computer whirring excessively noisily

[carnageX]

BIOS is when you first turn the computer on, and it says "press XX to enter setup", where XX = something like F1, F2, F10, F12, Del, or Esc (depending on manufacturer).

 

[bigdan]

BIOS is when you first turn the computer on, and it says "press XX to enter setup", where XX = something like F1, F2, F10, F12, Del, or Esc (depending on manufacturer).

ohhhh right. i believe its delete on my computer.

so is it safe then to change the fan speed, esp when you said the temps are already too high? i wouldve assumed the way things are right now the fan is going at a speed that it considers necessary in order to maintain safe temperatures, no? either way whats the highest safe temperature that i can allow my computer to get to, ie at which temps should i realize something is wrong and re-adjust fan speed?

btw i have no idea what thermal paste is or how to apply it or even where i would do so.

 

[MrCoffee]

4000+ rpm is going to make a noise and those are high motherboard temps. Depending on the age of the PC it may be worth getting in there with an air duster (canned air) to blow out dust from the motherboard and heat sinks. Maybe more, newer, quieter fans might be a good idea.

 

[carnageX]

ohhhh right. i believe its delete on my computer.

so is it safe then to change the fan speed, esp when you said the temps are already too high? i wouldve assumed the way things are right now the fan is going at a speed that it considers necessary in order to maintain safe temperatures, no? either way whats the highest safe temperature that i can allow my computer to get to, ie at which temps should i realize something is wrong and re-adjust fan speed?

btw i have no idea what thermal paste is or how to apply it or even where i would do so.

Like I said, previously, I doubt you're even gonna be able to adjust the fan speed considering its a prebuilt, as they lock a lot of options out of the BIOS.

Thermal paste:
Newegg.com - Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease

Also, what is the model # of your PC.

 

[bigdan]

now the air duster thing i might just be able to do

the computer was bought around jan 2007 originally.

model number...
there's a silver sticker w/ 3 rows. the second row is product# and third is s/n. im not sure what exactly the first row is, writing it here in case that's the model #. its SR2180NX

i checked out thermal paste. well its cheap enough. the question is, is it easy enough to apply? i assume its effective?

 

[carnageX]

Yes its effective. As for if its easy... it should be easy enough to apply to the CPU. Take the heatsink off, clean old paste off (isopropyl alcohol and coffee filters work great, use a plastic knife to scrape it off if you need to or something). As for the north/south bridges...the clips look difficult to get off on the northbridge:
Motherboard Specifications, P5LP-LE (Leonite) 

South bridge I'm not sure, as I can't see it clearly enough.

 

[bigdan]

Yes its effective. As for if its easy... it should be easy enough to apply to the CPU. Take the heatsink off, clean old paste off (isopropyl alcohol and coffee filters work great, use a plastic knife to scrape it off if you need to or something). As for the north/south bridges...the clips look difficult to get off on the northbridge:

yeah that made no sense to me!

the website you gave, it does have an impressive view of the inside (the motherboard?) but i have no idea whats what in there. these bridges you're referring to arent labelled in there.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

The northbridge is the heatsink near your CPU. The southbridge is the (usually) small heatsink in the lower lefthand corner of the board.
They're highlighted in the below pic. The northbridge is the one with Gigabyte written on it.

 

[MrCoffee]

as another option maybe, I'm sure you can get inline load cables to reduce the speed of the fan, that may or may not be suitable depending on the specifications of the fan but it might be worth looking into.

This sort of thing:

Quiet PC Hardware - Fan Resistor Cables

 

[bigdan]

The northbridge is the heatsink near your CPU. The southbridge is the (usually) small heatsink in the lower lefthand corner of the board.
They're highlighted in the below pic. The northbridge is the one with Gigabyte written on it.

Thanks, that was a good pic.

So once I open these bridges up I just clean old paste and put on new? There's no 'certain area' to apply it to? What amount should I apply, should I judge it by what's already in there?
I dont understand how applying ointment will reduce temperatures btw.

Also is there any damage I can do by doing this wrong, or is this fairly safe?

Should I also consider buying a new fan? Or should I just do that instead? If so, any suggestions on what type of fan would be nice

In the pic Carnage attached, would I be correct in assuming the southbridge is the one at the bottom right of the screen?

Oh suddenly I'm thinking - once I open the computer do I need to take out the motherboard in order to be able to do this, or can it stay connected and there'll still be enough space to maneuver within?

Lol sorry lotta questions for yall

Soulphire, your sig says to click the scales below your avatar to rep you but I dont see those scales anywhere.

EDIT - disregard the last part, I found the scales. funny, they werent appearing earlier.