Questions about cooling..

[Tremulant]

So, I just built my rig last week and I've been putting it through it's paces.

My rig:
Athlon 64 3000+
Radeon 9800 Pro
MSI K8N Neo Platinum mobo
Nu Tech DDW-082
Samsung 160GB HDD
400 watt Sparkle PSU
Kingwin KT-424-BK case.

I just have some questions...

Idle cpu temp is 43 celcius (36-37 w/ CnQ enabled and idling), case is 43-45 celcius.
Load cpu temp is 57 celcius and the case gets to 48 celcius.

Atleast that's what MBM says, the BIOS says the same also.

Currently there's 3 fans in the case.. two in the front for intake and one in the rear as exhaust. They are the ones that came with the case. The CPU cooling is stock.

I have two questions..

1) Should I be worried about my temps? I've noticed a few times while gaming that I get artifacts, is this because it's too hot?

2) Would putting in my 300 watt Antec PSU from my old pc be enough to power this rig? I'm guessing it might be, since I only have one optical drive and one hdd.

I've noticed when I first booted up, that there was a lot of heat coming from the PSU, but everything else was cool. Every so often I check it, and it's the same thing, the PSU seems to generate the most heat.. could this be because it only has one fan on it?

Anyways, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Oh, and I'm in South Florida.. if it means anything.

Thanks.

 

[Zepper]

I wouldn't want my case temp to get so warm. I like in the 30s for case in the 40s for CPU. You may want to duct your CPU. Available here http://www.SVC.com and elsewhere...
.bh.

 

[thetman]

well exactly how hot does it get down there in south florida? do you get 40 degree days regularly? if so, theres not much you can do to help. ducting will help, but your cpu will still be ~ 10 degrees warmer than your room temp. if it isn't that hot, i'd think there might be something wrong with the reading. 3 case fans should do a little more cooling that that. also, the stock cooling for the 9800pro sucks. with a warm case, you really might wanna look into some extra cooling for it.

 

[akira34]

If you go to a new PSU, get one of the Antec True Power models (two fans). Either the 380W or 430W will be more than enough. The 330W (True Power) would probably cut it too. If you plan to [ever] install more drives (either hard or optical) then get either the 380W or 430W. The True Power PSU will pull air out of the case (through the underside fan) and blow it out the back. If that doesn't help much, then install another fan in the rear of the case (venting of course). I'd also make sure that the fans in the front and rear are blowing in the proper direction too (don't always trust the case assembly people, they can screw up too).

Is your place air conditioned? If not, get one for at least that room. Even central FL gets too damned hot to run computers during the summer without an AC running (used to live there, until I moved out of hell).

 

[Tremulant]

Thanks for the replies.

One other question.. are my readings right? The highest I've seen the cpu go is 57, but the case hasn't ever gone past 50. Plus, the cpu drops to 36-37 and the case stays at around 40-44. Is that possible? I think I read in another thread that the cpu can't be cooler than the case (or maybe it was the other way around)?

There is air conditioning (kept at around 78-80), and I have a ceiling fan running at med or high during the day and low or medium during the night.

And I didn't look closely enough at the sparkle psu when I ordered it, because I was intent on getting a psu with 2 fans and I kinda spaced out alittle when ordering the parts (got over-excited).

Anyways, I'm gonna hook up the Logitech Z-640 speakers I just bought. ($80 - $30 MIR at CC = $50, about the same after tax as on newegg/amazon, just no wait)

Edit: The fans are blowing properly, I checked that when I got the case in. I'm thinking that because of the PSU and the heat (~91 degrees fahrenheit atm.. and it's cooling off) that my temps are high.

 

[Zepper]

If your room temp is at 80 F or below, and the humidity isn't too awful, then your computer temps are quite high. How warm is the air coming out of the PSU? If it is quite warm, then perhaps the PSU fan isn't doing its share. Either connect the PSU fan directly to 12V (bypassing the temp control circuit - mine was putting out warmer air than I liked, so that 's what I did) or mod for a bigger (90 or 120mm) exhaust fan.
.bh.

 

[harrkev]

For your mobo (I have the same one), the "case temp" is actually the temp of the northbridge. So high "case temperatures" are fairly normal. But if you want to replace that stock heat sink with something a little better, feel free.

 

[Tremulant]

Ah... well, that would make sense. So.. how would I find the actual temp of the case then?

edit: messed around a bit with mbm.. and I think WinBond 3 might be the case temp.. however, it's even hotter than the NB.