Heat Problem, any ideas???

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Raphael Argus

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I hope someone can give me some advice. (Without spending a lot of money!) My PC is idle at 42.5C/108.5F. Whenever I do some gaming for more then 2 1/2 hours this jumps up over 20-25pts!
I have one exhaust fan attached to the motherboard. My main question, I have a pretty heavy duty 530Watt PSU that has two fans. One the PSU's fans died, the one on the inside. The PSU feels VERY hot. I happen to have a standard single fan PSU that runs at 420Watts. Would I be better off using the old PSU? Is that probably what's getting so hot??? I'm clueless here, but a friend said running at 130 degrees farhenheit could eventually overheat the machine. My system is listed below, drop me any advice, ask for any questions. I just paid a reasonable amount ot build this thing and don't want it overheating on me!!! Ugh!
 
Raphael Argus said:
I hope someone can give me some advice. (Without spending a lot of money!) My PC is idle at 42.5C/108.5F. Whenever I do some gaming for more then 2 1/2 hours this jumps up over 20-25pts!

25pts? What are points? Do you mean degrees? What is the higest temp of your CPU in Cel? An idle temp of 42C is not great, but it is ok. If you mean degrees by points then 62-67C is too hot. If that is true, I assume you have the crappy stock cooling. New P4s run hot, you need better cooling. As for a max temp, anything under 55C is ok. Your processor can operate up to 69C before having errors and eventually failing. Again I said OK, not great...I never get over 50C no matter what with my setup. That is fine. And if a fan has gone out on your PSU, replace the fan. It is really simple. Until you do, put in the other PSU, the fan that stopped was there for a reason and is needed. Also, 420watts is plenty for your system. And I would also recommend getting at least one more fan for an intake at the front bottom of the case.

So, bottom line, operating at 60C or more will shorten the life of your CPU and make it eventually fail. Get better cooling. Now. Let me know if you need any suggestions or tips on cooling.
 
Thanks, I'll pop in the other PSU and add in an intake fan. The PSU really feels hot. On my second PC with a 400Watt PSU the unit itself seems much cooler. The fan on the inside of my 530watt PSU that died does not seem to be accessible. I popped the PSU out and it has a grate covering it with no screws. It appears to be screwed on from the inside. I don't feel confortable taking the actual PSU apart.
 
Btw, by points I did mean degrees, my apology.

Also, if anyone wants to recomend a nice heatsink/fan combo for my CPU I'd appreciate it. It's a socket 478. I'm trying not to spend a lot of money and in the United States. Something around or under $30 perhaps?
 
Just open the side panel... point a small fan at it this should bring down the temps at least 10 deg. Only thing is that the fan gets annoying sometimes. But it's a cheap and easy solution.
 
Ya, I agree with that HSF combo, good for the money. It should do you well. And if you wanna replace the fan in your PSU, it is really easy. When you take off the cover for the PSU, you will see what I mean, just take it off slow and you will be fine. Until you get another fan and a new HS/F, I definatley recommend that you take off the side panel. And make sure that you use some Artic Silver on the new heatsink. Again, let me know if you have any problems or questions.
 
Side Panel is off :) I threw in a another fan as an intake, temp dropped 5 degrees. Is Artic silver thermal paste? When I purchased my CPU it came with the stock Intel heatsink/fan combo, no thermal paste, just the thermal strip that melts onto the CPU. I've never applied any thermal paste before, is that a big thing? Seems simple enough.
 
I guess I was a bit paranoid to take off the casing for the PSU and look inside. It's a nice PSU, but it's VERY VERY hot. I'll take it apart, I have an extra 80mm fan I could place inside it if it can be done. Hopefully without soldering, I don't have a solder gun. (sp?)
 
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