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Is my computer running to hot?

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davieboynj:

One important rule i've learned:

For the processor: Disable any of that smart fan BS.  That stuff is a guaranteed disater.  If you want quieter fans, buy better or bigger fans, don't slow down smaller ones.  If your fans are not made for it (and sometimes even if they are) you run the risk of blowing out the fan connection on your motherboard. 

I haven't found that systems will overheat by taking off panels, but i have found that hard drives will.  Cases are vented in places where they want incoming air flow.  Especially for mini systems it is important to keep the case covers on or have the HD in a place that it can "breathe". 

Your fan is retail from intel, which is generally a very good fan.  The size is most definitely adequate.  You may have poorly installed it (doubt it), but i wouldn't even take a look at it until you replcae your power supply.  My guess is replace the PS - all your problems go away. 

If the hottest spot on your case is your power supply, you have a serious problem.  If you bought a brand X computer - - very high chance you have a crap power supply.  I wouldn't run it hard again until you try a replacement.  Of all the parts i replace to fix a computer, 95% of them are power supplies. 

In answer to your question:  I replace in bulk, so i use rosewill - - I think they're great.  and cheap. 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182006

for a serious application where you REALLY don't want it frying your equipment you may want to step it up a bit.  This one appears to be very well reviewed:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023



Kremmit:

Your pictures show two big problems right off:

You've got cable spaghetti completely blocking all airflow from the front of the case.  Tidy up the cable routing with airflow in mind.

Your stock Intel heatsink is totally clogged with dust.  The fan can't cool the processor if the air can't get in between the fins on the heatsink.  A can of compressed air will blow that gunk out. 

To answer your questions:

What's the "right" temperature?  Hard to say on a P4- they will throttle themselves down if they get too hot, in an attempt to produce less heat.  So it's hard to actually get it too hot, as far as burning the processor is concerned.  But you obviously don't want it to get hot enough to slow itself down, either.  Unfortunately, the magic temperature that throttling kicks in at seems to be different for different individual processors.  I'd want to get it at least under 60 even during heavy use, and cooler is obviously better.

Your heatsink fan is attached correctly.  Intel ships those stock coolers exactly the way it looks in your photo.  There's a lot of debate about whether they ought to blow into or out of the heatsink, but every stock cooler and most aftermarket ones I've ever had were installed so it blew in.  I've seen tests online that showed no difference either way.  A better question is:  Was the heatsink mounted well?  If the thermal interface material got botched when the processor was mounted, that can keep heat from being properly transferred from the chip into the heatsink.

Most power supplies are standard, but not all.  I can't see yours in those pics.  If your computer uses an ATX power supply, it's standard.  But SFX power supplies are out there too, as well as some more exotic proprietary designs.  Is this a name brand computer, or one put together by a local shop or "some guy"?  Generallyl, you find the oddballs in name brand machines.  A pic would nail it down, or even just measurements of the size of the PSU.

Here's one of Seasonic's most efficient 400w units, for $99.00 - Here.
Here's a less efficient model at $76.00:  Here.
Here's a 350w for $57: Here.

But, Hey!  I just found a killer deal at Newegg on this Antec 400w unit, $54.99 now, but only $24.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103935
There's a review on it's 450watt brother here:  http://www.silentpcreview.com/article260-page1.html

The Ultra-120 is just one heatsink, although it can be ordered with different mounting brackets to fit different CPU sockets.  It is top of the line, and the price reflects that, it's $46  if you order it here.  If you want to go cheaper, the Ultra-90 is only $25 and ought to be perfectly adequate.  Either one ought to fit your motherboard, although of course I can't guarantee it.  But they're designed to have a very small base so as not to conflict with any motherboard components.

The store linked above has fans and thermal paste as well.  I use the Actic Silver 5, and the Nexus and Scythe fans are very good and very quiet.  It's not really hard to apply the thermal paste, and you'll get a tube with enough to do it about a zillion times, so if you think you've screwed it up, just wipe it off and do it again.  Basically, the idea is to spread the thinnest smooth, even layer you can manage. 

If I were you, I'd start by cleaning up that cable mess and blowing all the dust out of the heatsink.  Next, I'd try removing the heatsink, cleaning it and the processor base off with Isopropyl alcohol, and then re-attaching it with some Arctic Silver- if you've got a good PC shop in town, they may carry it.  Next step would be the PSU, since you say that's where the case is so hot, and because the rebate ends Jan. 15.  I'd replace the heatsink last, because truthfully, in a properly ventilated, non-overclocked system, a stock cooler is adequate. 

You might also post a pic of where your side fan is mounted.  That may shed some light on any airflow issues- ie, is the air from that fan going where it needs to, and is everything in the case getting adequate airflow?  Also a pic of the PSU to verify it's ATX.

HaRuMaN:

Personally, I would recommend upgrading to a CPU cooler like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118118

I'm running a 2.2 Ghz Athlon 64 3200+ overclocked to about 2.6 Ghz.  I also have a 400 Watt PSU.  Normal operating temp (while overclocked) is 36 degrees C.  While stress testing the CPU, the temp only rises to 39 degrees C.

If you do upgrade your CPU cooler, make sure you clean off the top of the CPU with 97% or higher Isopropyl Alcohol.  Also, use a good quality thermal paste and follow the instructions on how much to use and how to apply.

unclet:

Thanks for the replys.  Yes, the computer was pieced together by "some guy"  .... I think this was my lesson to be learned.

1) Can I use compressed canned air to blow the dust out of the heatsink while the heatsink is still attached?   I would rather do this than take it off just yet.

2) I attached a picture showing the front of my computer.  Notice there is no place for a fan mount on the front panel.  That grate looking thing on the front is just decorative.  If you look at the other pictures of the computer I posted earlier (with the side panel off) you will be able to see that the harddrive bays are right behind this grate.

3) I attached a picture showing the power supply.  The PSU is an EnerMax Whisper 350Watt.  If you click on the picture you can open it for viewing and then you possibly can click on it again to zoom in a bit to read it better.

4) I attached a picture of the side panel.  You can see where I hacked a fan mount to it.  I positioned the side fan to be blowing air onto my harddrives.   It did not have any effect of cooling down the computer since when I put the side panel on the computer, then the temperatur go way to high.


Hoopz:

You can use the compressed air to clean it off without taking the fan off the heatsink.  Take it out in the garage first though!

You probably can install a fan on the front panel.  It looks like the "grill" area towards the bottom is designed so it lets air in.  I can't tell for sure, but most do that.  Do you know how to take the front panel off?

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