AMD 6400+ (Black Edition) Way Too Hot

[azb8496]

So I got the AMD 6400+ B.E. several months ago & bought a Zalman 9500 heatsink thinking it would work well enough to cool the CPU (and with any luck maybe well enough to OC a bit). Ever since, I've gotten temperatures about 47-50 C idle, 52-57 C load (room temperature about 65 F).

I could tell this was too hot, so I recently purchased and installed a water cooling system (Thermaltake Big Water 750i). I've heard others getting much cooler temps with the same CPU under this cooling solution. I'm getting roughly the same temps with the Thermaltake as with my Zalman (which was about a third the price, too). There aren't any visible bubbles, the pump and radiator fan are running fine. Any ideas? I'm about ready to downgrade.


System Specs:

ASUS M2N SLI DELUXE
225 GB HITACHI HD
NVIDIA GeFORCE 8600 GTS (EVGA)
4 GB KINGSTON RAM
ULTRA X CONNECT 400 WATT P.S.
3.2 GHz AMD ATHLON 64 x 2 6400+ B.E.
THERMALTAKE BIG WATER 750i COOLING
WINDOWS VISTA (32-bit)

[KarmaKiller]

Have you reseated the Block or HSF?
How much paste did you use?
If it's to much or to little of paste, temps won't be as good as they could be.
Do you have and case fans in your system?

[azb8496]

Originally Posted by KarmaKiller

Have you reseated the Block or HSF?
How much paste did you use?
If it's to much or to little of paste, temps won't be as good as they could be.
Do you have and case fans in your system?

I used a thin layer of paste around the entire face of the CPU (maybe this was too much). I have 2x70 mm case fans (one on top and one on the side). For the hell of it, I put the Zalman fan on a vent on the side (this appeared to do nothing). Also, might I try tightening the cooling block down harder to the CPU (it's secured with 4 long screws into where the mounting bracket screws used to go in the MB).

[azb8496]

Another thing I wasn't sure about. The cooling system takes up my bottom 2 cd drive bays. I took out the dvd drive that was directly above the cooling unit's radiator fan and left in one dvd drive at the top. I didn't think it was a good idea to leave a warm dvd drive directly above the radiator. So the cd drive bay setup is (from top to bottom) dvd drive - nothing - Cooling unit.

[electric]

Thermaltake Bigwater 760i


Virtual-Hideout | Thermaltake BigWater 760i Liquid Cooling System Review

here is some info for you ..above

when applying paste i usually apply to both surfaces ,to make
sure there isn't any air gaps .. ymmd

[KarmaKiller]

First off, you wanna give that Rad all the room you can to vent out the warm air. That's probably the biggest part of your problem. Second, when I apply paste, I use one very small dot (about rice grain size) right in the center of the chip. It will spread by itself once it warms up. And thirdly, I've heard that using shin-itzu is best for H20 setups. I myself don't have one so I can't really comment on how much better, but that's what a lot of people say on other forums. */shrugs/*

[azb8496]

I can't see giving the radiator anymore room without taking out my other dvd-rom (out of the question). I will have to try a better thermal compound. According to this webpage, Thermal Compound show-down. And the winner is... - techPowerUp! Forums, Shin-Etsu MicroSi MPU-3.7 50.5 is among the best thermal compounds.