are the other temps (i.e. VREG, NB etc) running high as well?RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

Ambient temp in the room : 31 CentigradeBoth fans are blowing in the same direction: I checked the arrows on the side of each fan and they both point at the same dir. i.e. at the rear of the chasis. The only other temp reported by the bios is the motherboard temp which is also 50 Centigrade. I haven't fiddled with the voltages yet. Everything is on auto. It is strange because at the same room temp ( or maybe 1-2 degrees cooler) my old QX9770 was reporting 40-45 C at 3.8GHz iddle and 65-70 C at full load. And the old cpu Heatsink was smaller with only 3 heatpipes vs 6 heatpipes on the new heatsink. I really don't get it :(

Ambient temp in the room : 31 Centigrade

Ouch, you don't have A/C ? ;)

Ouch, you don't have A/C ? ;)

No. :(