Help with cooling

[Tynie]

Hi,
I'm looking for a few answers regarding my system and it's temps. It is an AMD Phenom II X3 720 based system with stock fan on it, housed in an Antec Sonata III case. Idle temps are ~40C with load temps hitting 69C. These temps seems little on the high side for me, although that is more down to instinct as I can't really find any guidelines as too what they should be.

So, my questions are:

1. Are these temps reasonable for this set up ?
2. What is the maximum temp for this cpu (I can't find that info anywhere).
3. If they are not, can anyone recommend a new cooler that doesn't require a backplate and which ideally would be able to exhaust out the back of the case (most seem like they would blow air up or down in my case).
4. I can unlock the fourth core on my cpu but the temps rocket upwards until it crashes. I know this is part guesswork but would a decent cooler give me a chance of keeping 4 cores stable ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[aigomorla]

pictures.. and pictures.. and pictures....

a picture represents more words then you can possibly type out in helping us solve your problems.

A big picture of your computer with side panel open so we can see everything would be ideal for us to help you lowering your heat.

 

[Tynie]

Can't provide any pics atm, but to give you and idea, here's the case:

Please imagine it with all HD bays filled and an ATI 4850 gfx card and sound card installed.

Tynie

 

[Jimmah]

I am going to assume poor cabling, stock coolers aren't great, and a clogged front intake, maybe not enough fans/airflow as well. I would tidy up your cables if they aren't already, clear out the dust on the intake.

As for a cooler, I have an OCZ el-cheapo 3 heatpipe cooler now, I forget the name. It works rather well and keeps an OC'd x4 640 at *checks monitor* 38 degrees C. Load temps are around 45 C.

I think that a new cooler and a good cleaning would get your temps down to managable levels.

 

[flexcore]

+1 Jimmah

Periodic cleaning and good air flow thru the case is needed. If the air in the case doesn't get exchanged it will continue to get warmer and the HSF will not be as efficient in heat transfer. A good price/performance HSF that I like, CM hyper 212+.

 

[Rifter]

Corsair H50. I think that would solve your issue. Also thats not the best case for cooling, if i remember the front intake fan mount locations only allow for 1 120mm fan, put a fast one in there and replace the rear with a faster fan.

 

[Tynie]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm taking it that those temps are high !

Corsair H50. I think that would solve your issue. Also thats not the best case for cooling, if i remember the front intake fan mount locations only allow for 1 120mm fan, put a fast one in there and replace the rear with a faster fan.

You're right about the cooling in this case - I got it as it's a relatively quiet case and my computer is on 24/7 and located approx 2m from my head when I'm sleeping !
I can't mount a front fan in it as the gfx card is in the way (in the pic above, the fan would be mounted on the left of the hard drive bays.)
I'm beginning to think maybe a new case would be the easiest way to solve my problem, although I had hoped to be able to sort this without completely dismantling my system.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[mu11et]

Better case with more ventilation. Like this.

 

[Tynie]

Looks very nice !
However, I suspect all that light and noise would keep me up all night
I'm thinking maybe a Coolermaster 690 II Advanced with a few low speed, low noise fans along with a large hard drive to replace some of the smaller ones that I currently have to free up some space in the case (hell, I still have an old IBM 75GXP Deathstar running after nearly 10 years).

 

[mu11et]

The point of having all of those 120mm fans is that you run them slow & quiet and still move a ton of air in the case. I have them all on a Zalman 6 fan controller on low and it is very quiet. The LED fans are of course optional.

My temps are.

 

[Rifter]

I would take a serious look at the corsair H50, it will keep the CPU temps down and could be mounted to the rear 120mm fan mount location. This will be cheaper than buying a new case and the H50 is a good CPU cooler.


EDITED to add:

Does the front 120mm fan in that case not go infront of the HDDs not behind? adding a fan up front would help alot, take the front bezel off and see if you can find some fan mount holes.

 

[mu11et]

I have this in the top for my HDD and it has a 120mm fan that is in the front and blows past the HDD.

 

[Tynie]

No, the front fan definitely goes to the left of the hard drive cage.

I looked at the H50 but Corsair recommends setting the fan as an intake which seems like a bad idea if I don't have an exhaust fan.

Thanks anyway.

 

[mu11et]

Look at the picture dude.

 

[BoomerD]

I have to think that any of the better aftermarket CPU coolers would help with those temps. The "factory coolers" are fine for regular clocking IF the case has sufficient air flow.

Looking at the Sonata manual,
http://www.antec.com/pdf/manuals/SonataIII_manual_EN.pdf
It appears that it only comes with one fan, but is built to add a second fan in the front. Have you done that?
Having more air coming in would be a great help as well.

At 69 degrees, you're definitely bumping up against the rated maximum temp. (depends on whose numbers you like, but 70-73 are what I see via google)

There are some very quiet fan solutions available, any of which should help.

 

[Tynie]

I have to think that any of the better aftermarket CPU coolers would help with those temps. The "factory coolers" are fine for regular clocking IF the case has sufficient air flow.

I'm beginning to suspect that the case doesn't

Looking at the Sonata manual,
http://www.antec.com/pdf/manuals/SonataIII_manual_EN.pdf
It appears that it only comes with one fan, but is built to add a second fan in the front. Have you done that?

No, due to the stupid location of the front fan mounts (behind the hard drives so that it sucks the air through them from half-way inside the case) I can't fit a fan there as it would be bumping against my graphics card.

 

[BoomerD]

I'm beginning to suspect that the case doesn't


No, due to the stupid location of the front fan mounts (behind the hard drives so that it sucks the air through them from half-way inside the case) I can't fit a fan there as it would be bumping against my graphics card.

Gotcha...for some reason, I thought there was a fan mount behind the front cover to blow air into the case.
So...IMO, your best option would be to replace the case with one that offers better cooling options.

 

[Tynie]

Yup, I guess I know what I'm asking Santa for this Christmas !

 

[deimos3428]

Hi,
I'm looking for a few answers regarding my system and it's temps. It is an AMD Phenom II X3 720 based system with stock fan on it, housed in an Antec Sonata III case. Idle temps are ~40C with load temps hitting 69C. These temps seems little on the high side for me, although that is more down to instinct as I can't really find any guidelines as too what they should be.

I've run a 4870 + PhII 710 in a Sonata III; fairly similar if not more heat output. Assuming you're running it all at stock speeds, it's doable.

First, ensure the Antec Tri-cool exhaust fan is set to high. Medium or low settings are pushing it for this case with those components with stock cooling.

Your load temps are quite high even for the stock fan, though. It might get ridiculously loud, but it actually cools decently when it get loud. So unless you live in a high-ambient area, I think something's wrong. At the very least, try reapplying the thermal paste and/or reseating the heatsink on the processor before buying new hardware.

The Sonata III is designed to be quiet more than cool. The front intake fan won't make a lot of difference on airflow in this case. It's mostly there to spot-cool the HDDs by pulling air across them. If they aren't excessively hot, I wouldn't bother with one. (If you only have one drive and are desperate to add this fan, there's another option if it won't fit. You can try installing it on the inside of the cage using the same holes. You can use either zip ties, or pairs of motherboard stand-offs as makeshift bolts.)

Maximum safe temp for your processor is 73C, but I'd stay well away from that. (If you're unlocking the 4th core, stay under 62C):
http://products.amd.com/en-us/Deskt...C2&f7=45nm+SOI&f8=&f9=4000&f10=&f11=&f12=True

Good luck!

 

[Tynie]

Thanks for the advice.
I've already tried mounting the stock fan using some arctic silver but no luck there. I've already replaced the rear fan and it helped slightly, previously I was hitting 72C.
The hard drives are all at decent temps, the hottest is at 36C just now with a virus scan running, CPU is at 67C.
I think I've decided that I need a new case and cooler. I just need to get Xmas out of the way first.

 

[Rifter]

I would just use a H50 and have it mounted as exhaust against Corsairs recommendation. I use a H70 on my HTPC and its mounted with only one fan on the RAD and its exhausting and the CPU temps are fine, my HTPC is a Athlon II @ 4 Ghz. In my HTPC the ONLY case fan is the one on the rad and even with it mounted backwards it does just fine, CPU stays below 55c.