Phenom II 940 at 3Ghz on stock cooler
ASRock A780GXE
4 GB Gskill 1066 DDR2
EVGA 9800GT 512mb
500GB WD SATA
250GB WD SATA
540watt PSU
1x 120mm exhaust fan at rear of case
2x 80mm case fan
Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound
AMD Cool N' Quiet bios option disabled
I've tried a variety of options, and so far the best temperatures I'm getting is 38C idle and 53C under 100% load with Everest stability test running for 12 minutes. The worst arrangement (placement of fans, etc) was 43C idle and 57C under load (which would have gone higher I'm sure but I shut it off). AMD says max temp for this chip is 62C. Core and CPU temperatures are almost identical, with an occasional 1-2C difference. The heatsink/fan is properly seated and I've used the right amount of thermal compound (about the size of 3 BBs in the center of the chip. Removing the heatsink reveals an even, thin layer across).
My best temperatures were achieved by removing the plastic funnel intake to my case that sits directly above the CPU fan and replacing that with a case fan that will intake air directly onto the CPU heatsink/fan. To me, 53C under full load is warmer than I should be, even for stock cooling. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I did notice something running everest, in that the CPU fan is fluctuating while under load from 1000RPM-3,000RPM, back and forth. Why it would slow to 1k is beyond me, and I wonder if this has to do with high load temps. Any advice or suggestions greatly appreciated. I've got a Zalman on its way from newegg.