Best Intel 775 heatsink for an Intel Core 2 Duo E6800?

I just picked up a budget upgrade for my PC—swapped out my Pentium E5300 for an Intel Core 2 Duo E6800. It’s pretty much the top dog in its series, yet it pulls about the same amount of power.

Since it looked like they used the same cooling setup, I figured I’d just pop the new chip under the existing cooler, but now my temps are through the roof. I'm seeing an Idle 60 C, which jumps up to 90C under load. Considering Intel recommends staying under 75C, that's a bit concerning.

Did I mess something up during the install, or does the Intel Core 2 Duo E6800 actually require a different heatsink? I'm not doing any overclocking or anything fancy—I just want the thing to run reliably.

It’s the exact same Intel 775 heatsink; maybe you didn't get it seated quite right. Did you happen to clean off the old thermal paste and apply some fresh stuff?

I think I got it mounted correctly (hopefully)—plus, I gave the heatsink a good cleaning. I might have gone a little overboard with the thermal paste, though. I’m going to give it another shot. If the issue persists with this same heatsink, then it’s definitely on me.

Since they share the same socket, you're looking at the same heatsink—so no need to stress there. Just drop a tiny grain of rice right in the center of the CPU and press the heatsink down. Of course, make sure you've wiped both the processor and the heatsink down with some isopropyl alcohol first, since it evaporates much faster than water. To be absolutely sure everything is seated properly, take a peek at the back of the motherboard to check if those four plastic clips are fully extended. If they are, you're good to go..

I gave it another shot yesterday, and honestly, the heatsink seated much better this time. I swear, Intel's mounting mechanism is spectacularly clunky and just plain imprecise. I also ended up using a bit less thermal paste than before.

Idle at 40°C, YouTube at 60°C, and hitting a max of 98°C during a Prime95 full load test.
It still feels a little too high to me.

Grab some Links LC Power LC-CC-120 for $50 and you won't have any issues with temps.