need help understanding fan speed and temps

[JCROCCO]

I have been having lockup issues on one of my computers. I think it is overheating.

I d/l'd motherboard monitor 5 and am going thru it setting it up.

It seems I have 3 fans and 3 temperature sensors.

as soon as I got into it, the alarm started going off cause the default for the temps are 70 and I am already at 76

Is that too high? the other two are around 40 and 48.

If it is too high, how can I find out what sensor it is to find out where I need to add a case fan or a front fan or one for the HD.

Any help would be appreciated.

JC

 

[SuperPickle]

At 70º, the sensor sounding the alarm is probably your CPU sensor. 40º and 48º are pretty warm for case temps unless you are in a particularly warm environment. Check your HSF on the CPU to ensure it's running. You can open the case and have a room fan blowing into the case to keep down the temps while you troubleshoot...at least the alarm probably won't go off right away.

 

[BG4533]

Is this a computer you purchased or built yourself? The first thing to do is make sure the inside is not caked with dust and dirt. Fans do nothing if there is dust blocking them. Those temps are likely the cause of your lockups.

 

[0roo0roo]

are the sensors really there? ecs m/b somtimes only have 2 but report 3 happy joy.

 

[dpm]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
are the sensors really there? ecs m/b somtimes only have 2 but report 3 happy joy.

On my k7s5a the third is just a 'ghost' temp mirroring the motherboard temp.

JROCCO - Try going into BIOS and seeing if you have a monitoring page. This'll probably tell you what the temperature of your CPU and motherboard is, and, if you have a third sensor, what that is measuring so you can work out which sensor is which in mbm5. If you are running an ECS board like mine, then the third temp is probably a 'ghost', as OrooOroo.

Those temps are pretty high, and could well be causing lockups. What CPU are you using, and what heatsink and fans do you have? The 76 will be your CPU, and that's too hot for comfort. One of the others will be motherboard/case temp, and thats also too high for comfort.

Is your room very hot? If not, open your case and check for dust in the fans and between the fins of your heatsink, as BG4533 said. If thats the problem then you need to think about better cooling. You could either not be getting enough cool air in, enough hot air out, or both. If you are running a hot processor (XPs, Pentium 4s) then generally you should have at least a fan at the bottom front sucking in cool air, and one at the top back or behind the CPU to blow out the hot air.

 

[JCROCCO]

It is a generic computer I had built, it is a P4 brand new, so no dust yet.

The bios does show 3 temperature readouts as well, however the first two seem to be in line with what the program says, the third one (the CPU) is much lower than the 76 or whatever it is, says like 50.

I think I need to add some fans, however my particular case may not lend itself to a front mounted fan. I need to open it up to check into that, but is there a way to add one in the 5 1/4 bay slots?

 

[dpm]

50s more reasonable for this time of year, but all three of your temps are a little too high for comfort.
Your case may well have a fitting for a front fan - most modern ones have, although you often can't tell from the outside - they often have no visible intake holes, but suck from underneath the case, through a gap between the bottom of the fascia and the case. You'll have to open it up to check.

If not you can get drive bay fans - they typically have 2 or 3 tiny fans in a row (something like this ). They aren't very popular because small fans tend to whine, and because your drive bays will be at the top of your case, and you want your cool air to enter at the front bottom and rise as it heats to be expelled at the back top.

 

[JCROCCO]

thank you for all the advice, looks like I might need two fans, one for the bottom front of the case blowing in, and one for the back blowing out.

Is there a potential problem with power of voltage by adding 2 more fans to the system. Do they operate off the same power supply and connectors already in the system, or do they have to be hooked up somewhere on the mobo?

What kinda fans do I need to get? Should I bring a computer (i have 4 the exact same) to a shop to have them look at it, I usually do most stuff myself, but this is new to me and dont want to but the wrong stuff.

Thanks

 

[dpm]

You have 4 computers the same? Are they all having lockup problems? Are they all showing high temps? Or is it just one that you've upgraded recently. If its just one computer, and you've put a p4 in it, then the lockups could be power supply related as easily as overheat related. Pentium 4s require a fair bit of power to make em go that fast, and if your power supply isn't great then your system can have problems.

The first thing you should do (I can't believe I didn't suggest this before) is run the pc with the case off for a while. Take note of the temperatures (both in BIOS and in MBM5) and see if the system feels stable. If your system temps drop a lot (10+ degrees) or if it stops locking up then we've probably found the culprit - lack of cooling.

Anyway, adding two more fans won't strain a power supply - they don't take much juice.
you'll probably have a spare system fan header on your motherboard to power one of them - that'll take a standard 3pin fan connector. Check your manual first. For the other you'll need a 3pin fto 4pin adaptor like this. (I've found SVC to be a pretty good store for cooling).

Before you buy any fans, take the case off and check you've definately got fan mounts (they generally look like this) and what size they are (the norm is 80mm diameter). If you have then you want to buy two fans, an adaptor, and some fan screws (fans don't use standard pc case screws, but annoying unique ones).

Trust me - if you've done any kind of work inside your pc before, you don't need the shop to do it for you - you just screw them in and plug em in and you're done. All you've got to do is make sure they're pointing the right way, and they have arrows on them to tell you

As for which fans - well, the more airflow the better the cooling. But the more airflow, the more the noise. The perfect balance is well nigh impossible! It depends on how close your case is to you, and how sensitive to noise you are, and if you leave your computer on in the room while you sleep. I'm sure everyone here will have tons of suggestions on which types...

 

[JCROCCO]

THANKS a lot for the great info.

All 4 are exactly the same, bought em pretty cheaply at a computer show in Chicago, and I specified all the components, actually got it cheaper built the way I wanted it rather than buy the parts and put it together myself.

The one thats locking up is sandwiched (bad idea I know now) between a desk and the wall. There is plenty of room in front and in back of the case. The 3 others have rooms on the sides, but are still showing similar temps, but not locking up.

For safety of the equipment, I will do all 4 computers the same.

So, for each case I need (2) 3 pin to 4 pin connectors, 2 fans, blowing in and blowing out, and 2 mounting kits or screws.

 

[0roo0roo]

cut holes in your case like this

if your case doesn't have mounts, make em. buy a dremil or snips or a hole saw/jig saw or whatever. slice those holes and have sweet cooling. all those fans are controlled by fanbus if you have jokes for fangrills, tiny holes etc, those need slicing.

 

[JCROCCO]

I was looking at fans and I liked the vantec fan card exhaust blower for the back, at 42 cfm, and the vantec thermoflow for the front with variable speeds temp controlled at 25 and 37 for low/high.

is it ok if CFM going in is less than CFM going out?

 

[OulOat]

P4's don't lockup due to heat, they underclock themselves.

 

[JCROCCO]

running motherboard monitor 5, I have 3 system temperatures, 52, 44, and 77. Those seem pretty high to me. I checked another of my identical machines, and was similar. Weird, but the one locking up was actually a little cooler, the numbers above are from the one in my office, and its just plain hot all the time in that room.

Are these temps OK or should they really be cooled down.

I have a CPU fan, and a fan on the Video card as well, and of course the power fan.

My board does have (1) 3 pin connector that says system fan on it. If I was to put two fans in, front fan and rear blower, which one should get hooked up to it? The front has a temperature sensor on it already, and changes speeds as needed. should the rear blower then be put on that 3 pin?

My board is a PC400 systemboard M922 series.

Thanks

 

[OulOat]

Those numbers are high, but still within the safety limits. CPUs don't usually die till the upper 90s. You can try lowering your temps, but I doubt that will solve your locking problem. THD did a test and removed the hsf from a P4 while playing some FPS, and the game didn't crash, just slowed down and the temps remained at a constant 75ish C. I would look into your power supply or RAM before you buy anything. MBM should let you see what is the voltage on the rails, and memtest will let you test the RAM. If you do lower your temps, you will probably improve your P4 performance though.

 

[JCROCCO]

I can still benefit from adding fans to the systems, I can do all 4 for about $100, that seems to be a reasonable amount to improve performance and longevity.

also, what about this question:

My board does have (1) 3 pin connector that says system fan on it. If I was to put two fans in, front fan and rear blower, which one should get hooked up to it? The front has a temperature sensor on it already, and changes speeds as needed. should the rear blower then be put on that 3 pin?

thanks again.

Loved the pics from the links above by DPM, thanks, thats one COOL (Brrr) case.

 

[OulOat]

If it comes with a 3pin molex, use the 3 pin header on the mobo. If it comes with a 4 pin molex, use the female molex connector from the PSU. But you sound find out the size of your fan hole first (or if it is a cheap case, the lack of a hole). You might want to also consider buying a dremel and cutting out the stamped fan grills if it only has small/few holes, it will improve perfornanc e of the case fans a lot. This is an example of a decent stamped fan grill. This is an excellent fan grill to install with your fan. But before you buy anything, find out what size fans holes you have. There are a lot of different sized case fans: 60mm, 80mm (standard), 92mm, and 120mm (getting more popular).

 

[BG4533]

Do what OulOat said. Most blowers I have seen are 4 pin molex. Since the front fan varies, it would be nice to see what speed it currently is at. So, put that on the mobo if possible. From what I have seen, blowers dont give the best results, but with your case as hot as it is, you will probably see more than usual.

Brian

 

[JCROCCO]

Thank you all for your help. The stamped fan grill has more holes than mine does, but mine are much bigger holes, about twice as big. I would say they probably have the same amount of hole space total though.

I liked the SVC website and pricing, and bought 80mm fans temp controlled and rear blower exhaust with connectors. Will let you know the results, problems, etc after I receive and install them, and the after affect on temps as well.

Thanks alot.