Need some advice for cooling my PC...

[Yasu_takagi]

Hello everyone!

I'm not the most tech savvy person out there, but one thing I noticed with my desktop computer is that it seems to be getting too hot, or I think it is. I'm just looking for some tips about cooling the system down, or if I'm just being overly worried for nothing.

I've never actually had my computer shut down on me or give me a blue screen when it gets too hot, nor has the heat ever effected my performance. The only thing that worried me is that when I'm playing a video game like Final Fantasy 14, Heroes of the Storm, or a higher end game, the back seems to get rather hot. On top of that I did run some numbers from the Speedfan program; I'm not sure how accurate it is but wanted to show those as well.

Here are the specs for my computer:

System
Dell LCD monitor (1920x1080) VGA, DVI & HDMI connectivity
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 960 @ 3.20GHz
Gigabyte AMD Radeon R9 280 OC 3GB GDDR5 Windforce card
Realtek HD audio manager
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB internal SSD
12GB DDR3 Ballistix sport memory
850w power supply

Here are the numbers from Speedfan:

normal: (just browsing internet, no games)
system: 37c
cpu: 40c
aux: 32c
hd0: 34c
hd1: 38c
cpu: 40c
mb: 37c
gpu: 37c
core-0: 41c
---------------
When I'm playing higher end games:
system: 53c
cpu: 68c
aux: 29c
hd0: 41c
hd1: 61c
cpu: 68c
MB: 53c
gpu: 56c
core-0: 65c

Also I wanted to include some pictures I put up publicly on my flickr account:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/131512253@N07/

What do you guys think? One thing I wanted to get done is add an extra fan or replace one, but I don't know if it's actually necessary, and it looks like the motherboard that came with my PC doesn't have any extra fan plug spots left to use. I was thinking maybe the case itself is too small for a computer like this, but I don't think I'm knowledgeable enough to redo the entire thing in a bigger case.

Anyway thanks again for any tips, or if I shouldn't bother and it looks fine. Like I said I haven't actually seen any performance issues with my computer, or shutting down, but Norton does notify me once in awhile that its on high alert for performance risk, and that the numbers on Speedfan looked kind of high.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I don't see anything alarming there.

What's the ambient temperature?

The only thing that looks slightly unusual is HD1 at 61 degrees when gaming, which is 23 degrees higher than when browsing. HD0 has only a 3 degree difference.

I assume those are hard drive temps. I don't game much, so don't know if that's to be expected. Personally, I've never seen hard drive temps above 40.

Are those fans in the pictures 80 or 92 mm? If you are limited to those small sizes, you may have to live with temps higher than you would like.

But I don't see any temps even in the 70s, so I wouldn't be alarmed.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I don't see anything alarming there.

What's the ambient temperature?

The only thing that looks slightly unusual is HD1 at 61 degrees when gaming, which is 23 degrees higher than when browsing. HD0 has only a 3 degree difference.

I assume those are hard drive temps. I don't game much, so don't know if that's to be expected. Personally, I've never seen hard drive temps above 40.

Are those fans in the pictures 80 or 92 mm? If you are limited to those small sizes, you may have to live with temps higher than you would like.

But I don't see any temps even in the 70s, so I wouldn't be alarmed.

I agree, as would other "veterans" familiar with the processor specs and expected temperatures.

And before I continue, let us remember this is an OEM Dell system he's talking about. For that and other reasons, it's obvious the OP isn't overclocking his system. Dell's systems seem to show a certain "CPU-thoughtfulness" in the cooling arena, from what I'd seen of other models, but like many OEMs I'd had, you're going to see a certain buildup of warm air inside the case. They also design those boxes for silence.

So my attention is naturally drawn to this anomaly with the HDD and the motherboard temperature under loaded conditions. the HDD temperature is likely outside the range of its healthful operation -- either because there's some problem with its temperature sensor or the reading of it, or the drive is just getting too warm.

And I would say -- so is the motherboard @ 58C. But the problem with SpeedFan, as always, lies in the uncertainty that the name applied to this or that temperature and sensor is correct. If you want to use Speedfan, one has to tweak it, and every time its usage comes into the discussion, some question its reliability in accurate thermal reporting.

 

[Aikouka]

68C is a bit high compared to most enthusiasts on here; however, as others have said, the temperatures are fine. I forget what the exact temperature threshold is on the Intel CPUs, but I believe it's 100C. Your GPU temps are fine as well. Now, could you get better temperatures? Sure. Your CPU cooler is probably not that efficient, and it looks like you only have a single exhaust fan; however, it looks like that's pretty much all your case supports.

Now, there is one thing that you can do that will help, and that's adding a side-panel case fan. I'm assuming that the last photo is the side panel, which appears to have an 80mm(?) spot for a fan. I'd recommend getting a quiet case fan to help push in extra air. You should also toss a fan filter on the side as it will pull in dust.

Now, there is one thing that worries me... your HD1 temp. The thing is, I only see one HDD in your photos, but the thought of a HDD running at 65C makes me do this ! I prefer to see drives at a maximum of around 40C, but I tend to keep them between 35-40C. All of my HDDs operate with direct airflow.

 

[Yasu_takagi]

Thank you everyone for the advice, it's really helpful and I appreciate it. I wanted to give a small update and ask a few more questions.

More recently I cleaned out my computer better, and I took the two older fans out and installed two newer Tricool 92mm fans. So as of now I have one fan in the front, one in the back, along with the psu and heatsink fan. I made sure to properly install them facing the correct ways.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that these current temperatures were taken when the apartment was a little over 80 degrees inside (a hot summer day in MA).

Here are the current Speedfan specs:

Idle, browsing internet:
system:37c
cpu:41c
aux:32c
hd0:37c
cpu:41c
mb:38c
gpu:40c
core0:45c

gaming, playing on higher settings on newer games like Heroes of Storm, FF14, etc:
system:42c
cpu:63c
aux:31c
hd0:40c
cpu:63c
MB:42c
gpu:51c
core0:65c

Do those look okay? I don't really see another spot for another fan other then the side panel suggested, but the only thing with that is it seems very close to the giant heat sink unit, it would almost be touching it in the case if I screwed another fan in, not sure if that matters or not.

Thanks again!

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Looks OK to me. If CPU temps were in the high 70s, then maybe I'd start to consider a better cooler.

I'm sure you could find some type of stress test (such as Prime 95 or Intel Burn Test) that would drive temps into the danger zone, but those tests aren't representative of what you would face in day to day usage.

 

[Aikouka]

Do those look okay? I don't really see another spot for another fan other then the side panel suggested, but the only thing with that is it seems very close to the giant heat sink unit, it would almost be touching it in the case if I screwed another fan in, not sure if that matters or not.

They look fine to me, and it looks like the HD1 reading is gone, which was the only one that really popped out when I first looked.

As for fan proximity, it doesn't really matter as long as they fit and it doesn't cause any wires to stray into the blades. If it's a matter of the side panel fan being too thick and hitting the heatsink, they do sell slim fans. They don't push as much air and are slightly noisier, but they still do a decent job.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

My apologies to the OP, for misunderstanding his "rig:" it's NOT an OEM/Dell -- I probably picked that up from the monitor spec he posted.

Once again, unless prepared to do a lot of configuration for SpeedFan, I wouldn't use it to measure temperatures. Use CPUID's HWMonitor.

I can think of some simple ways to get more cooling from that circular heatpipe cooler. PM me if interested.