This was something i posted over at HardForums a while back.  It was a problem with getting the temperatures down on a new build.  The build included a Silverstone Sg03 Case, Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R motherboard, Zalman CNPS8700 LED HSF, and an Intel Q6600 processor.  The problem with the build was the case was a small form factor case with a small motherboard and a blazing fast (but hot) processor.   The way the case is setup is the power supply sits directly over the CPU and Heatsink and Fan.  The Sg03 is great because you can put the latest processor, full ATX PSU, and full length video cards in it.  The downside is it’s all packed in such a small area and the temperature are bound to get hot.  To make matters worse, there is very little ventilation in the back side of the case.
Sg03 + GA-G33M-DS2R + Q6600 = too hot?
(i have a similar post in Overclocking and Cooling but i thought SFF group might have more experience with this type of setup)I have a GA-G33M-DS2R and Q6600 in a Sg03 case, my cooler is a CNPS8700 LED and my temps are really high idle and at load. At first i thought the high temps were because i had applied the Arctic Silver 5 incorrectly ( i spread out the paste on the entire cooler instead of the single line of paste in the middle like Arctic Silver suggests.) I also tried moving the case fan to blow more directly on the CPU (stock configuration has the case fan in the middle) Temps didn’t really change much.

Here are my temps with no overclocking.

SpeedFan 4.32
Idle: 37C, 35C, 33C, 33C
Load (after 20min of Orthos): 76C, 75C, 75C, 75C


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CoreTemp 0.95
Idle 52C, 50C, 48C, 47C
load (after 20min Orthos): 91C, 90C, 90C, 90C

TJunction on this CPU is 100C

The next step i’ve found to reduce my temps would be to remove the CPU retention clip so there will be better contact between the heatsink and CPU. i might try lapping as well.

here is the clip i’m talking about and an example of someone that did it::

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=229063

To solve the problem i tried a few things.  First, i went with the CNPS8700 LED over the stock heatsink which  brought the temps down a couple degrees. My q6600 has the old stepping so it ran a little hotter. Both heatsinks worked fine, i initially bought the CNPS8700 LED because i thought the stock heatsink wouldn’t fit. The CNPS8700 LED dropped the temps by a few degrees so depending if that decrease in temperature is worth it to you, you may just want to go with the stock HSF. If i was building the computer again i would have saved the money on the Zalman CNPS8700 LED.
I ended up not touching the cpu retention clip because it didnt seem like it was causing the problem. The high temps were because i didnt apply the thermal grease optimally. If you have arctic silver 5, check the website for the proper way to apply the grease. You can see it here.
Another thing that really helped the temps was putting a slot cooler in the top slot above the power supply. i put mine in with a fan regulator to keep the noise down. When the case is upright, the cpu is close to that area, and since heat rises, the slot cooler does a good job exhausting heat from the case.
The final temps using CoreTemp V.95 were:

Idle:
42 degrees to TJunction remaining
44 degrees to TJunction remaining
46 degrees to TJunction remaining
48 degrees to TJunction remaining

Full Load:
26 degrees to TJunction remaining
27 degrees to TJunction remaining
28 degrees to TJunction remaining
28 degrees to TJunction remaining

The build also had two 120mm scythe fans up front and the fan controlled slot cooler in the top rear like i mentioned earlier. As you can see the temps run sorta high but not too high. The system is 100% stable. I did not do any overclocking and the system is extremely quiet. I also had tried flipping the PSU so its fan can help exhaust the CNPS8700 LED but it really didn’t make a difference. Overall i was happy with the build and would pick the same parts again.