PSU Feels rather hot - and crap temps no matter what i do

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
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I installed my Antec Truepower 430W. But at the back where the gold fan is, the grate over this fan feels a lot warmer than the old Seasonic 300w i was just wondering if more heat comes with a bigger wattage?

Also i got a matx case and its made of thick steel, not flimsy crap like other cases this stuff is thick. So am i doomed to crap temps no matter what i do? It reads that overall system temp is 40*C the same as the processor at idle.... both hdd's are typically hotter than the processor at 43-44*C The ambiant room temp is around 26* or slightly higher now yea i know 40*C is nothing for a processor temp but i get the general idea that other things are usually *cooler* than the processor not hotter... Is there an effective solution to this except get a new case?

My cooling scheme:
2 80mm fans at back blowing out air
1 80mm sucking in air from the side*
Antec has 2 fans which do absolutely nothing that the seasonic single fan couldnt do.
*The side of the case has been removed after my comp reset itself.
 

AsiLuc

Member
Apr 11, 2004
75
0
0
Quite simple:
Air-intake: one 80mm fan
Air-outtake: two 80mm fan + PSU

Once you get that balanced, temps will drop. You could turn one of the outtakes off, or reposition and use it as an intake.
Good luck!
 

Davegod

Platinum Member
Nov 26, 2001
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That PSU varies the speed of it's fans according to how hot the PSU is, theyre really just to keep the PSU cool.

Do you have any of those case fans plugged into the PSU's "fan only" cable? Connecting fans to this cable will reduce the power to those fans when the PSU is cool (same as it varies the fans inside the PSU). If so try putting them on a normal cable so they work at full whack.

General rule of thumb for case cooling is to have roughly equal exhaust to intake fan airflow, or more exhaust. I'd suggest if possible to reposition the intake fan so it's sucking in at the lower-front of the case, preferably somewhere near those hard drives.

If the PC still resets itself with the side door off, and it's not a software issue e.g. Blaster worm, then you either have a really bad cpu heatsink, a badly installed CPU heatsink, some peice of hardware is busted or a power issue - e.g. shorted or broken circuit; too much power being drawn on a rail (or everything dumped on the one cable).
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
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TruePower units do tend to run a bit warm. 40C for a case temperature, if that is an actual temperature and not the usual hallucinations on the part of your monitoring software, is too high and should be corrected. What case do you have? Are the exhaust fans covered with a flow-restricting grillework, and if so, could you remove it and use chromed wire grilles or no grilles at all? This often helps, in addition to the other good tips given already.
 

vshah

Lifer
Sep 20, 2003
19,003
24
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if you don't have them, get fan filters over your intake fans to cut down on dust. dusting my system every 3-4 weeks usually results in all around temp drops of 2-3C


-Vivan
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
Ok well i ran norton and it found 1 virus.... damn thing picked a really bad time to show up on my comp as it couldve been that virus that caused the reset or the temps. Either way ill go hook up the fans to normal plugs as they are on the fan only ones. Also i cant fit a fan at the front, the wires to the hdd lite and power button just dont allow it although there is a grate at the front for air. Guy that designed it was an idiot, wtf is the point in the grate if a fan cant go there he might as well have stuck more thick steel there too. I cleaned the case too :D so there aint much dust.

Does anyone else know their ambient room temps? Whenever peeps come here the first thing thats said is "oh its like an oven up here!" and this is at 26*C which dosent bother me much but others say thats a bit warm.
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
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fans in series don't double flow, only more likely to reach the potential of a single through obstructions.

are your other fans rather blocked by stuff? your wires tied down hidden? fan grates are more then tiny holes?

26c is 78f, thats not hot. thats warm

40c for harddrives? your case sucks, mine generally are around mid to high 20's. processor at 40c is fine.
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
Amazing!! if i take off the big plastic cover at the front which like the steel is also a bit thick the temps go down a bit!!. Thats not all though the fan speed goes down by about 2000rpm so thats from 5500ish down to 3500ish which is excellent. 0roo hit the nail on the head though my case just sucks plain and simple. This is what happens when you dont build your own comp :(

Anyways i think i should get myself a new case. Any reccomendations? (i get the idea that atx is better than matx for cooling etc) It should have the following:
Room for 2 Hdd's//2cd drives and 2 floppy drive size things
Good front to back cooling
Not too pricey but good looks (coolings more imporant)

I could actually go find one myself but i need to know a few things first.
Would my matx mobo fit into an atx case?
Is there anything else i need to change/know when going from matx to atx?
 

Davegod

Platinum Member
Nov 26, 2001
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have a look at Antec SLK3700BQE. Medium sized, good design, looks good for a computer case - i.e. not beige and doesnt try to pretend it's a spaceship from the planet Tacky Rice. 120mm fan exhaust (and space for a 120mm intake; which I'd seriously consider adding - low/medium rpm, 25mm thick). Also has some quietening stuff like rubber grommets for hard disks etc etc and a good 350w PSU. the SLK3700AMB is similar but less of the noise reduction stuff.

I'm fairly confident any mATX mobo is supposed to fit in an ATX case.
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Originally posted by: Davegod
have a look at Antec SLK3700BQE. Medium sized, good design, looks good for a computer case - i.e. not beige and doesnt try to pretend it's a spaceship from the planet Tacky Rice. 120mm fan exhaust (and space for a 120mm intake; which I'd seriously consider adding - low/medium rpm, 25mm thick). Also has some quietening stuff like rubber grommets for hard disks etc etc and a good 350w PSU. the SLK3700AMB is similar but less of the noise reduction stuff.

I'm fairly confident any mATX mobo is supposed to fit in an ATX case.
I second the motion :)
 

Jaxidian

Platinum Member
Oct 22, 2001
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By "MATX", do you guys mean "Micro ATX"? If so, wouldn't "µATX" be more appropriate? Or if you're lazy, "uATX"? If you don't mean "Micro ATX", please enlighten me! :)
 

Waterhouse

Member
Mar 11, 2000
122
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Originally posted by: Jaxidian
By "MATX", do you guys mean "Micro ATX"? If so, wouldn't "µATX" be more appropriate? Or if you're lazy, "uATX"? If you don't mean "Micro ATX", please enlighten me! :)

You'd better be careful with your 'm' vs 'M'. The former means milli (1/1000). The latter means mega (X 1000000). So "MATX" would be REALLY big, like a city block. And your "µATX" would be about the size of a grain of salt. The conventional mATX ("milli ATX") looks about like a sugar cube. :D
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
Antec cases seem good, think ill get one of them once ive settled at a uni and i have monay! Ta guys