Help: Antec PSU and CPU too hot?

[OatMan]

Building a new PC for my brother around an sx-600 and Atec's true330W.

background...
He's getting my epox-8k7a, 1.4 T-bird, etc. So basically I'm just popping my system into a new case.

The only thing that is different (besides the PSU - mine is 431w enermax) is that I'm giving him the retail HSF from my new xp-1800 and I'm keeping my Alpha-PAL 8045 w/ 36CFM Panaflo.

I swapped my hard drives as well, as i figured its all the same hardware...
Drive 1 is my 98SE system
Drive 2 is the XP pro system I built for my brother
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Now The temps under mbm were
Idle - CPU 52C and 38C case?
Load after 30 minutes of Prime95 - CPU 59C and 41C case. (and rising???)
Voltages @ idle: core0=1.8v, core1=1.56v, +3.3=3.39v, +5=4.93v, +12=11.7v, -12+0v?, -5+0v?

The PC rebooted after 30 minutes and I got a message that the file C:\windows\system\vnetbios.vxd was damaged. The PC rebooted and seemed fine at this point. I switched to the XP system and after about an hour and half of just web browsing and copying files (frantic back-up) I got a blue screen and XP had crashed. XP has been ok so far after reboot.

The temps tho high seem to be consistent with what I read about retail HSF. The HSF does not seem overly hot to touch I checked imediately after the Prime95 crash before it cooled.

My concern actually is the PSU. The Antec True330W is really cranking out heat. Both fans seem to be pushing air ok, tho not as much as my Enermax whisper 431W. The case around the PSU on the sides and top are also quite warm to the touch. This never happened when I used the enermx PSU in this same case with this same system. I wonder if this is part of the problem, or if it is coincidence. The voltages look week for idle and web clicking...

Any ideas on how warm the antec PSU should be??? I have never monitored PSU temp before, or even know how to. Could I have a problem PSU? Is it possible to fiddle with the POTS inside or something???

Secondly is the retail XP 1800 HSF ok for the 1.4 T-birds??? I didn't think palomino's ran much cooler...

TIA and sorry for being less than concise. I accidently had posted this in the overclocking forum...

 

[OatMan]

Well If i was smart I would have written down the load voltages on the ANtec PSU...

I swapped in my enermax. I guess I never noticed before, but it seems pretty warm too. Tho not as warm as the Antec.

enermax at Idle
1.8v 1.56v 3.39v 4.93v 12.37v
49C cpu and 26C case

Enermax after an hour of Prime95 (got there in 30 min. and held)
1.8v 1.56v 3.39v 4.83v 12.43v
59C cpu and 36C case

Ambient temp has been 24C for all test (enermax and antec)

The numbers aren't that different, tho I after thinking about it, i don't think the Antec went 30 minutes in Prime95 before rebooting, probably more like 20 minutes. I.m thinking this is a red herring, and I should just swap back and try a clean install again... Anyway awaiting some opinions, thanks.

 

[Jolt2]

If you do a search for "Antec", you will find some what of the same problem that you have in post by me. The 330 True Power I had would not speed up the fans in the supply I had and the power supply just got hotter and hotter. If you look at your system temps you can see that with the Antec supply your temps are higher. Higher system temps mean hotter air to cool your CPU with and that means higher CPU temps. The plain true is you need more air flow through your case to make up for the low air flow of the True Power power supply. I sent the True Power I had back. It does no good to have a very quiet power supply and then have to add more case fans to make up for the lack of air flow through your case. Add more fans and you just get the noise back so you gain nothing.

You have to find a balance between noise and air flow. You can not have one without the other. I believe that Antec went to far in trying to reduce the noise and now has a power supply that in a round about way makes heat for a computer system because of lack of air flow.

The CPU heat sink is another noise and air flow balance problem. When you look at heat sink tests, you will see that the heat sinks that do the best cooling are the ones that have the most air flow. More air flow, more noise. The heat sink does make a differance in CPU temps but the biggest differance comes from the heat sinks fan CFM's (air flow). I would think that if you added a fan that flowed more air to the stock XP1800 heat sink, you would get the temps down. There is another way to get more CFM of air without the noise and that is to use a larger fan. By replacing a 60x60mm fan with a 80x80mm or 92x92mm, you can get the same CFM of air at a lower fan speed. The fan speed is were the noise comes from.

Anyways, it all works together. The power supply, case fans, CPU fan or fans. Changing any one of these can change the others in how they work and what temperature they run at. It is something to think about. Good luck!

 

[OatMan]

Thanks tons, Jolt2

I missed those posts, probably 'cause I was searching the wrong forum.

Anyway thanks for the heads up. I think your right about the airflow comprimise. I have a good setup with my PC, but thats with a Pal8045 and 5 40cfm panaflos. Looks like I'll have to dig up more. Just sucks that I have to replace the retail HS fan. Those higher cfm 60mm fans are real screamers. I looked into ducts for larger (80mm fans) but that just creates back pressure and doesn't really add anything. I wish i new a good ma and pa shop to get a decent fan selection. Shipping on fains is like 30% of the cost!

We'll see...

Thanks again.

PS - I finally got load temps and they are WAY up with the Antec. CPU was 65C and case went to 43C - thats just too hot.

 

[Jolt2]

Oatman, here is a link to a find on the hot deals section for a heat sink. It would work well for a replacement for the stock AMD heat sink. $9.90 Dr. Thermal heat sink and fan

I have one of these and it works better than the stock one. For this price you get the heat sink and fan.