I have just installed a new heatsing (scythe zipang) with as5 thermal paste. Just to test the temp i thought it'd be clever for me to use prime95 to test the temp and stress the cpu. The temperature of the cpu (measured using coretemp) went up to 51 degrees on core0 within five mins. That cant be good? Have i not installed the heatsink properly? is it the paste or is it just a **** heatsink?
Thanks
also the heatsink has a 3 pin plug that wouldnt fit onto my 4 pin cpu fan header, so i decided just to use the system fan header instead .....is that a no no?
That is completely normal. My Q6600 gets to about 46 degrees at 100%. The time it takes for the CPU to heat up to max temps is about 5 minutes. It is very unlikely that it will get any higher than that even after hours of Prime95. Also, it is very unlikely for any software to push your CPU as much.
The safe temperature for the Q6600 is said to be 65 degrees with G0 stepping. You are well below this and are perfectly fine. If you have a B3 stepping CPU, the safe temp is 55 degrees, so check using CPU-z which stepping you have. It will say very clearly, but if you are not sure, post a pic and someone will tell you.
Without your cooler, the CPU would idle at about the same temps, so that is a very good temperature drop.
Looks good. You've got G0 stepping. BTW, your CPU is using 1.120v. If you have stock voltage settings, then this is a very low. Basically, your CPU will consume much less power than most other Q6600. This helps keep your temps lower as well. Very nice :)
