What am I missing here?

[BaldEagl]

Everyone talks about their CPU coolers and suggests brand X or Y for new builds, etc.  They also talk about how poor the stock Intel coolers are.

I built my new machine with the stock Intel cooler (E6750 2.66 Gig with a ported duct on the case) and my CPU idles under 30C (26-28) and runs under 40C (35-38) at load.

What am I missing?

I bring it up because I just saw another post mentioning how poor the Intel coolers are.

[Skuzzy]

Old news.  The stock Intel HSF is more than adequate for the Core 2 processors.  I have a 2Ghz Allendale overclocked to 3.2Ghz and it still runs under 40C with the stock cooler.

There a couple of nits about the stock Intel HSF's.  You are better off using a good quality thermal paste and the fan is noisier than some of the after market units.

[Tigger29]

I can vouch for that... I use an E6300 Conroe and stuck with the stock cooling.  Now I don't do any overclocking, but loaded down, my temps are much lower than what my old AMD was at idle...

[Max]

Question. I've never tried overclocking a CPU. What's the maximum safe temp setting range for an overclocked CPU?

[Getback]

Old news.  The stock Intel HSF is more than adequate for the Core 2 processors.  I have a 2Ghz Allendale overclocked to 3.2Ghz and it still runs under 40C with the stock cooler.

There a couple of nits about the stock Intel HSF's.  You are better off using a good quality thermal paste and the fan is noisier than some of the after market units.

My goodness Skuzzy, I would figure that thing would melt.
BTW any advantages in overclocking?

[BaldEagl]

Question. I've never tried overclocking a CPU. What's the maximum safe temp setting range for an overclocked CPU?

You can go to the Intel web-site and search for a document on thermal management for your family of CPU's.  I did one night on mine (E6750 Conroe) and IIRC safe operating temp was slightly over 70C (~72) and critical temp was 100C.

Normally the Intel chips throttle back the clock speed as temps go over the safe range, then start cutting voltages as they approach critical.  I'm not sure what effect overclocking would have on those processes, if any.

[Skuzzy]

My goodness Skuzzy, I would figure that thing would melt.
BTW any advantages in overclocking?

Better performance.  Typically it used to not be worth it so much.  Most overclocks were in the 10 to 15% range.  But when you can go from 2Ghz to 3.2Ghz without any negative impact on the CPU, it is a good thing.

It really depends on the motherboard and how the overclocking is done.  That little Allendale runs right at 40C under load.  It has a smaller cache, and no virtualization.  This translates to less transistors so it will run cooler (dissipate less power) than other members of the Core 2 family.

[HomeBoy]

I highly recommend getting an account at overclock.net and hang out there for a while.  Wealth of knowledge and a great bunch of guys.   I mildly overclocked my E6600 from its stock 2.4GHz to 3.1GHz and find MS FSX to run much smoother (by far the most demanding game I have).  My cpu temps out at around 37C.  I put active coolers on my NB and SB chips and heat is no issue at 30% OC.