cooling my case... PLEASE HELP!!! :)

[darkside25]

System:

AMD Athlon 600 (Slot-A).. bought in March 2000- 1st generation?
In-Win Q500 Full size tower case.
Giga-byte GA-7ix Mobo
256meg PC-133 SDRAM
30GIG maxtor 7200rpm drive
Hitachi GD-500 8x DVD Drive
Plextor 8/4/32 CDRW
Creative Labs Annihilator PRO 32meg DDR
SBlive Platinum
Linksys Ethernet card
250watt generic power supply
Win2k OS

I was having issues where my computer would lock, freeze up, or reboot. I installed all updated drivers for hardware and software. My cpu and video card got hot as hell (even if not running 3d games). I took the side of the case off (which has a blow hole) and my system freezes, lockups, reboots stopped.

I figured my cheapo power supply wasn't big enough to supply the Athlon AND video card enough juice, therefore they were getting extremely hot. I just recently bought an Enermax EG-465 whisper power supply and Millisec Xtreme III cooling kit (bigger fan with heatsink and 8 heatsinks for the memory chips). I figure these two upgrades should help for the lack of power and cooling (not to mention a secondary fan on the power supply).

I would like to put the side of my case back on as hearing the Hard Drive chug away etc gets annoying.

I thought about putting an intake fan on the lower front of the case and another fan right behind the CPU (for exhaust purposes). My question(s) are:

1. what size fan should i put in the lower front for intake and what size behind the CPU?

2. Should i have the blowhole fan on the size of the case draw air in or out? (i believe it's an 80mm fan).

3. Should i mount a fan in the hole ABOVE the CPU? (My In-Win case won't allow me to mount my PSU at the very top of the case, but there is a hole there above where it does sit.

4. My Athlon does have a stock CPU fan on it with 2 fans pulling air away from the CPU. (not really a question)

Any thoughts/ideas/input would be greatly appreciated!

BTW: i thought about upgrading my MOBO to an ABIT KT7A with 1ghz CPU and use the hardware i have. Any input on which processor; Athlon or Duron? (this question is extra)

Please respond to: axion666@excite.com



Email AddyText

 

[Electric Amish]

First of all, try running with the case side off and use a regular room fan, if you have one, to blow into the case to determine if it really is heat related..

Your side blow-hole should be exhaust.

Do you have any fans in it currently other than the side??

The mountings for the fans are for stock 80mm. That what you should use unless you want to break out the saw and start modding the case.

I would at least put in an intake fan in the front.

amish

 

[darkside25]

other than the blowhole of the side of the case (when it's on), there are NO other fans. However, with my new Enermax PSU, it will have a fan on the bottom of it which sits right over the CPU to draw air out. I am gonna get a Dremel and cut out a hole in the front of the case for an intake fan. With so many power plugs on the Enermax, I might as well use them for cooling purposes, just not sure how and where to put all these fans.

 

[Electric Amish]

Do you want to mod the case for different fans, or just use what's available??

amish

 

[darkside25]

i'd more than likely would just like to use what exists.. There is one fan slot in the lower front, a small hole behind the CPU, and one above the PSU.

Just curious, but with the Video Card and Processor i have, along with the upgraded PSU and Video Card Cooling kit, will using the stock fan location be ample?