Upgrade from a ninja?

NeoNSX · Post by **NeoNSX** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:40 pm

I owned a classic setup: P180 case, E6600, P5W-DH Mainboard and a Ninja Rev.B heatsink...

...then i upgraded to a Q6600.

Now my temperatures a little higher than I like, I'm contemplating upgrading the Ninja to a Ultra 120 Extreme.

Do you people think this worth the time/money? Honest opinions welcome.

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 1:08 am

Before you do that, you could try using Thermalright's bolt-thru kit with the Ninja - as detailed here (lots of big pics, not dial-up friendly). It looks a bit fiddly, but if it works it'll save you the cost of a new Ultra-120/X. There's also Scythe's own universal retention kit, but that seems to attract mixed opinions as to its effectiveness.

I'm sure the Ninja is perfectly capable of cooling a Q6600, but its abilities are compromised by the pushpin mounting (which Scythe obstinately refuse to acknowledge as being a problem, even in the face of overwhelming evidence).

What temperatures are you seeing BTW? Is it a B3 or a G0 stepping? Presumably you weren't expecting it to run as cool as an E6600 anyway...

/edit: slightly OT - out of interest, would you say the Q6600 has genuinely been a worthwhile upgrade over the identically-clocked E6600 (ignoring the heat issue for the moment)?

panda-R · Post by **panda-R** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 5:51 am

you should lap the ninja and the heatspreader of the cpu if u can, might help a bunch.

Lensman · Post by **Lensman** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:41 pm

What are your temps and what rev Q6600 did you get? I've resigned myself to running my overclocked Q6600 at 65C under load.

NeoNSX · Post by **NeoNSX** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 12:44 am

Thanx for the replies...

I have a rev. B3 unfortunately.

But it overclocks to 3GHz which is as far as I would push it (i'm currently not o/c'ing...stay calm peoples

)

My current temps are ~50c idle and ~68-72c under load. But I was so keen to try out quad processing I think i need to reapply AS5.

As for lapping the Ninja.... hmm... i dunno. Do you have a guide for that? I'm not really keen because the ninja is an otherwise BEAUTIFUL HS, and i'd hate to screw it up. But the ninja is old. A review I saw showed the Ultra 120-Ex give substantially lower temps under load... (hence this post)

As for upgrading from an E6600 to a Q6600? Honestly, it's not worth it. But since I do video editing... it's absolutely worth it. The Q6600 is a fantastic e-penis enlarger though; intel should have listed that on the box.

ntavlas · Post by **ntavlas** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:51 am

I wouldn`t expect dramatic improvements from lapping alone but it is easy to do and has no risk of damaging your cooler.
You need a flat surface, many use a mirror. You can use double sided tape to mount some thin sandpaper (>800) on it. After rubbing back and forth for a few seconds you will be able see some irregularities of the heatsink base. Continue rubbing until all of the surface has the same texture. Repeat on the heat spreader. Wet sandpaper can last longer and also make this process faster. Some people go as far as using polishing cream, but I have heard that some texture left can improve the adhesion of the thermal grease.