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Old August 30th 03, 01:18 AM
kony
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On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 22:23:58 +0100, "Peter Cavan"
wrote:

How do I know it overheats? Motherboard Monitor 5 and some other program I
can't remember both say its temps are 60-70. If I turn the PC off and then
(after grounding) touch any of the heatsinks, they are actually sore to
touch. With all of this, I'm pretty sure its overheating. It has been
changed, Dell wouldn't touch it.
Any advice or ideas?
Peter Cavan


For the optimal solution you need to determine if that CPU temp is
causing instability, or the northbridge, or ...

Generally speaking, the heatsinks on systems with the ducted-exhaust
cooling do get REALLY hot. That's the trade-off with a Dell system,
how they usually end up quieter. You might remove the duct and
install a traditional heatsink, but I'm surprised that a 60-70C temp
is causing instability unless it's overclocked.

Are you sure you can't "undo" whatever mods you've done to it, and
have Dell take a look, since it's presumably under warranty still?

More and more I find myself recommending addition of an intake fan to
the left-side panel, towards the bottom-front, since the panel can be
removed (assume it can on your Dell unless they're REALLY changed
'em), and a hole can be cut without having to disassemble the system.
So long as you have a place to do it and the tools it's a quick easy
way to add significant cooling. It's likely a low-RPM 92mm fan would
be enough to significantly decrease chassis air temps, though I can't
predict how much that would affect CPU temps, being unfamiliar with
their current heatsink/duct combo.

Also you might shave a couple more degrees off the CPU temp by simply
removing the heatsink and applying a decent heatsink compound. You
might shave another couple degrees off by lapping the CPU and
heatsink, I doubt that they're perfectly flat.


Dave