Heat Problem...

As some of you may or may not know, I have recently built my gaming computer. It runs great and everything but it heats up very fast. I have a prescott 3.0 ghz 800fsb cpu, and that's known to get real hot. Right now I only have stock heatsink and fan, but I'm going to get a better one soon. But it the computer in general runs very hot. The bios pc health says my processor runs at about 52-54 C and the system as a whole is running at about 36-40C. Well I downloaded Everest home version and it says my cpu is running at 39C... that's a big difference! So what's going on here? And what temp monitoring programs do you suggest?

I got stock heatsink and fan on my cpu, 1 side 80mm intake fan, 1 back 120mm outtake fan, and 1 top 80mm out take fan. The side intake fan is blowing air on the cpu heatsink and fan, and the back outtake fan is on the side of the cpu blowing air out of the case. I'm thinking the back fan is blowing the hot air coming out of the cpu fan AND the cooler air coming in from the side intake fan OUT of the case... So I did a test, if I switched the back outtake fan to make it an intake fan, the result is hotter cpu temps, cooler system temps... I'm thinking once I get my new heatsink and fan I should just leave the back fan as intake... What do you think?

Sorry about the long essay over such a simple matter, but these 2 questions are bugging me... Especially the top question...

Thanks in advance

Sorry to ask but.

how is the general airflow? Any cables in the way ?

well... I guess it's pretty cluttered. When I buy my new heatsink and fan I'm also planning on buying those round IDE cables...

Hi The Duck

If it was a "stock" heatsink and fan then it probably came with the standard "white gunk" thermal paste? You should use SILVER BASED compound, it is 20 time (2000%) more efficient than the standard product. Also, follow the instructions carefully.............you can put too much on as well as too little

Also, when you are in the store, get an exhaust fan. It takes up a mounting at the back like a PCI card. Costs about $7-$10 and will evacuate 40-60 cubic feet a minute. I put them in all the boxes I build ;)

I think that Everest underestimates.................this is a :

P4 2.26Ghz
1024Mb PC2700
2x 80Mb 7200rpm drives (RAID1)

Everest says that the system is 14C and the CPU 21C...........................but the room temperature is 24C and I would expect the processor to be +10 to +15C above that?

I have just used my laser guided spot meter and the system seems to be at 24C in reality.

:)

hi
i found too that in pc health usually shows few more degres hoter.
as i have asus motherboard they have a little utility which is called asus probe and i belive they are quiet accurate.
have a little look on this site which will give you good idea about fans and cooling and what are the best fans and so on
http://cpumag.com/Articles%5CPDFMaga...0804.PDF?guid=
mr.nihill is spot on with silver termal paste and before putting it on i clean the spot very good with alcohol.
have a look at this chart it will give you an idea about max temp.
http://www.gen-x-pc.com/cputemps.htm
i dont think your pc is running hot but then on the other hand we all want it to be lowerrrrrrrrrrrr:)
(have a termaltake case with 6 fans plus 1 monster on pc:)
hope you find this info useful
good luck

Is this the HP machine you brought up last time? Or a new one?

Check this out:

• Thermalright XP-90 Heatsink - One of the best Heatsink Manufactuers & good product
  $36.99
  
• Vantec 92mm Fan - Looks powerful/silent enough to do well & heat controls its RPMs
  $7.49

The only problem is that I'm not completely sure if that heat sink will fit on your motherboard. (Physically it is pretty big) But it is definately more than capable of keeping your machine cool with even slower fans. It is a heatsink that overclockers like for performance. So it is probably very overkill for your setup..., but checkout what Thermalright has to offer and you can't go wrong. (Don't get tricked into the Thermaltake brand, not as good as Thermalright but still decent) Cheers.

nihil, no i'm not using the white gunk you are talking about, I'm using something worse... the thermal pad that came witht he processor... lol

Tim Axe, no this isn't my HP this is my gaming rig I just built... Thanks for the product suggestions, I'll have to look into them.

So should I not trust everest??

On the subject of air-flow, it is important that what you blow in can get out ...............

That is, you should balance the in / out fans in number / size.

one 120mm HSF pulling air into the case requires one 120mm HSF to expel air ........

Quote:

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I got stock heatsink and fan on my cpu, 1 side 80mm intake fan, 1 back 120mm outtake fan, and 1 top 80mm out take fan. The side intake fan is blowing air on the cpu heatsink and fan, and the back outtake fan is on the side of the cpu blowing air out of the case. I'm thinking the back fan is blowing the hot air coming out of the cpu fan AND the cooler air coming in from the side intake fan OUT of the case...

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You seem to have one 80mm IN
with one 80mm + one 120mm OUT ??

this can lead to problems at the extreme edge, where air flow is vital, and with imbalance the air can 'stagnate'.

this won't help with the HOT CPU, but it will help in your additional fan requirements .....

Remember to pull cool air in from one side, and expel it on the other.

Hi The Duck

I never buy boxed packages. I buy an OEM processor and a decent heatsinkand fan, and use Artic or Antec silver compound.

Over the years I have tried several third party softwares that would report system temperatures, I have not found them particularly reliable, probably due to the constant changes in MoBos and sensors.

Everest just told me that the system temperature is 8C and the CPU is 30C. Room temperature is currently 22C, and my spot meter suggests that the system temperature is around 25C

Those figures are from the "overclock" section. If I go into the "sensor" section the temperatures jump around all over the place every few seconds like from 48C to 20C :eek:

I therefore do not trust Everest................it does not understand my sensors.

Your BIOS is likely to be more accurate because at least it was written for that specific MoBo and sensor array?

;)

Quote:

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You seem to have one 80mm IN
with one 80mm + one 120mm OUT ??

---

That is correct. I know it's a massive inbalance in fans and airflow. But my case came stock with 2 fans, one side intake fan and 1 top outtake fan. And on the back is room for one 120mm fan. My case doesn't have any spots for front fans, if it does then it would be extremely impossible to install them seeing as the drive bays are in the way...

Quote:

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I never buy boxed packages. I buy an OEM processor and a decent heatsinkand fan, and use Artic or Antec silver compound.

---

I wouldn't either, it was simply a matter of running out of money lol.



Tim axe, thanks for the suggestions, what do you think about this?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...633552&CatId=0