temp issues and sli problems

[voklskier4452]

Okay I built my first rig last week and I have spent a great deal of time attempting to cool it down. The idle core temps are about 48-50c (when oc'ed to 3.35) which seems far to hot to me considering my heat sink. My GPU's idle at around 46c and 50c which again seems to hot to me. Could any of you offer some advice to a system builder noob?

For my SLI problem I started testing frame rates using HL2 ep.2 and I was achieving around 120-130 fps average. This seemed all fine and dandy to me until i took one of my GPU's out to manage some cables Now the frame rate is incredibly intermittent, jumping from as low as 40fps to 130fps within seconds. The problem would seem to be sli turning itself on and off. But both GPU-z and the nvidia controller say my sli is enabled. So any advice for this problem?

Thanks in advance

[jdrom17]

The GPU temps seem about right but your CPU temps are rather high.

Have you checked the SLI bridge connector and BIOS settings? Just check all your connections to make sure nothing is loose. If that doesn't fix it, maybe try reinstalling the drivers.

[voklskier4452]

So what can i do about my cpu? I have taken off the zalman and reseated it and the temps didn't change at all. Also when I reinstalled the one gpu the sli wasnt recognized at all i had to take the card out and reseat it and then the sli was recognized but very shady compared to before.

[jdrom17]

Are you using Arctic Silver 5 or Arctic Cooling MX-2 paste on the CPU? If not, try that. If the temps are still high, well the only other option is to get a new cooler.

[MpG]

With those kind of temps on an E8400 at those clocks, first thing I'd suspect is your heatsink to CPU contact. Unless you've got obscenely high voltages, there's definitely something wrong there. Too much TIM will actually act as an insulator, so definitely check that out.

[voklskier4452]

okay I will check the thermal paste. How much should I be putting on does anyone know of a good guide.
Oh and I am using Artic Silver 5

[SugarJ]

I find the best results with about the size of a grain of rice, and I suggest spreading it out with a glove or saran wrap over your finger. Ideally, a smooth, even, thin coat.

[jdrom17]

Originally Posted by voklskier4452

okay I will check the thermal paste. How much should I be putting on does anyone know of a good guide.
Oh and I am using Artic Silver 5

I put a stripe down the middle of the CPU as per Arctic Silver's instructions:
Arctic Silver Incorporated - Route to Product Instructions for Arctic Silver 5

[voklskier4452]

okay I pulled off the zalman again today and found far to much artic silver on. So I re-applied a thinner layer only to find that my e8400 still idles at around 46c. I ran orthos for a few minutes and the temp seemed to top off at about 55c at stock clock speeds. so these temps still seem way to high for a stock clock speed. So next step replace the cooler?

[jdrom17]

Originally Posted by voklskier4452

okay I pulled off the zalman again today and found far to much artic silver on. So I re-applied a thinner layer only to find that my e8400 still idles at around 46c. I ran orthos for a few minutes and the temp seemed to top off at about 55c at stock clock speeds. so these temps still seem way to high for a stock clock speed. So next step replace the cooler?

What program are you using to get your temps? Maybe try RealTemp and CoreTemp.