Is there something wrong with my case or cooling system?

[Aalok]

Hi,

I put together my own pc -- an i7 870, because I was on a limited budget and I wanted to edit videos (as professional as I could get it). I am a social worker and want to make my own documentaries.

Since I'm on a limited budget, I have only installed a 2gb ram right now, plan to add more later. Speed is low, but, I can live with it for the time being.

My problem is this. I recently bought a canon AVCHD camcorder, and I download the mts files I shoot on to my PC for editing (using pinnacle ultimate 12). However, eventhough, the pc had no problems with editing mpeg files, when I edit the heavy mts files, it gets too heated up and starts to emanate a continuous loud beep. In the beginning I wasn't sure what it was and continued to work, but I realize now this could be dangerous.

I contacted the shop from where I bought the components and he told me, I need a bigger, very expensive cool master, case. I don't have the money to buy this right now.

Can I do something to stop this overheating? was this to be expected considering my case is not uptodate? Can I prevent this by adding a third fan to my case, apart from the one on the processor and the one on the back?

I have set the cpu warning temperature limit at 60 C/ 140 F? Is it too low? Should I set it at 70C/150F?

Here are other details of my pc:

Motherboard: Gigabyte H55M-S2

Power supply: iball, Model: LPS223-400 atx switching Power supply. (however, I'm told that in i-ball cases, the real power supply is much lower than the stated one -- could a low power supply be causing the processor to heat up? ... just wondering alound)

Case: iball piano 108

However, I sometimes wonder if this case is really a genuine iball product, since, its finishing isn't all that great, nor does it match the one that is shown in the picture.

Fans: 1 intel fan on the processor + 1 small fan on the back panel. There is a socket for another fan on the side.

Video card: Radeon, HD 4350, 1gb

Hard disk: Seagate, Sata, 500gb

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Aalok]

Further information:

How I'm dealing with it right now is this ... when the beep comes, I stop working for sometime, the beep soon goes away ... then I work again, till another beep comes, and I again give it a pause.

I still cannot finalise the movie, because, then the beep just never stops ... but can I at least, go on editing the movie like this till I find a solution to this? Or is it still too risky?

 

[deimos3428]

Sounds very much like a poor airflow situation resulting in your CPU overheating. At a minimum, get a temperature monitoring program and investigate. What heatsink/fan are you currently using on the processor?

Edit: Ah you did, I missed that somehow. 60C isn't particularly warm for an Intel CPU, but it's not what I'd call good. I'd raise the warning threshold to 65-70C, and see if the beeping subsides. You might look into some additional cooling as well.

 

[Kenmitch]

You could raise the warning to 70*C and you would be safe still.

The stock intel heatsink is barely adequate. Throw it in a case without good airflow and it will take a nosedive.

I'd suggest replacing the case with something with better airflow and changing out the stock cooler for something better....Don't need to spend big bucks as it takes abou $20 or so to get a whole lot better cooling than the stock cooler.

Something like this one would make the world of difference. Not shure if it would fit in your current case tho.
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUSearch.asp?scriteria=AA77198&pageTitle=Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU Cooler, Up to 13

 

[Petey!]

Ram is so unbelievably cheap now it is SO worth it to upgrade, especially for video editing.

Your PSU is likely not very good, and could definitely be replaced.

How many fans are in that case? That could help if you could mount any extras to get some added airflow.

And like Kenmitch said, just about any good aftermarket cooler will make a big difference. If you can fit a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ that would be your best cooling solution for the least amount of cash.


Edit: page finally loaded for me (holy slow website), the case only comes with 1 80mm fan, that's no where near enough cooling. I'd look to either buy a cheap aftermarket case like an Antec 300 with some decent cooling or seeing where you can mount extra 120mm fans.

 

[aigomorla]

Further information:

How I'm dealing with it right now is this ... when the beep comes, I stop working for sometime, the beep soon goes away ... then I work again, till another beep comes, and I again give it a pause.

I still cannot finalise the movie, because, then the beep just never stops ... but can I at least, go on editing the movie like this till I find a solution to this? Or is it still too risky?

this is a post warning which means one of your core hardware is either not seated properly, or you have hardware failure.

 

[Aalok]

Thank you all of you for your replies.

Sounds very much like a poor airflow situation resulting in your CPU overheating.

I'd suggest replacing the case with something with better airflow

Today I opened one side of the case and tried to finalise the movie, yet, it started beeping, after a little while. Could this still be a poor airflow situation?

just about any good aftermarket cooler will make a big difference. If you can fit a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ that would be your best cooling solution for the least amount of cash.

I've blown away all the finances i have currently on the computer and camcorder, so, for now, I can't squeeze in more other than small things like another fan. I have two fans at the moment.

this is a post warning which means one of your core hardware is either not seated properly, or you have hardware failure.

Kindly elaborate. How do I know which component is causing the problem?

 

[dawp]

It might be a poorly seated heatsink. make sure all the push pins on the heatsink are properly engaged with the board. I assume you do have the cpu fan plugged into the motherboard header, right?

you might also try removing, cleaning the heatsink and cpu, applying a good thermal paste and reinstalling heatsink.

also, you do need more fans, usually there is a place for one in the front of the case and one in back, the front is intake and the back is exhaust.

I have never heard of iball so that is suspect right off the bat for me. doesn't seem to be available here in the states.

 

[SmCaudata]

A 250w power supply may not be sufficient. Any way you can get access to a device to measure wall per draw? A new case with a slightly bigger psu may be the way to go. You don't have to spend a ton. That would improve airflow and make sure your devices are getting good power.

Applying a cheap after market cooler may not be necessary afterward.

 

[WoodButcher]

Yes, the PSU is weak, check your heatsink, and then run with the case open. This will tell you if heat is your issue.

 

[jchu14]

to verify if it is due to lack of case air flow, you can take off the side of th case, then take a floor fan and blow into the case. Just taking off the sides won't help much.