I have a Dell Inspiron 530, which I modded to run the X5460. It really opened-up the computer's performance. I also threw a Quadro 2000 in there. The goal is to use this machine to render video, edit photos, and try my hand at some 3D modeling. I'm also sure I will also do some casual gaming.
When I installed the CPU, I threw on a stock Intel CPU cooler that looks better than the Dell one. It's low profile, but has a copper core. It ran pretty hot, just idling. You start doing really basic stuff, not even capturing video and it starts screeming like a banshee. I hated doing this, but I took the Intel CPU cooler off and re-installed the Dell CPU cooler. I used Arctic Silver 5 on the processor. Now, it runs marginally-cooler, but it still basically does the same thing. I tempted to think that a large part of the cooling benefit I got is from the Arctic Silver.
Does the Xeon just run hotter? What CPU cooler would you recommend? Does HW Monitor do anything to make the processor run hotter?
That's not a low TDP processor I know you have already switched coolers twice but it may be worth it to remount and make sure it is on right. At 120 watts TDP you may just need to deal with the noise or get a better cooler though if memory serves dell likes to use mounting systems that don't exist. Also define hot that processor can deal with temps up to 63c so if its running full load at 58-60 or something you are fine!
I will test at load and see what happens. I know that chip has a higher TDP than it's Skt 775 cousins, but it's been runnin in the 50's on occasion and withoout much of a load. I know Dell uses some interesting cooling configurations. LOL. I also hate Intel's stupid push-pin mounting system. I fought for a long time to make that damn thing work. I did check the Intel cooler and it was securely-mounted to the processor. When I put the Dell cooler back on I made sure it was secure. I'm certain there is not an issue with the cooler's mounting, other than it being a pain to change coolers. I'm going to limp along for a while and buy a heatpipe or even an AIO water cooler, if one can be found that mounts on Skt 775 and has a 92mm radiator.
I've never heard of an aio with a 92mm rad but there are lots of heat pipe cooler that assuming you have standard mounting that will work for example a evo 212 would fit
I recently installed an EVO 212 in a rig I built for a friend. It is very high-profile and it just barely fit inside the case. I really didn't like that case, BTW. That's another story. If something lower-profile will work, I'd be really happy. Something like the Thermaltake CLP0534 SlimX3 would be good, but I'm afraid that might not have a high enough cooling capacity.
I would look at dual fan coolers or a liquid cooler myself. Quite literally you can start a fire with a xeon. They do run hotter and they really are a pain.
because you don't have 120mm mount point and want low profile you are limiting your options, there are not many coolers that can handle 120 watt TDP that are low profile. The Thermaltake CLP0534 SlimX3 is only rated for 75 watt TDP which is a good ways off. Something like a http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-cpu-cooler-cnps9500aled might work, though they are a pain to install. Otherwise you are getting into 65$+ coolers for a old xeon which is bad.
I'm looking at a few heatpipes that are relatively low-profile. They're on e-bay, and I have asked the sellers if they think the coolers are capable of cooling the Xeon. I hope these will work because they aren't to big for me to have to worry about clearance and they aren't thaaaaaat expensive.
AIO is a great idea, but I would have to build my own system. I've seen individual radiators that are 90mm, but not not in a kit. I guess if I assemble my own water-cooling solution, it's not really AIO anymore, is it?
Chenbro Side Flow Heatpipe Embedded Socket 775 3U Active Cooler 66H080000 046 | eBay
I did use the Xeon a few nights ago to capture some footage off my DV camcorder and never used more than 35% of the CPU resources, but it did get pretty noisy. I think it was in the 50's, but no fires. The bad thing is when it gets hot, it stays hot. My AMD FX 6300 gets to 51 degrees if I push it, but as soon as a take the load off, it cools right down. At idle, that thing runs pretty cool.
One problem I'm having myght be the CPU's power. It's not throttling down when I am not using its resources. a lot of modern processors throttle down to a slower speen, even below the 2GHz mark to cut temp and power consumption. This processor seems to not be doign that. In HW Monitor, it's running at 3158MHz constantly, regardless of load. Is there a way to make this processor dynamically clock itself?
In the bios depending on the motherboard there is a power option to lower power based on usage. That will help it behave better. As for the coolers the heatpipe coolers for servers should be fine but may be loud.
I have not found anything in the BIOS to control the processor's speen or energy consumption. I did however find power settings in Windows 7 to set the processor's maximum state to 60%. I am pretty sure 60% of an X5460 is still powerful enough. Now, I just have to run the system for a while and see how well this bad boy runs.
It's still running in the 40's and the low 50's, but if it doesn't exceed that, I guess it's OK. I'd still like it a little cooler. HW Monitor still shows it running at 3.16GHz, but the temps are a little more stable and it's a lot less noisy!
I would like to power it back to full-throttle, but finding a cooling solution that fits in the case and doesn't have clearance issues with the case or the memory is going to be a trick.
Is that fan Intel compatible? Will it work on a processor with a 120W TDP? It's not a bad price, so if the answers are "yes", it's totally worth getting!
