E6600 - cpu air/water cooling solutions compared

Swapped out my Pentium D 3.46Ghz 955XE Extreme Edition for my Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 B1 Step 5 cpu to see how well the Scythe Infinity cools compared to other air and water cooling I tried.

Cooling used:

• stock Pentium D 2.8Ghz 920D heatsink + Sunon 80x25mm 49cfm fan
• Thermaltake Big Typhoon + Thermaltake 120x25mm 81cfm fan
• Scythe Infinity + 2x Thermaltake 120x25mm 81cfm push-pull
• Corsair Hydrocool 200EX + Thermaltake Big Typhoon LGA775 mounting gear
• Swiftech G4 Storm Water + Thermochill 120.3/MCP650 Pump

A few notes:

1. This is first time i have used my E6600 B1 cpu since i re-lapped the IHS, first lap was half *** job with alot of scratches but this time it's alot smoother and shiny.
2. Please keep in mind other results were done at different room ambient temps compared to current Scythe Infinity tests.
3. I'm using a different power supply, before it was either 700W OCZ GameXStream or 1KW PCP&C SLI psu. Now, I am using the new 850W OCZ GameXStream which has 4x +12v rails rated at 20 amps each - of which 2x +12v rails are for independent PCI-E connector power.
4. I've figured out how to use Intel D975XBX Bad Axe's Intel Desktop Utilities (IDU) application which reports temps, vcore etc. It seems if at any time within a windows session you load cpuz, clockgen etc, you will cause IDU to freeze or hang. The only way for IDU to work properly is if within the windows session you don't load cpuz or clockgen if you intend to run IDU.
5. Due to IDU issue and fact D975XBX Bad Axe board from bios only allows max 400fsb, it means for tests at >400fsb that require increasing fsb from clockgen, I will have to only use coretemp app to show temps and not use IDU.

System:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 QPGE B1 Step 5 ES
• Scythe Infinity + 2x Thermaltake 120x25mm 81cfm push-pull
• Intel D975XBX Bad Axe rev304 1334 bios
• 128MB Gainward FX5200 PCI card
• 2x1GB Gskill PC6400PHU2 HZ Micron D9GMH 0629 batch
• 3x 320GB Seagate 7200.10 SATAII hdds
• Pioneer DVD-RW Burner
• 1.44MB FDD
• 850W OCZ GameXStream (quad +12v rails @20amp each)

How does Scythe Infinity compare to other cpu cooling solutions I have used on the Intel D975XBX Bad Axe platform ?

E6600 stock @2400Mhz at 1.275v (bios = 1.254v)​

Dual stressprime orthos small FFTs load with Coretemp temps reported for:
=======================
Room temp: ~20-22C
Cooling used: stock Pentium D 2.8Ghz 920D heatsink + Sunon 80x25mm 49cfm fan
Bios idle: 52-56C
Windows idle: 40-43C
Windows load: 74-75C
Rise above ambient delta = 53-55C
Rise above windows idle delta = 32-35C

=======================
Room temp: ~21-24C
Cooling used: Thermaltake Big Typhoon + Thermaltake 120x25mm 81cfm fan
Bios idle: 38-40C
Windows idle: 32-33C
Windows load: 47-48C
Rise above ambient delta = 24-27C
Rise above windows idle delta = 13-16C

=======================
Room temp: ~20-22C
Cooling used: Corsair Hydrocool 200EX + Thermaltake Big Typhoon LGA775 mounting gear
Bios idle: 31-32C
Windows idle: 24-28C
Windows load: 36-40C
Rise above ambient delta = 18-20C
Rise above windows idle delta = 12-16C

=======================
Room temp: ~26-28C
Cooling used: Swiftech G4 Storm Water + Thermochill 120.3/MCP650 Pump
Bios idle: 32-36C
Windows idle: 31-33C
Windows load: 37-44C
Rise above ambient delta = 16-18C
Rise above windows idle delta = 11-13C

=======================

Scythe Infinity + 2x Thermaltake 120x25mm 81cfm push-pull​

Room temp: ~27-29C
Cooling used: Scythe Infinity + 2x Thermaltake 120x25mm 81cfm push-pull
Bios idle: 40-43C
Windows idle: 35-36C
Windows load: 50-51C
Rise above ambient delta = 22-24C
Rise above windows idle delta = 15-16C

Idle


Dual Stressprime Orthos small FFTs load

Max delta & Min delta compared:​

Rise above ambient delta = CPU load temp - Room ambient

Rise above windows idle delta = CPU load temp - Windows CPU idle temp

Let's try my usual 24/7 clocks of 3600Mhz at 1.394v bios that I use on water, but on Scythe Infinity air now

Room temp: ~28-31C
Cooling used: Scythe Infinity + 2x Thermaltake 120x25mm 81cfm push-pull
Bios idle: 54C
Windows idle: 42C
Windows load: 69-72C
Rise above ambient delta = 41-44C
Rise above windows idle delta = 27-30C

(click image for full screenie)

Idle


Dual Stressprime Orthos small FFTs load


That's around 6-12C hotter than when on water cooling.

Nice fancy graphs Was this all done on an open test bench environment?

yup open bench as seen in first post pic

Update: 24hr dual stressprime orthos completed @3600Mhz at 1.388v vcore with Scythe Infinity air cooling. Here's post load idle temps

Excellent work, thank you for sharing. Didn't know the BT performs that well. Is there any difference between the old BT and the new one, other than the fan speed? I'm gettin much better results with the Infinity than with my BT, which is the old model.

That is a nice review EVA. Could you possibly test to see what type of stable Max. OC is possible with the different types of cooling. In other words, how much more can you OC with the WC set up vs the aftermarket air cooling. Thanks

can you test the scythe infinity with one fan, and maybe at a slower speed? Just curious to see what cooling performance you gain with two fans or one fan at a high cfm. thanks.

enz660 said:

can you test the scythe infinity with one fan, and maybe at a slower speed? Just curious to see what cooling performance you gain with two fans or one fan at a high cfm. thanks.

Click to expand...

did that with 955XE cpu http://i4memory.com/showthread.php?t=3211

unfortunately with 975x chipset i'm at mercy of their individual boards' max fsb limits.. the bad axe i'm using has a max 421-423fsb limit on 1067fsb strap which limits me to max 9x434fsb = 3809mhz

both my E6600 B1s do same clocks but on my other bad axe which is in use the board max fsb is 434-441fsb so 9x440fsb = 3960mhz

on my Asus P5W DH max fsb is 450-460fsb so 9x450 = 4050mhz but P5W DH is full of messy insulation stuff from phase change which i haven't cleaned off yet so not suitable for running on air/water heh

my E6600 on water can do 4043mhz at 1.65v on P5W DH but hit my bad axe's individual fsb limits way before that and not to mention badaxe only has 1.55v real vcore max.

So basically regardless of cooling used on my current bad axe, my E6600 will hit board fsb limit way before hitting cpu limit heh

How about lower vcore and see how it does ? my E6600 B1 cpu has a default vcore of 1.275v bios (1.25v). I set vcore in bios at 1.3v (1.265-1.277v bios) and clocked E6600 to an easy 3406Mhz (9x378fsb) for dual stressprime 'orthos' testing with Scythe Infinity heatsink and 2x TT 120x25mm 81cfm fans push-pull configured. On water my E6600 did 3550Mhz on around stock vcore 1.25v bios so thought 3406Mhz at 1.265-1.277v would be a nice start for air cooling

Only two changes were made to my system rig:

• I swapped from my 850W OCZ GameXStream (quad +12v rail 20amp/rail) psu to my 600W OCZ EvoStream modular (the first EvoStream psu in Australia)
• Removed one 320GB 7200.10 SATA hdd as i needed to use it for another purpose. So chanegd from 3x 320GB 7200.10 to 2x 320GB 7200.10 hdds



System:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 QPGE B1 Step 5 ES
• Scythe Infinity + 2x Thermaltake 120x25mm 81cfm push-pull
• Intel D975XBX Bad Axe rev304 1334 bios
• 128MB Gainward FX5200 PCI card
• 2x1GB Gskill PC6400PHU2 HZ Micron D9GMH 0629 batch
• 2x 320GB Seagate 7200.10 SATAII hdds
• Pioneer DVD-RW Burner
• 1.44MB FDD
• 600W OCZ EvoStream modular power supply

E6600 @3406Mhz at 1.265-1.277v​

Room temp: ~25.5-26.5C
Cooling used: Scythe Infinity + 2x Thermaltake 120x25mm 81cfm push-pull
Bios idle: 43-44C
Windows idle: 34C
Windows load: 52-55C
Rise above ambient delta = 28.5C-29.5C
Rise above windows idle delta = 18-21C

All temps still based on coretemp readings.

(click image for full screenie)

Dual Stressprime Orthos small FFTs load


.

Just amazing I must say for Scythe Infinity air cooling, E6600 @3505Mhz at 1.3125v bios (1.289v)

E6600 @3505Mhz at 1.289v​

Room temp: ~24.0-26.5C
Cooling used: Scythe Infinity + 2x Thermaltake 120x25mm 81cfm push-pull
Bios idle: 44C
Windows idle: 38C
Windows load: 54-57C
Rise above ambient delta = 28.5-33C
Rise above windows idle delta = 16-19C

All temps still based on coretemp readings.

(click image for full screenie)

Idle


Dual Stressprime Orthos small FFTs load