Topton Jasper Lake Quad i225V Mini PC Report

[pigr8]

How did you make it to run so cool? My Topton/cwwk unit runs much hotter.
Thanks.

my unit is cold too after fixing the gap on the cpu/gpu and applying decent paste, the cheapo nvme also cold at 38°

=== START OF SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

SMART/Health Information (NVMe Log 0x02)
Critical Warning:                   0x00
Temperature:                        38 Celsius
Available Spare:                    100%
Available Spare Threshold:          10%
Percentage Used:                    0%
Data Units Read:                    184,947 [94.6 GB]
Data Units Written:                 1,299,777 [665 GB]
Host Read Commands:                 4,707,656
Host Write Commands:                49,085,700
Controller Busy Time:               784
Power Cycles:                       120
Power On Hours:                     720
Unsafe Shutdowns:                   75
Media and Data Integrity Errors:    0
Error Information Log Entries:      0
Warning  Comp. Temperature Time:    0
Critical Comp. Temperature Time:    0

Error Information (NVMe Log 0x01, 16 of 64 entries)
No Errors Logged

 

[DomFel]

This is with the AC in away mode set at 29C (outside is 38C).

 

[amikids]

My VM pfSense still crash random when fulload traffic 5 line load balance to 1gbps.
I need an advise to solve it.
Thank you so much

 

[DomFel]

My VM pfSense still crash random when fulload traffic 5 line load balance to 1gbps.
I need an advise to solve it.

My pfSense VM is set with 4gb of ram, machine set as q35, all the NIC as PCI passtrough, virtual NIC set as VirtIO, SCSI set as VirtIO, BIOS as Default (SeaBIOS).
No problem whatsoever even at full load.
Make sure to install intel-microcode, linux edge kernels, and enable IOMMU for the PCI passtrough.

And disable auto configuration in the bios of the ACPI. Also enable C-states once you're there.

 

[Catalin]

I just applied the MX4 thermal paste as soon as I received it, both on the cpu and also between the copper pad and the aluminium case.
Externally the case is quite warm, but inside the sensors are showing a good temp so who cares. (it actually means the aluminium casing is effectively dissipating the heat)

Mine runs around 45 degrees Celsius and the case is quite warm. Should re-apply the thermal paste or just try to limit the power/current from BIOS?

 

[lastradapomegranate]

I have to say I'm a bit surprised at all the reports of people getting these things running stable with OPNsense. I've been through two, one KingNovy N5105 six port i225-V B3 and one Qotom Q770G4, which looks like it's a rebranded CWWK v4 N5105/I226-V chassis, and they keep locking up with no console/HDMI output and no crash dumps logged. Temps seem fine in the 45-60C range (NVMe drive reports 47-50C).

What are you guys doing to them to make them stable? I tried tweaking the BIOS as described several pages ago on the KingNovy and it helped with temps a bit, but it still crashed. For the Qotom I've just enabled C states and powerd in hiadaptive mode and not had to do any BIOS tweaks to keep temps good, but still crashes 1-2 times per day.

Specs: KingNovy N5105 6-port, then Qotom Q770G4 with G-Skill F4-3200C22D-16GRS 2x8GB DDR4-3200 and Samsung 980 250GB NVMe

 

[amikids]

My pfSense VM is set with 4gb of ram, machine set as q35, all the NIC as PCI passtrough, virtual NIC set as VirtIO, SCSI set as VirtIO, BIOS as Default (SeaBIOS).
No problem whatsoever even at full load.
Make sure to install intel-microcode, linux edge kernels, and enable IOMMU for the PCI passtrough.

And disable auto configuration in the bios of the ACPI. Also enable C-states once you're there.

May be I did something not correct and pfsense cannot see the I226 passthrough

 

[DomFel]

May be I did something not correct and pfsense cannot see the I226 passthrough

The problem is also the x2apic in the bios. Did you disable the auto ACPI in the bios? If not, please do it. Did you enable the C-states?
Just restore the bios defaults and make those two modifications, that's it. I do not recall changing anything else related to VT-d.

Also, reinstall pfsense from scratch like remove completely the VM, and assign the PCI NICs before starting it for the first time.
Also under the pve-network make sure the NICs are set to Active=NO and autostart=NO, except the one (usually the first) that you use for managing Proxmox.

Note 1: in your pve screenshot I can see that next to the PCI device descriptor it says rombar=0. While I have the 'rombar' selected for every NIC, it doesn't specify rombar=0 in the hardware page. Are you using the latest version of Proxmox? Are you using the edge kernels?

Note 2: If using virtual bridges as NIC, set the multiqueue parameter for each one of them matching the number of CPU cores. Explanation HERE.

 

[plenary_petty]

Does anyone know how to install a fan for the V3/V4? I bought a Noctua 5V 4pin NF-A4x10 but the fan header on the motherboard doesn't fit the fan connector (both are 4pin). I'm using the usb adaptor in the meantime while looking for a solution.

 

[Vollans]

I fitted mine to the SATA power connection via a crimped on wire.

 

[amikids]

The problem is also the x2apic in the bios. Did you disable the auto ACPI in the bios? If not, please do it. Did you enable the C-states?
Just restore the bios defaults and make those two modifications, that's it. I do not recall changing anything else related to VT-d.

Also, reinstall pfsense from scratch like remove completely the VM, and assign the PCI NICs before starting it for the first time.
Also under the pve-network make sure the NICs are set to Active=NO and autostart=NO, except the one (usually the first) that you use for managing Proxmox.

Note 1: in your pve screenshot I can see that next to the PCI device descriptor it says rombar=0. While I have the 'rombar' selected for every NIC, it doesn't specify rombar=0 in the hardware page. Are you using the latest version of Proxmox? Are you using the edge kernels?

Note 2: If using virtual bridges as NIC, set the multiqueue parameter for each one of them matching the number of CPU cores. Explanation HERE.

Thank you for your clarify about Multiqueue option, I supposed unstable of VM pfSense due to I were set more VirtIO than cpu cores.
I will update the test result with 4 VirtIO later.
Setting in Bios in picture here




But after reinstall Proxmox also edge kernels 5.19 but still can not passthrough I226 to pfsense

 

[DomFel]

I will update the test result with 4 VirtIO later.

Please run pciconf -lbcevV and post the output.
Also have a look at these 2 links: HERE and HERE
Did you use SeaBIOS or UEFI? I used SeaBIOS and it works just fine. Try also upgrading pfSense (2.6.0) to pfSense Plus (22.01) then to the latest 22.05. Or just download the latest snapshot of 2.7.0 and try again. I believe with 2.7 you won't have issues.

Also in pfSense->Advanced->Networking, please select: Disable hardware checksum offload, Disable hardware TCP segmentation offload, Disable hardware large receive offload, Enable the ALTQ support for hn NICs.

Disable also the Flow Control of the NICs in Tunables:

net.link.bridge.pfil_member	Packet filter on the member interface	0
dev.igc.0.fc	Disable Flow Control	0
dev.igc.1.fc	Disable Flow Control	0
dev.igc.2.fc	Disable Flow Control	0

etc..

 

[amikids]

Please run pciconf -lbcevV and post the output.
Also have a look at these 2 links: HERE and HERE
Did you use SeaBIOS or UEFI? I used SeaBIOS and it works just fine. Try also upgrading pfSense (2.6.0) to pfSense Plus (22.01) then to the latest 22.05. Or just download the latest snapshot of 2.7.0 and try again. I believe with 2.7 you won't have issues.

Also in pfSense->Advanced->Networking, please select: Disable hardware checksum offload, Disable hardware TCP segmentation offload, Disable hardware large receive offload, Enable the ALTQ support for hn NICs.

Disable also the Flow Control of the NICs in Tunables:

net.link.bridge.pfil_member	Packet filter on the member interface	0
dev.igc.0.fc	Disable Flow Control	0
dev.igc.1.fc	Disable Flow Control	0
dev.igc.2.fc	Disable Flow Control	0

etc..

I just try 2.7 Delve but not yet had driver for I226, VM set is SeaBios/ q35

Please run pciconf -lbcevV and post the output.

Here is the out put

[2.7.0-DEVELOPMENT][admin@pfSense.home.arpa]/root: pciconf -lbcevV
hostb0@pci0:0:0:0:      class=0x060000 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x29c08086 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = HOST-PCI
vgapci0@pci0:0:1:0:     class=0x030000 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x11111234 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
    class      = display
    subclass   = VGA
    bar   [10] = type Prefetchable Memory, range 32, base 0xfb000000, size 16777216, enabled
    bar   [18] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfea14000, size 4096, enabled
uhci0@pci0:0:26:0:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x29378086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
    bar   [20] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x5040, size 32, enabled
uhci1@pci0:0:26:1:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x29388086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
    bar   [20] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x5060, size 32, enabled
uhci2@pci0:0:26:2:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x29398086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
    bar   [20] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x5080, size 32, enabled
ehci0@pci0:0:26:7:      class=0x0c0320 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x293c8086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfea15000, size 4096, enabled
hdac0@pci0:0:27:0:      class=0x040300 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x293e8086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller'
    class      = multimedia
    subclass   = HDA
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfea10000, size 16384, enabled
    cap 05[60] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit enabled with 1 message
pcib1@pci0:0:28:0:      class=0x060400 card=0x00001b36 chip=0x000c1b36 rev=0x00 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'QEMU PCIe Root port'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfea16000, size 4096, enabled
    cap 10[54] = PCI-Express 2 root port max data 128(128) ARI disabled
                 max read 128
                 link x32(x32) speed 16.0(16.0) ASPM disabled(L0s)
                 slot 0 power limit 0 mW HotPlug(empty) surprise Attn Button PC(off) EI(disengaged)
    cap 11[48] = MSI-X supports 1 message
                 Table in map 0x10[0x0], PBA in map 0x10[0x800]
    cap 0d[40] = PCI Bridge card=0x00001b36
    ecap 0001[100] = AER 2 0 fatal 0 non-fatal 0 corrected
    ecap 000d[148] = ACS 1
pcib2@pci0:0:28:1:      class=0x060400 card=0x00001b36 chip=0x000c1b36 rev=0x00 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'QEMU PCIe Root port'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfea17000, size 4096, enabled
    cap 10[54] = PCI-Express 2 root port max data 128(128) ARI disabled
                 max read 128
                 link x32(x32) speed 16.0(16.0) ASPM disabled(L0s)
                 slot 0 power limit 0 mW HotPlug(empty) surprise Attn Button PC(off) EI(disengaged)
    cap 11[48] = MSI-X supports 1 message
                 Table in map 0x10[0x0], PBA in map 0x10[0x800]
    cap 0d[40] = PCI Bridge card=0x00001b36
    ecap 0001[100] = AER 2 0 fatal 0 non-fatal 0 corrected
    ecap 000d[148] = ACS 1
pcib3@pci0:0:28:2:      class=0x060400 card=0x00001b36 chip=0x000c1b36 rev=0x00 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'QEMU PCIe Root port'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfea18000, size 4096, enabled
    cap 10[54] = PCI-Express 2 root port max data 128(128) ARI disabled
                 max read 128
                 link x32(x32) speed 16.0(16.0) ASPM disabled(L0s)
                 slot 0 power limit 0 mW HotPlug(empty) surprise Attn Button PC(off) EI(disengaged)
    cap 11[48] = MSI-X supports 1 message
                 Table in map 0x10[0x0], PBA in map 0x10[0x800]
    cap 0d[40] = PCI Bridge card=0x00001b36
    ecap 0001[100] = AER 2 0 fatal 0 non-fatal 0 corrected
    ecap 000d[148] = ACS 1
pcib4@pci0:0:28:3:      class=0x060400 card=0x00001b36 chip=0x000c1b36 rev=0x00 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'QEMU PCIe Root port'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfea19000, size 4096, enabled
    cap 10[54] = PCI-Express 2 root port max data 128(128) ARI disabled
                 max read 128
                 link x32(x32) speed 16.0(16.0) ASPM disabled(L0s)
                 slot 0 power limit 0 mW HotPlug(empty) surprise Attn Button PC(off) EI(disengaged)
    cap 11[48] = MSI-X supports 1 message
                 Table in map 0x10[0x0], PBA in map 0x10[0x800]
    cap 0d[40] = PCI Bridge card=0x00001b36
    ecap 0001[100] = AER 2 0 fatal 0 non-fatal 0 corrected
    ecap 000d[148] = ACS 1
uhci3@pci0:0:29:0:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x29348086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
    bar   [20] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x50a0, size 32, enabled
uhci4@pci0:0:29:1:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x29358086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
    bar   [20] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x50c0, size 32, enabled
uhci5@pci0:0:29:2:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x29368086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
    bar   [20] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x50e0, size 32, enabled
ehci1@pci0:0:29:7:      class=0x0c0320 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x293a8086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfea1a000, size 4096, enabled
pcib5@pci0:0:30:0:      class=0x060401 card=0x00000000 chip=0x244e8086 rev=0x92 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801 PCI Bridge'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
    cap 0d[50] = PCI Bridge card=0x00000000
isab0@pci0:0:31:0:      class=0x060100 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x29188086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801IB (ICH9) LPC Interface Controller'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-ISA
ahci0@pci0:0:31:2:      class=0x010601 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x29228086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801IR/IO/IH (ICH9R/DO/DH) 6 port SATA Controller [AHCI mode]'
    class      = mass storage
    subclass   = SATA
    bar   [20] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x5100, size 32, enabled
    bar   [24] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfea1b000, size 4096, enabled
    cap 05[80] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit enabled with 1 message
    cap 12[a8] = SATA Index-Data Pair
none0@pci0:0:31:3:      class=0x0c0500 card=0x11001af4 chip=0x29308086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = SMBus
    bar   [20] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x700, size 64, enabled
pcib6@pci0:5:1:0:       class=0x060400 card=0x00000000 chip=0x00011b36 rev=0x00 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'QEMU PCI-PCI bridge'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 64, base 0xfe000000, size 256, enabled
    cap 05[4c] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
    cap 04[48] = unknown
    cap 0c[40] = unknown
pcib7@pci0:5:2:0:       class=0x060400 card=0x00000000 chip=0x00011b36 rev=0x00 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'QEMU PCI-PCI bridge'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 64, base 0xfe001000, size 256, enabled
    cap 05[4c] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
    cap 04[48] = unknown
    cap 0c[40] = unknown
pcib8@pci0:5:3:0:       class=0x060400 card=0x00000000 chip=0x00011b36 rev=0x00 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'QEMU PCI-PCI bridge'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 64, base 0xfe002000, size 256, enabled
    cap 05[4c] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
    cap 04[48] = unknown
    cap 0c[40] = unknown
pcib9@pci0:5:4:0:       class=0x060400 card=0x00000000 chip=0x00011b36 rev=0x00 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'QEMU PCI-PCI bridge'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 64, base 0xfe003000, size 256, enabled
    cap 05[4c] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
    cap 04[48] = unknown
    cap 0c[40] = unknown
virtio_pci0@pci0:6:5:0: class=0x010000 card=0x00081af4 chip=0x10041af4 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'Virtio SCSI'
    class      = mass storage
    subclass   = SCSI
    bar   [10] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x4000, size 64, enabled
    bar   [14] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfdf44000, size 4096, enabled
    bar   [20] = type Prefetchable Memory, range 64, base 0xfc600000, size 16384, enabled
    cap 11[98] = MSI-X supports 7 messages, enabled
                 Table in map 0x14[0x0], PBA in map 0x14[0x800]
    cap 09[84] = vendor (length 20)
    cap 09[70] = vendor (length 20)
    cap 09[60] = vendor (length 16)
    cap 09[50] = vendor (length 16)
    cap 09[40] = vendor (length 16)
none1@pci0:6:16:0:      class=0x020000 card=0x00008086 chip=0x125c8086 rev=0x04 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet
    bar   [10] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfde00000, size 1048576, enabled
    bar   [1c] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfdf40000, size 16384, enabled
    cap 01[40] = powerspec 3  supports D0 D3  current D0
    cap 05[50] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit, vector masks
    cap 11[70] = MSI-X supports 5 messages
                 Table in map 0x1c[0x0], PBA in map 0x1c[0x2000]
virtio_pci1@pci0:6:18:0:        class=0x020000 card=0x00011af4 chip=0x10001af4 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'Virtio network device'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet
    bar   [10] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x4040, size 32, enabled
    bar   [14] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfdf45000, size 4096, enabled
    bar   [20] = type Prefetchable Memory, range 64, base 0xfc604000, size 16384, enabled
    cap 11[98] = MSI-X supports 4 messages, enabled
                 Table in map 0x14[0x0], PBA in map 0x14[0x800]
    cap 09[84] = vendor (length 20)
    cap 09[70] = vendor (length 20)
    cap 09[60] = vendor (length 16)
    cap 09[50] = vendor (length 16)
    cap 09[40] = vendor (length 16)
virtio_pci2@pci0:6:19:0:        class=0x020000 card=0x00011af4 chip=0x10001af4 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Red Hat, Inc.'
    device     = 'Virtio network device'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet
    bar   [10] = type I/O Port, range 32, base 0x4060, size 32, enabled
    bar   [14] = type Memory, range 32, base 0xfdf00000, size 4096, enabled
    bar   [20] = type Prefetchable Memory, range 64, base 0, size 16384, enabled
    cap 11[98] = MSI-X supports 4 messages, enabled
                 Table in map 0x14[0x0], PBA in map 0x14[0x800]
    cap 09[84] = vendor (length 20)
    cap 09[70] = vendor (length 20)
    cap 09[60] = vendor (length 16)
    cap 09[50] = vendor (length 16)
    cap 09[40] = vendor (length 16)
[2.7.0-DEVELOPMENT][admin@pfSense.home.arpa]/root:

 

[DomFel]

I just try 2.7 Delve but not yet had driver for I226, VM set is SeaBios/ q35

Please post a screenshot of your pve-System-Network.

 

[amikids]

Please post a screenshot of your pve-System-Network.

FYI

 

[DomFel]

You are using a mix of VirtIO and PCI. Try to go full PCI, remove any VirtIO that you have from pfsense-hardware AND the pve-Network (unless the virtual bridges between VMs).
I never tried mixing them, but I don't think it's a good idea (it's like using different drivers: the hardware controller-in this case the pve kernel- could go crazy).

 

[amikids]

You are using a mix of VirtIO and PCI. Try to go full PCI, remove any VirtIO that you have from pfsense-hardware AND the pve-Network (unless the virtual bridges between VMs).
I never tried mixing them, but I don't think it's a good idea (it's like using different drivers: the hardware controller-in this case the pve kernel- could go crazy).

I tried Plus 22.05 they got drives full for I226.


Do we add more mac adress to WAN port (PPPoE connection) look like macVlan in openwrt ?

 

[dazagrt]

I use virtIO only for bridges between VM, the real NIC are all with PCI passthrough. You need to enable IOMMU and PT first in your /etc/default/grub, just add intel_iommu=on iommu=pt after quiet and reboot the pve.
After that, remove your VirtIO NIC from pfSense and add the NICs again as PCI device.

When you do that, are you getting the PCIe IDs showing up for the i226 NICs?
I've just noticed in Proxmox that the IDs aren't there with my V4 despite me doing all the normal stuff with Grub.

 

[TH_user]

My initial SSD was DOA. I RMAd it and ordered a Samsung 980. But while I wait I thought I would address thermals.

I removed all the CPU thermal paste from the CPU and both sides of the copper block. I am replacing with Kryonaut Thermal Grizzly.

I re-pasted the copper block to the heat sink. I repasted the side of the copper adjacent to the CPU. I also pasted two blocks on the CPU that make contact.

I ran Hardware Monitor in the BIOS for an hour or so. Temps started at low 30s and crept up to System at 56C and CPU at 50C.
My environment is not air conditioned. Probably high 20s in the afternoon when I was testing.. The CPU consistently lagged the System temp by about 6C.

I thought this was high and am looking for a lower temp. I am questioning if I used too much paste or there is a gap that needs to brought together.

I cleared all the paste from the copper block and CPU. I reassembled. Attached is the gap I see but it does not appear to much more than the height of the heat sinks on the CPU.

I ran a test of the system/CPU temps with no thermal paste and the CPU hit 88 in less than a minute.

Just looking for some advice. Is the gap ok? Recheck the paste job. Or is it a non AC environment and a fan should be considered.

I'll run a better monitor suite when my new SSD comes in and I can get an OS on it.

 

[dums]

Just looking for some advice. Is the gap ok? Recheck the paste job. Or is it a non AC environment and a fan should be considered.
I'll run a better monitor suite when my new SSD comes in and I can get an OS on it.

It is hard to tell as your photo is a bit blurry. When I was repasting my system, I've checked with alum block removed (it would normally block the light) and CPU facing copper block side still unpasted. Looking AGAINST the light there were no light shining through the gap, so CPU was flush with copper block (with no extra effort from my side).
While idling CPU on my system shows +10-12 C from room ambient. But even at 50C CPU should be fine as it is rated to go up to 105C.