Stores Demo of well cooled computer.

I was impressed! The store had a computer configured in a way that commonly causes heat problems. 3+ GHz P4 dual high speed hard drives, fast video card and FSB, and normal size case.

I was inquiring about heat dissipation in different models and she showed me the cool computer. She opened the the side door on the case and said put my hand in. (I was sure she was going to slam it shut, but no...) It not only was not hot. it feel as cool as room temperature!

Fancy solution? not really. it had the (now standard) 3 normal fans: CPU, GPU, and Power Supply. Then 1 (i believe 80 mm) fan at the back where there is normally already a spot premade for and extra fan in most cases. and 1 bigger (100 or 120 mm) fan at the front beneath, the hard drives, where most cases have a vent for cool air intake. They were quiet fans, which could not be heard with the noise level of a store.

the key (i guess) is setting up intake on front and exhaust on the back. I am going to try to see if about setting up fans like that. My HDD's hit mid to high 50's C. not exactly cool!


-HandsOff

 

HDD coolers do a credible job and keep my two hard drives at 22c with a room temp of 35c.

 

Yes, I've seen them. I'm guessing they are also quiet. part of my amazement was do to the fact that I have a very similar 5 fans, case, and components (only not near 3 GHtz, unfortunately). My HDD's are as we speak, 47C, and 51C. I have been putting it off, but its time I check the fans. I might have pointed one in the wrong direction, and they are working against each other.


-HandsOff


P.S. - its only 25C here, and I want to do something before it hits 35C!

 

I got lucky when I purchased this comp. It came with three six inch silent fans. You can't hear them run if you get over three feet away. Every once in a while I put my hand in front of the exaust grills to make sure they are running. It is with out doubt the coolest running comp I have ever owned. Hopefully the internal parts will last quite a while.

Processor

power supply

and case are cooled by the individual six inch fans.

 

BigC I'm thinking your CPU and MB are reversed - maybe

My "case" is actually the MB.


I have a "kiddie" (sort of childish - I want a Lian-li ) Case but there's enough suction to hold a sheet of paper to the case side (air ducting directly to the CPU fan)

More on Lian-Li: http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cases/Lian_Li_PC-V1000/pg_2.htm

I have to pry the paper off with a screwdriver and use a pair of plyers

 

There is a much simpler solution. Put the comp in the frig and it will stay cold.

 

You'd have to fill your case with calcium oxide or silica gel as the condensation would be terrible. For very hot days, I have 6' of clothes dryer plastic ducting attached to my floor vent leading to the inlet of my computer. My computer draws cool air from the ducting.

 

The results are in. I changed the fans to get more of a front to back flow and now, with only 4 fans running (counting the video card fan) the hard drive temperatures have dropped to 29 and 37, down from 47 and 51.

Moreover the 5th (and largest) fan has become much quieter. I only use it if it is really hot, because it used to be extremely loud. I just switched it on again, and it is very quiet. And I dropped to 28, 35, but I don't think I need it so I will switch it off and save it for a heat wave.

Moral of the story: It pays to go and look at computers!


-HandsOff

 

The HDD coolers I have come with massive heatsinks which in turn are cooled by two fans, my temp has never gone over 26c.

 

Is it typical to have such a temperature spread between master and slave? Mine is 23/31. Perhaps I should move them further apart as they sit one on top of the other - separated by only one slot.

 

Hi bigc,

I've been looking for a temp. monitor for CPU, HDD.

What is the one you used for the image in your post?

A link to direct download would be great.

Thanks in advance
newbie

 

What you see bigC displaying is Everest or Sisandra which is used for benchmark testing and information - it's not really for constant monitoring of temps.

I think what you would want is Speedfan which is the only one I know of that will measure all your temps and place them in the tray. I'm not sure if Motherboard Monitor can be configured to measure HDD as well but I prefer it as I use Hard Drive Inspector to monitor my HDD health and temps.

 

My Hard Drive temp monitor (not that anyone asked) is pretty cool .
You must put up with a nag screen, but only for 48 hrs, then it becomes freeware. Cute marketing approach. You can find it here:

http://www.siguardian.com/

Two nice features are that you can elect to have the temperatures always visible in the tray, and you can identify the drive by hovering over the temp. Also it can display in C or F, but since C is the industry standard I am using C and getting familiar with its numbers.

Lynchknot, I am guessing the top one is hotter because it is higher. Additionally, I have been told that the circular metal area on the bottom center of the hard drive is its hottest part, and as you suggest it probably does not get a lot of cool air where it is at. Plus your temps are both so low you should be doing a victory dance. I wouldn't fix it at this point.

Arup, that must be one fancy heat sink. I believe under ordinary conditions one cannot expect a fan to cool an object so that it is cooler than the air itself. I think there are some, but I've never used one. Alternatively, your temperatures being displayed might be wrong. At any rate, I am sure you know qualitatively if it is cool. I was planing to buy a couple if this didnt work. I was pleasantly surprised that they really don't cost much. (Look on Amazon for Vantec brand. They are a good value).

HandsOff

 

Hey Ron,

Just looked at that Everest program. A wealth of information.

I was surprised to see that my video card seems to be more advanced than my main board as follows:


CPU Transistors: 42 million
GPU Transistors: 63 million

CPU Process Technology: 18 micron
GPU Process Technology: 15 micron (smaller is better)

Main Memory: PC3700 233MHz
GPU Memory: 324 MHz clock doubled to 648 Mhz

Main Memory Bandwidth: 2.1 GB/s
GPU Memory Bandwidth: 10.1 GB/s


Of course the CPU clock is 6x faster

 

Hi
your speedfan is not configured correctly
a-delete(untick) temp3 and fan2
b-rename fan1 and fan3 so that you know which one is for cpu. the best way to do it is to open the case > run fanspeed > hold the cpu fan with your finger for FEW SECONDS and watch fanspeed's reading >the fan that reads zero is the cpu fan the other one of couse...you know it
c-rename fanspeed1 and 3 (so that they are related to the ones in b) choose minimum speed 5 or 10 so that fan(s) will not come to a hault and maximun speed 90 not 100 so that it wont run beyond its factory default
d-Configure tab>tick automatic fanspeed then select options>untick set fan speed to 100% on program exit(important) then click temp >cpu >tick show in tray Also if you wish you can set fanspeed to run on start (in this case tick minimize on close).

 

I think my CPU is running somewhat hot! What would you guys say?

Motherboard: 38C/100F

CPU: 53C/127C

HD1: 37C/99F (top)

HD2: 35C/95F (bottom)

Though I'm using a AMD Athlon xp 2100 and I've been told these AMD chips run hot, but does it look like it's at a safe level for this AMD chip? Thanks for any replies.

 

No it is not hot, but say normal. however if you want to reduce it a bit just put a casefan AND if it is difficult or you dont know how to connect it to mobo (or just afraid to do it) MY ADVICE to to connect it to an external supply (normal 12v adaptors used for radios.. will do)

 

Thanks Hadi. That's a good idea to install another fan, I'll look into that.

Also I meant to say my CPU is 53C/127F not 53C/127C...my bad.

 

No the proc and MB are correct, That reading is about five minutes after a full av scan it usually is a little cooler.

 

hadi - I know. I just didn't bother with it because, as I stated, I use MBM and did not uninstall speedfan.

BigC, the hottest area of my motherboard is always my CPU - (I also have a digital infrared thermometer). My graphics card can get pretty hot as well. You must have a hell of a heat sink on your CPU - which makes is possible to be lower than your motherboard - I guess.

I have my CPU fan set to audible and it's a warm day today



It's a 100F if I point this towards the window

 

It is a massive heat sink with a six inch fan and it puts a lot of air out, even though it is silent or at least almost.

 

I think I know the one - heat pipes eh? That's the way to go. I just have a crappy Volcano 11. Which won't come close to what heat pipes can cool.

 

When I purchased this comp, One of the options was a cool system upgrade. It came with the large fans super size heat sink and a flow sealed power supply The proc fans is mounted on the back panel and pushes cool air through a pipe onto the heat sink and the case fan pulls the warm air off of the MB and used proc cooling air. And the power supply has an inlet for the six inch fan and it circulates through the power supply and back out, that air does not get into the comp. It never gets over the temps I posted. the fans are thermostaticaly speed controled but they never speed up that I can tell or maybe they do and I just don't hear them. anyway I do like the way they work. I didn't mean to hijack the thread so I will now slink away.

 

Big C, and everyone -


I found all the information very interesting.

Speedfan is highly recommended, but when I went to download it, I found that I was required to register and provide a little more personal information than I feel is justifiable. I got the Siguard download, which seems very easy to use...however...It does not sense my external drives. Not sure why this would be. Does speedfan, or other have this ability? I will do the registration thing if there is enough incentive, but I won't if I can find an alternative that is not so invasive.

I recall when I was shopping for memory a year or so ago, reviewers would often comment that the heat sinks found on most faster memory were mostly for show. I believed them. I was misinformed!

When the built-in fan on my Nvidea G-Force 4 burned out, I touched the GPU to assess if it would be necessary to replace it, or if it, 'was just for show'. Let me tell you, I would have burned my finger if I kept it there more than a split second. I Purchased an aftermarket alternative, a Vantec Iceberg Pro. It was larger, with a much larger copper heatsink, and, get this, four copper heat sinks to attach to the memory chips. It works great! And it was only about 12 dollars.

I like software as much as the next guy - - - maybe more - - - but there comes are times when you have to realize that monitoring is not much use if you do not interperet the results and correct problems.

In another thread someone mentioned that Seagate Hard Drive waranty is voided if it was exposed to 70C or higher temp. I guess it would be good to know what is the correct range for other components. Does speedfan other someone offer guidelines?


- HandsOff