Thermalright Ultra Extreme Help

[Sharkey]

Hi All,
I purchased a Thermalright Ultra Extreme after reading many reviews stating it is the best air cooler out there. My aim was to achieve 3.6Ghz (400 x 9) on my Q6600 G0, which has a VID of 1.2375. On first install the coolers performance was scarcely better than my previous AC Freezer 7 Pro, therefore I decided it lap it. This reduced the temperatures but again under stress test it was hitting 80 in core temp. Next, I tried the penny mod to gain a bit more added pressure on the HS, which i could turn easily. Once again this marked an improvement, but still hits 77 after 20 minutes of prime. The VCore is 1.40 in windows (1.4375 Bios) and AS 5 has been installed to the instructions on their website, with both the CPU and HS being cleaned with Arctic Clean, each time. Finally the fan is a 1600RPM S-Flex, with an inlet, exhaust fan at the rear and two at the top of my Cosmos case.

Thanks in Advanced!

[Clunk]

As you already know, those temps aren't right for that cooler at those volts unless you are in a really hot room?

Have you checked to see if your IHS is flat?

Supershanks had a faulty Thermalright cooler and I got it swapped under warranty, but as you have lapped yours, that's not going to be doable.

What kind of temps are you seeing at stock?

[Sharkey]

Hi Clunk,

The room temp is probably around the 23oC mark.

Looking back, lapping probably wasn't the best idea, but I did have to get the HSF imported from Germany as everywhere over here was out of stock, so return would have probably been a nightmare anyway.

The heat spreader on the chip is almost perfectly flat, and tbh lapping that is out of the question as i really don’t want to void the warranty.

Running stock at the moment (1.20 Vcore), idle temps are 37,36,31,32 and 49,49,45,45 after 10 minutes of prime 'In-Place' Large FFT's.

Any suggestions?

Also might just scrap air cooling and go with water, think this is worth doing?

Many Thanks

[Clunk]

It's an odd one.

You see, as you get the same temps from 2 different coolers, that would make me think that the IHS is concave. If it is concave, then watercooling won't really help.

I would get a razor blade and test the flatness again, and if it's concave, get rid

Also, take the cooler off and see how the paste looks. See if you have contact all over the IHS.

[Sharkey]

Ok mate, I’ll get it out again later and put the razor blade to it. I must have re-mounted it ten times in the last three days and the paste has always covered all the IHS. Would a concave IHS really make a humongous difference?

[Clunk]

Yes, I had one that was concave and it was a real pig to cool.

It also depends how bad it is.

[Sharkey]

Okies, will let you know the verdict! Thanks

[Sharkey]

In a crazy moment, where I just got annoyed with the whole thing, I also lapped my IHS. Now I'm getting 75 max, usually around the 70 mark. Still pretty high, but now I know 100% everything is flat im starting to think it may be the air flow in my case. Any final suggestions other than improving that or water?

[Clunk]

So temps have gone up since lapping?

Did you try what I said about grabbing a desk fan and blowing it into the open case?

If your temps drop dramatically, you'll know it's the airflow

Good luck.

[Sharkey]

Ran Prime for much longer this time and as I'm sure you'll know some tests generate more heat than others. Would say temps have dropped about 5 degress since lapping cpu, (running at 400 x 9).Trying the fan idea now.