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Is my computer running to hot?
pointdablame:
--- Quote from: HooPZ on January 08, 2007, 12:32:10 pm ---1. The fan in front (if you can do it) should bring air INTO the case. The fan in back should take air OUT of the case. The side panel probably needs to blow air OUT of the case also.
2. I wouldn't worry about taping up any vents. You actually want air moving in and out.
Do you know if the fan on the back is bringing air in or pushing it out?
--- End quote ---
I've found it more useful for side panel fans to blow cool air into the case across the PCI cards and hard drives, but you can do it either way I suppose.
The front fan definitely needs to be an intake however, and the rear fan an exhaust.
Kremmit:
Nothing wrong with a SomeGuytm brand computer, as long as SomeGuy knows what he's doing. Heck, around here, I'm SomeGuy, and I imagine most of the other chiming in on this thread are SomeGuy, too. ;)
Enermax is a good PSU manufacturer, so maybe you don't have to go there after all. The more I see, the more I think your problem is mostly airflow.
If you can add a front fan, that would be good. It blows in, and the fan in back blows out. I disagree with the earlier poster that suggested the side fan blow out, it should blow in, just like you've got it. If you've got air going out the rear fan and out the power supply and out the side fan and in the front fan, then you're likely not going to get enough fresh air supplied through that front intake to feed all three exhausts. Especially since the front intake is going to have a bunch of hard drives, cables, and a fairly restrictive plastic bezel to push air through.
Anyway, I'd do as much as I could to open up the airflow in there first. Clean out that heatsink, and clean up your cable spaghetti. I can barely even see the side fan through those few little tiny holes- which means air probably has trouble getting in there as well. And how big is that side fan, anyway? Bigger is better. Your ideal fan intake is an open hole. That's not practical if you're worried about kids or cats cutting their paws off on the fan blades, though. The metal wire fan grills fix that problem and provide the least resistance to airflow. Fancy laser-cut grills block a little more air, but they do look nice. At least drill some more holes- Less Metal, More Air. On the front intake, the plastic vent on the front panel is your grill, so don't feel bad about cutting a nice big hole in the metal behind it. Rear exhaust fan - again, Bigger is Better, Less Metal, More Air.
If that doesn't chill things out, then move on to remounting and/or replacing the heatsink, and the power supply if it still seems too hot. (Say, have you verified that the power supply fan is working? Just in case.) That Zalman cooler linked above is a good cooler, and it comes with a fan at that price. It's really wide, though, so do some serious measuring before you go with it. (I still lean towards the Thermalright.)
Once you get everything cooled down, you might want to experiment with taping off those holes in the side panel. You want your fresh air to be pushed all the way through the case, past the vid card, processor, mobo chipset, and power supply. You don't want it to be leaking out the sides. Of course, if your exhaust fans are pulling more air than the intake fans can deliver, then the reverse is true- you want some more fresh air to get pulled in through those holes. The easiest way to find out is to test it both ways and see how your temps look.
FrizzleFried:
HOLY CRAP that heatsink is crammed PACKED with dust. Blow that out (and while you are at it, blow out the whole friggin' case) and you will be surprised with how much just doing that will help!
NoOne=NBA=:
--- Quote from: leapinlew on January 07, 2007, 12:26:06 pm ---Anyone ever see the computer actually get warmer when opening the case?
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Some of the early Pentiums had "routed" air that was pulled from outside the case, through a trough, and onto the CPU heatsink.
If you removed the side of the case, and the trough with it, the temp would go up on some designs.
I think the "runs hotter with the case open" warnings may be a throwback to that.
Hoopz:
--- Quote from: pointdablame on January 08, 2007, 04:10:22 pm ---
--- Quote from: HooPZ on January 08, 2007, 12:32:10 pm ---1. The fan in front (if you can do it) should bring air INTO the case. The fan in back should take air OUT of the case. The side panel probably needs to blow air OUT of the case also.
2. I wouldn't worry about taping up any vents. You actually want air moving in and out.
Do you know if the fan on the back is bringing air in or pushing it out?
--- End quote ---
I've found it more useful for side panel fans to blow cool air into the case across the PCI cards and hard drives, but you can do it either way I suppose.
The front fan definitely needs to be an intake however, and the rear fan an exhaust.
--- End quote ---
I can see that but as I haven't the cabbage for SATA, PCI-E or any of that stuff, I haven't had to worry about that. I still have ISA slots... ;D