Need Help Installing Dark Knight Cooler!

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:36 pm

Hey Guys,

I just almost finished building my new PC, an i7 920 in a Antec P182 case, with an Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Motherboard, and 6GB Corsair Dominator DDR3. Temporarily using a 9600GT, waiting for the new ATI 5 series.

I'm pretty much finished with the build, only thing left is to install the i7 920 CPU, but it turns out that the Xigmatek Dark Knight I bought is a direct-heatpipe cooler, which I have no clue how to install or apply thermal paste. I have a new vial of Arctic Cooling Silver 5..

Thanks for advice!

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:13 pm

Install it as usual heatsinks and for applying thermal paste take a look here. For HDT heatsinks it's a lil' bit different.

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 4:21 pm

So, 2 short lines?

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:39 pm

Does it matter what orientation (vertical or horiz) I put it in? Also, how do I put on the fan? Those little rubber knobs...

Also, where should the fan be placed, on which side? I have a Antec P182.

And do you have to install the mobo back plate? I didn't know it had one, and this would mean redoing everything (everything's installed now...besides cpu)

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:00 am

Okay, I'm getting temps of 50-50-48-49C on the i7 920 (Core Temp)...is that normal? No overclocking, at 2.67, with the Xigmatek Dark Knight. PC's been on for an hour. Nothing but music/email.

I know it's a D0 also...I'm running a P182 case, with 3 120mm fans.

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:11 am

Try to load it with prime95 and see what temps do you have after 15 minutes. Use RealTemp. Put a screenshot with CPU-Z, RealTemp and prime95 running.
Also, what room temperature, what Vcore and HT is on?

PartEleven · Post by **PartEleven** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:51 am

DeusExa wrote:Does it matter what orientation (vertical or horiz) I put it in? Also, how do I put on the fan? Those little rubber knobs...

Also, where should the fan be placed, on which side? I have a Antec P182.

And do you have to install the mobo back plate? I didn't know it had one, and this would mean redoing everything (everything's installed now...besides cpu)

How on earth did you mount the heatsink without the backplate? I was under the impression that the Dark Knight used bolt-thru mounting, which requires the backplate since you need something to screw the mounting bolts into. Shouldn't there be some kind of instruction manual for your heatsink? If you are truly lost on how to install it that should be the first thing you consult.

EDIT: looked up the user manual off of Xigmatek's website. You can find it here. Looks pretty self-explanatory.

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 11:25 am

I need to leave for class in 10 min, so don't have time to run prime95. Will try it later. This is a snapshot of 2 hours on idle.

http://s967.photobucket.com/albums/ae15 ... titled.jpg

I ended up disconnecting everything/taking out mobo to put in the back plate...

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:27 pm

Here's after 5 min of prime95

http://s967.photobucket.com/albums/ae15 ... tled-1.jpg

Room temp is ~82F. How do I check ambient temp?

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:59 pm

Man something is awful wrong! Stop testing and look at mounting.
Two of your cores were in thermal throttle and remaining two were very close to throttle.

PartEleven · Post by **PartEleven** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:22 am

I think you installed your heatsink incorrectly. When it comes to building computers you really should look into what the thermal limits of your hardware is before doing testing. Otherwise you might end up damaging something. If those temps are real they are alarmingly high. You might be damaging something there.

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 8:23 pm

I put 2 lines of thermal paste in the bottom of the heatsink, and spread it with a ziplock bag, as said by benchmark reviews. Then I added another 2 lines, just in case. Did I put too much?? Maybe room temp is another part of the reason? My room is ~85F, since I don't have AC.

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 10:18 pm

DeusExa wrote:I put 2 lines of thermal paste in the bottom of the heatsink, and spread it with a ziplock bag, as said by benchmark reviews. Then I added another 2 lines, just in case. Did I put too much??

Yes, it sounds like you did put too much on.

The idea of using thermal paste is that it fills any minuscule gaps between the heatsink's base and the CPU die. It shouldn't be a thick layer completely blocking all contact between the CPU die and the heatsink.

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 10:57 pm

Thanks for confirming. Any tips on the redo? What's the best way to remove the residual thermal paste? And what's the best application method, then? Just a dot in the middle?

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:41 pm

PartEleven · Post by **PartEleven** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:55 pm

Did you check that link in the first reply to this thread? It's even got pictures! Just apply your paste exactly as it looks in the pictures and you should be set. I'd also review the heatsink installation instructions to make sure you actually mount your heatsink properly. Adding too much paste could raise your temps, but not by more than several degrees. Having sky-high temperatures (if indeed they are being reported correctly; you might want to look into if the program is reporting properly) like the ones you've shown indicate something else is wrong. 85F is pretty hot ambient temps, but it shouldn't cause your CPU to go into the 90's.

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 8:57 pm

Well, both programs (realtemp and coretemp) have near same numbers..

I'm going to use rubbing alcohol then. Can I also put some on top of the CPU?

PartEleven · Post by **PartEleven** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:50 am

I meant you should do a google search. I remember some discussion about realtemp/coretemp not reporting the temperatures of Penryn accurately. I have no idea whether this problem was fixed and/or carries over to Nehalem. I was just pointing out that your abnormally high temps may be from the software and not any fault of your own.

Rubbing alcohol is what I generally use. Try to use as high purity as you can. Yes you can put it directly on the cpu. If you think about it, what you're looking at isn't directly the cpu core. All recent Intel cpus have had the heatspreader protecting the cores. As long as you don't damage the connectors on the underside, I'd bet you could actually spill (small amounts) of water on to it and it'll still work fine. After all, it's just a piece of metal on top.

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:41 pm

Strange thing - might coretemp/realtemp be inaccurate? I dlded speedfan, and it says 35C idle, but the other 2 says ~48-49...and speedfan reports ~78-79 load with prime95, but the other two says ~98-99...

EDIT: Everest Ultimate says 33, but HWmonitor also says 49...what's going on here!!!

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:16 pm

PartEleven wrote:I have no idea whether this problem was fixed and/or carries over to Nehalem.

The problem was about TJMax value. Intel was/is very cloudy when it comes to say the truth.

But for Nehalem TJMax value is written in MSR so no more guess. So I'd trust RealTemp more than any other program because developer has done a tremendous work to decipher Intel mess. RealTemp and i7 Turbo are 2 very handy tools (especially for Nehalem).

DeusExa · Post by **DeusExa** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:28 pm

http://s967.photobucket.com/albums/ae15 ... tledev.jpg

This is my Everest...the CPU temp is 33C, and the 4 core temps are 48-49..what should I look at?

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:10 pm

DeusExa wrote:..what should I look at?

Always look at your cores temperatures. Those numbers dictates your CPU thermal behavior (throttle/thermal shutdown).

PartEleven · Post by **PartEleven** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:05 pm

DeusExa wrote:Strange thing - might coretemp/realtemp be inaccurate? I dlded speedfan, and it says 35C idle, but the other 2 says ~48-49...and speedfan reports ~78-79 load with prime95, but the other two says ~98-99...

EDIT: Everest Ultimate says 33, but HWmonitor also says 49...what's going on here!!!

REGARDLESS of whether coretemp/realtemp or Speedfan is correct, all of those load temperatures are above the Intel specified max temperature. I would attempt to re-mount your cpu ASAP. I can't believe you are STILL using your computer the way it is with temperatures that high. I'm normally not concerned with temperatures, but when it approaches the boiling point of water I'd be worried. You're not worried about permanently damaging your new cpu?

In case you missed it the first time, let me repeat in BOLD:

PartEleven wrote:When it comes to building computers you really should look into what the thermal limits of your hardware is before doing testing. Otherwise you might end up damaging something.