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First Home Build, and these temps concern me...

Hurricane Andrew

Golden Member
You can check out the system in my sig, but in a nutshell its a Chaintech VNF3-250, Athlon 64 3000+ (OEM), with a Coolmax 450 PSU in a Soyo case (the one here: http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...6067&Sku=S450-4010 )

No overclocking here, everything is stock. I run in the mid 40's, but when I ran Prime95's torture test, I got up to the mid 50's in relatively short order ( 4 minutes or so). Things are better (low 40's, and low 50's) when I switch the PSU fan from auto to high, but I'm 1) a bit leary of running the PSU with the fan on high all the time and 2) wondering why I should have to since I haven't overclocked and got what I thought as a decent Speeze HS/Fan for a stock CPU.

I have the latest BIOS since I know the early ones for this board did report the temp incorrectly. Shutdown temp in the BIOS is set at 65, which is the mid setting, just in case all heck breaks loose.

As for the case, there is a three outlet panel in the back just below the PSU that I can't use (never would have anyway) since the Coolmax doesn't have a connector for it. Should I remove this and get an extra case fan? Would it matter? If so, which one?

Sorry for being a noob, but we all have to start somewhere, and I don't want the wife to shoot me if the CPU dies in 6 months and I have to replace it...
 
Your case may be most of your problem.....

Last Christmas I bought what looks to be almost the same case. Directron link
It was a last minute purchase for an upgrade my daughter asked wanted.

This case is VERY airflow deficient. Her 1.5v 1800+ @2500+ was hitting +50C load w/ Volcano 9 HS/F.
I wound up modding the case a bit, starting by cutting out the fan grills and replacing them with wire grills.
The front intake was the biggest problem. There I took some snips and cut out the very bottom to allow air to come in more freely.

Right now, using an Antec 400W PS, 3 CoolerMaster LED fans, Volcano 9 w/Panaflo U1A, and all wires sleeved w/Flexo Pet, she is getting 100% load temps in the mid 40's running @ 1.7v- 2.something ghz (can't remember)

I was low on funds when I purchased the thing, but if I had seen this case, I would have saved myself a lot of work in the long run.
 
Would drilling some small holes in the front sides of the case be a reasonable and easy first step? I figure since both sides are easily removable, I could just drill some small holes in either side towards the front to improve the overall airflow. It couldn't hurt and it is a pretty cheap solution if it works, right?
 
Well, you might give a few details...

Have you got any fans in your case?
and no.... I wouldn't go drilling small holes in any case unless I was gonna throw it in the trash.
 
Ugh you definately need case fans. Is the 80mm fan in the back and the 120mm in the front? If so put 120mm on intake and 80mm on exhaust. I know you'd have positive pressure but it's better than nothing. Much better.
 
Yep definately get some airflow......
You might wanna think about giving the intake some air since the front of your case has no vents.
The plastic cuts pretty easily. Just remove the case front and cut an opening on the bottom of it. (It won't be visible unless the computer is upside-down. Otherwise the 120mm will be trying to pull air in through all the cracks and crevices. Tin snips will do the job just fine. (I smoothed out my cut with a Dremel)
 
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