Ouch! My Rig seems HOT!

[Syrillian]

Greetings,

Last weekend I built my first computer from the ground-up.

The system is stable and seems to run smoothly (crashed a couple of times under heavy gaming load), but heat is a concern. Following is a list of the hardware that I used that I feel is relevant. If I have omitted something please advise.

Antec SLK2650 case
ASUS A8N32 SLI-Deluxe Mobo
AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800+
EVGA GeForce 7600 GT
Antec TruPower 430W PSU
Western Digital 250GB HDD
2 x 1GB Corsair PC3200 RAM
Windows XP Professional

The temperature readings that I am receiving from the sensors via SpeedFan and SIW are:

CPU @ 48-50C (up to 55C at full load)
GPU @ 41C (nominal variance)
HDD @ 48-56C (up to 59C at full load)

I have installed:

2 x 80mm intakes
1 x 120mm exhaust
Zalman VGA cooler
Stock AMD heatsink and fan
Twin 40mm fans on the HDD
40mm fan on the North/South bridge copper heat-pipe
Stock Fan on PSU

I also have a Zalman CPU cooler, would that be better than the stock one installed?

One thing that I noticed about the PSU is that it vents into the case... (the unit seems to orient only in one direction). Does this seem correct?

What can I do to reduce the heat, do I have too many fans (have I reached the limit insofar as the law of diminishing returns)?

Please help...any and all comments, suggestions and advise is welcomed.

Respectfully, Daniel

 

[003]

While a load temp of 55c is not what I would call cool, it should not be enough to actually cause problems.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Sounds about right... Try disabling the automatic restart in xp when it blue screens... Might be a driver conflict of some sort...

 

[thebleakness]

Yeah, that Zalman would be better than the stock HSF. But like 003 said, the temps shouldnt be causing problems. Did you overclock anything?

 

[cub1971]

Nothing wrong with the stock HSF, my x2 4400 idles at 27C full loads at 35C with the stock AMD HSF, just as good as non stock HSF's.

Your temps seem okay, I wouldnt stress. Make sure you have done some cable management to help airflow, your case fans should be fine if nothing is obstructing air flow. Guess you could always reaseat your HSF, take it off, give it a good clean, put some AS5 on it and whack it back on. I'd be more inclined to think your HD is getting a bit warm.

Dude your temps are ok though, higher then some, lower than others.

 

[Syrillian]

Right on...

Thanks for the help and the input, I appreciate it.

Good Karma upon you all!

 

[cwiz]

my CPU was running in the mid 50's w/ stock HS+F... i put some Artic Silver 5 on and let it run for a few days, im now running in the mid 40's... thinking about changing to a new hs+f, im sure it'll get to upper 30's in that case

 

[Nubius]

I wouldn't put much into the temp readings of any AMD64 board honestly.

Nothing wrong with the stock HSF, my x2 4400 idles at 27C full loads at 35C with the stock AMD HSF, just as good as non stock HSF's.

I'm willing to bet that your CPU is probably running hotter than that unless you just live in a really cold place or have an AC keeping the room really chilled at all times. The dual cores tend to run hotter for obvious reasons.

The main thing though is simply that there is no such thing as an accurate temp sensor which is kind of sad really, but you pretty much gotta take it with a grain of salt.

 

[cub1971]

Actually I neither have AC on, nor do I live in a cold place. I live in Melbourne, Australia. It's hardly cold, even in winter. Stock HSF's do a good job in the right cases with the right airflow, on the right boards, and some are downright shizzle. Sucks to be me

 

[cwiz]

is it possible to install a blowhole on the top of your case? that will help exaust your psu... also hot air rises so.... ur just helping the process