Upgraded My Cpu Cooling

Lately, I have been getting warnings from the monitoring software that came with my mobo that my CPU was hitting 65C. A bit warm for me, so I started looking to replace the cooling. I decided on the Thermaltake Contact Silent 12. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106372 Slapped it on yesterday with some fresh Arctic Silver 5, and it has not gone over 41C yet, even when gaming. Idle is low 30's, sometimes upper 20C, so seems to work well for the $.

Just a mini 'review' in case anyone is looking to upgrade their cooling. Using an Asus M5A97 mobo (and the monitoring/fan control software) with an AMD FX 6300 6 core at stock.

 

Wait! If you didn't get these warnings before, then it is not likely you needed to replace your cooling - assuming the old fan bearings were not seizing for some reason. It is more likely you just needed to clean out the heat trapping dust, or re-routed some cables for better cable management, or checked to make sure your case cooling was still adequate and working properly. Perhaps maybe the computer went through some recent jostling and the cured bond of the old TIM (thermal interface material) was broken. Or your ambient (room) temps are abnormally high for some reason.

While that TT cooler certainly is not a budget buster, and obviously works, I suspect you didn't really need it. Contrary to what many believe or want everyone else to believe, both AMD and Intel provide OEM coolers that are more than adequate - especially when used with CPUs running at stock speeds as you indicated you were doing.

It is important to note it is the case's responsibility to provide an adequate supply of cool air flowing through the case. The CPU cooler need only toss the CPU's heat into that flow. And OEM coolers do that just fine.

It is also important to note cooler temps do not automatically mean better. Certainly, it is essential to keep our CPUs properly cooled, but that just means to keep them under the maximum of their normal operating temperatures. That is, a CPU running at 30°C can not be expected to perform better, last longer, or be more stable than a CPU running at 55°C. The point where thermal damage may occur to a CPU is well above the threshold where the CPU's own internal thermal protection features kick in - that is, CPUs are designed to shutdown before damage occurs. If you were not experiencing stability issues, you were not in danger of causing any damage.

One more point to keep in mind. Motherboard designers purposely cluster heat generating and heat sensitive devices around the CPU socket in anticipation of the use of OEM coolers. OEM coolers typically are downward firing. The fan blows down and out and around those devices in all directions. Side firing coolers fire over the tops and only in one direction. This is not a problem is case has sufficient case fans creating a decent flow of cool air, and that side firing fan is oriented so that it is not disrupting that flow.

Having said all that, I am glad your TT performs well and most importantly, that you like it, and feel comfortable about it.

 

Good points Digerati. I keep the dust cleaned out, cables are pretty neat, and good airflow in the case. Thermal paste might have been the problem. With the stock fan at 100%, it stayed around 40C while browsing the net and such, gaming would put it up around 50C-55C with fan at max. Right now, on the web, I am at 31C with the new fan at 60%. I have not seen it go over 42C gaming. It would be interesting to test it with the stock fan and heatsink with a fresh application of AS5. I must admit, I am lazy, and will stay with the new fan. I do agree, stock heatsinks are much better these days, especially the Intel ones. And of course, ambient temps were not measured, but they are fairly stable this time of year.

The stock heatsink I have is not very impressive, all aluminum, small... I usually go for better than stock cooling due to the overclocking "bug", but honestly, with a 6 core CPU at almost 4Ghz each, not much advantage for me, but old habits hang around.

 

Could be, but note TIM (thermal interface materials) does not go bad or need regular replacing. It will easily last 10, 15 years or longer AS LONG AS the cured bond between the CPU and heatsink is not broken. And it should not break unless the computer is subject to rough handling or the cooler is twisted or removed. Ironically, the bond is sometimes broken by users twisting the cooler just to see if the bond is broken!

Even if the TIM dries out, it does not need to be replaced. The purpose of TIM is to fill the microscopic pits and valleys in the mating surfaces. If the TIM dries out, the solids that remain behind are still filling those pits and valleys and doing their job of preventing insulating air from getting in. The ONLY reason TIM comes in a liquified form is so it can be squeezed out of the tube and spread evenly across the die.

It is true that TIM's performance does degrade over time, but only by a few (normally less than 5°C, typically only 2-3°) over time. But if you truly need those few degrees to prevent crossing the CPU's thermal protection threshold, there are greater problems than just the TIM. Case cooling is bad, or the CPU fan itself is failing, or something else is failing or is inadequate.

Note that not one TIM maker, CPU maker, OEM or aftermarket cooler maker, motherboard or computer maker, GPU or graphics card maker says it is necessary to replace TIM just because it is X number of years old. Not one!