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cpu running too hot

K

kalster

Diamond Member
I have the following config


Amd athlon xp 2600+ 333mhz with stock hsf/ fan
soyo kyme
ati radeon 9800 pro
seagate 120gb hdd


I have a generic fry's case with 400w ps

no case fans

no extra cooling


i thought that this vanilla setup would be cool enuf and not too loud

my cpu is running very hot 68-70

i cant complete a run of 3dmark 2003 without my pc hanging/crashing


what cooling would you guys recommend?


i am thinking of throwing in a couple of case fans in the back, what else

also i think the hsf doesnt have proper thermal fluid, so i am gonna remove it and add some artic silver


thanks for the help
 
Those are some good ideas to start with, yeah. Make sure to scrape off all the melted thermal pad before you use your AS5.
 
The stock heatsink/fan unit is enough to cool the CPU if it has some cool air to work with. My guess is that with no exhaust fans, plus a 9800 Pro pumping out 50-60 watts of heat right below the CPU, there isn't any cool air for the heatsink to work with. So adding one or two 80mm exhaust fans is the first thing to worry about, and I bet your system would become stable then and there, even with the stock heatsink/fan/patch.

Maybe try a pair of the Enermax thermally-regulated 80mm fans from Newegg (about $5 each) and position their thermal probes something like this (red circle) so they can kick up their speed if the air exiting the case is getting hotter. One note about these fans: their RPM signal is wacky and my motherboard will refuse to POST if I have one of them plugged into the mobo's RPM-sensing three-pin headers. I'd suggest you use the 3-pin-to-4-pin adapters that come with the fans, to power them directly from the power supply.
 
cool

do i need a fan in the front as well+-

i always hear about having fans in front as well as back of the case
 
Originally posted by: kalster
cool

do i need a fan in the front as well+-

i always hear about having fans in front as well as back of the case
Click to expand...
Depends on the case. If the case is a relatively free-breathing case like an Antec 600/800/1000-series, with lots of big air slots on the front, then the rear exhaust fans don't have a very difficult job and they aren't necessarily going to need help from front intake fans.

If your case is restrictive to airflow, then front intake fans might be a help but you should also see what you can do to remove the restrictions. For example, let's take an Enlight 7237... its bezel has small air holes and a slot along the bottom edge, and behind the bezel is a metal grille that the air has to flow through. You can drill the front holes to a larger size (it's plastic, so that's a cinch) and you can take a diagonal cutter (wire-cutting pliers) and nip out the metal grille at its edges, and bingo, you got mucho mas airflow. Ditto for the grillework over the rear exhaust holes... cheapie cases often have very restrictive grillework over the exhaust fans that chops down their effectiveness.

Any chance you might just pick up a better case & power supply for your otherwise-nice computer? 😕
 
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