cool case temp, high CPU tips?

Just idling my case temp hangs around 32 deg. C but my CPU idles at around
52 deg. C.
It can get up to 38/62 after playing a pretty heavy game.
Now, my CPU's not overclocked, so that CPU temp seems pretty high...and the
case temp seems pretty good.
Since it doesn't look like the case temp is really contributing to the temp
of the CPU, I guess I need to focus on something to do about improving CPU
cooling. Question is..what?

Can a different heatsink and fan than I already have make that much of a
difference?
Right now I have the sink and fan the CPU/mobo combo came with. Although I
did add a fan to the northbridge chip.
Any recomendations as to what I can do to improve, inexpensively, the
cooling of my CPU?

As for my case, I have one intake fan at the front, an outgoing fan at the
rear (in addition to the powersupply's output,) and a PCI slot outtake
directly under my videocard (which also has a fan on it.)
I suspect all these fans are a real drain on my 300watt supply, because when
they're all running my HD seems to sound weird and slow down...so sometimes
I run it with just one or two of the extra fans going. I still get mid 30's
case temps.

Thanks for any feedback!!
Liam

Removing the stock heatsink and replacing its thermal pad with articsilver
would knock off a few degrees. You could then get a fan adaptor and run a
larger fan on it, that would take off a couple degrees more. Etc.

rms

you haven't stated exactly what processor you have, but 62c on load isn't
all that bad for a standard type hsf if you want lower temps you need a more
powerful hsf basically. Keep a check on your system for crashes lockups
etc... as these are generally heat issues so you would know you need to
improve on processor cooling otherwise its ok.

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 15:38:43 GMT, "LRW" wrote:

:Just idling my case temp hangs around 32 deg. C but my CPU idles at around
:52 deg. C.
:It can get up to 38/62 after playing a pretty heavy game.
:Now, my CPU's not overclocked, so that CPU temp seems pretty high...and the
:case temp seems pretty good.
:Since it doesn't look like the case temp is really contributing to the temp
:of the CPU, I guess I need to focus on something to do about improving CPU
:cooling. Question is..what?
:
:Can a different heatsink and fan than I already have make that much of a
:difference?
:Right now I have the sink and fan the CPU/mobo combo came with. Although I
:did add a fan to the northbridge chip.
:Any recomendations as to what I can do to improve, inexpensively, the
:cooling of my CPU?
:
:As for my case, I have one intake fan at the front, an outgoing fan at the
:rear (in addition to the powersupply's output,) and a PCI slot outtake
:directly under my videocard (which also has a fan on it.)
:I suspect all these fans are a real drain on my 300watt supply, because when
:they're all running my HD seems to sound weird and slow down...so sometimes
:I run it with just one or two of the extra fans going. I still get mid 30's
:case temps.
:
:Thanks for any feedback!!
:Liam
:

-----
Lee.

rms wrote:
Removing the stock heatsink and replacing its thermal pad with
articsilver would knock off a few degrees.

Ahem crap. I've tried this with one Athlon and three Bartons now and it
made no difference. In fact in two cases the temp went up one degree. And
yes, I do know how to apply AS3.

You could then get a fan
adaptor and run a larger fan on it, that would take off a couple
degrees more. Etc.

Vantec Aeroflow.
--
~misfit~

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 15:38:43 +0000, LRW wrote:

Just idling my case temp hangs around 32 deg. C but my CPU idles at around
52 deg. C.
It can get up to 38/62 after playing a pretty heavy game.
Now, my CPU's not overclocked, so that CPU temp seems pretty high...and the
case temp seems pretty good.

Depends on ambient room temp as to how good your case cooling is. I
consider good when case temp is no more than 6C over ambient. Check for
restricted air intake/exhaust cause by excessive case metals. Just
clearing the excess metal in front of my front intake fan doubled airflow.

As for the CPU cooler, good would be less than 15C over case at idle. I'd
consider less than 20c over case at idle fair. Anything above that is poor
cpu cooler performance. Yours seems to be in the poor range.


Can a different heatsink and fan than I already have make that much of a
difference?

Yes. I good cooler compared to a poor one can reduce temps by as much as
20-30C under load.

Right now I have the sink and fan the CPU/mobo combo came with. Although
I did add a fan to the northbridge chip. Any recomendations as to what I
can do to improve, inexpensively, the cooling of my CPU?

Your system could have come with 1 on a hundred different coolers. You
don't say what cpu you have. Hmmmm.....
You can pick up a TR2-M1 for about $8. It should do an decent job with
most all cpu's as long as you don't try to overclock to the max and it's
not too loud. For added cooling with it, you could replace the
somewhat quit 32cfm fan. There are also several other copper/aluminum
large hybrid coolers with 70 and 80mm fans that will work well for under
$20.


--
Abit KT7-Raid (KT133) Tbred B core CPU @2400MHz (24x100FSB)
http://mysite.verizon.net/res0exft/cpu.html

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 15:38:43 +0000, LRW wrote:

Forgot this.

http://www.tr2tt.com/English/products.htm

--
Abit KT7-Raid (KT133) Tbred B core CPU @2400MHz (24x100FSB)
http://mysite.verizon.net/res0exft/cpu.html

wrote:

:Just idling my case temp hangs around 32 deg. C but my CPU idles at
around
:52 deg. C.
:It can get up to 38/62 after playing a pretty heavy game.
:Now, my CPU's not overclocked, so that CPU temp seems pretty high...and
the
:case temp seems pretty good.
:Since it doesn't look like the case temp is really contributing to the
temp
:of the CPU, I guess I need to focus on something to do about improving
CPU
:cooling. Question is..what?
:
:Can a different heatsink and fan than I already have make that much of
a
:difference?
:Right now I have the sink and fan the CPU/mobo combo came with.
Although I
:did add a fan to the northbridge chip.
:Any recomendations as to what I can do to improve, inexpensively, the
:cooling of my CPU?
:
:As for my case, I have one intake fan at the front, an outgoing fan at
the
:rear (in addition to the powersupply's output,) and a PCI slot outtake
:directly under my videocard (which also has a fan on it.)
:I suspect all these fans are a real drain on my 300watt supply, because
when
:they're all running my HD seems to sound weird and slow down...so
sometimes
:I run it with just one or two of the extra fans going. I still get mid
30's
:case temps.

Without knowing what cpu and motherboard you're using, or how high you're
overclocking, there's no way to give you an answer. For an Abit IS7/IC7 with
an Intel P4C your temps are just about where they should be. For another
board or cpu, they might be considered high.

"Skid" wrote in message
news:zkDMb.34140$5V2.50716@attbi_s53...
wrote:

Without knowing what cpu and motherboard you're using, or how high you're
overclocking, there's no way to give you an answer. For an Abit IS7/IC7
with
an Intel P4C your temps are just about where they should be. For another
board or cpu, they might be considered high.

Oh, sorry. Stupid mistake.
mobo: Epox KHA with VIA KT266 chipset
cpu: Athalon XP 1600+
No overclocking

Thanks =)

"LRW" wrote in message
news:7czMb.33398$na.24930@attbi_s04...
Just idling my case temp hangs around 32 deg. C but my CPU idles at around
52 deg. C.
It can get up to 38/62 after playing a pretty heavy game.
Now, my CPU's not overclocked, so that CPU temp seems pretty high...and
the
case temp seems pretty good.
Since it doesn't look like the case temp is really contributing to the
temp
of the CPU, I guess I need to focus on something to do about improving CPU
cooling. Question is..what?

OK, so I went out and bought a Volcano 7+ CPU sink/fan.
Installed, set it to medium speed, booted up. It's quiet as a mouse!
Watched my CPU temp climb up to 58 deg. C and stay there. Ouch...not very
impressed.
Turned the fan on to high, and the thing sounds like a turbine engine...but
watched the CPU temp drop until it's now resting at 36 deg. C!! Holy mother!
My case temp is 28 deg. My CPU is only 8 deg warmer than the case temp!!
I think such great cooling is worth the sound.
Although, now that I say that, I do feel a headache coming on. =(
Thanks for the replies everyone!
Liam

"LRW" wrote in message
news:UXDMb.36488$xy6.88984@attbi_s02...
"Skid" wrote in message
news:zkDMb.34140$5V2.50716@attbi_s53...
wrote:

Without knowing what cpu and motherboard you're using, or how high
you're
overclocking, there's no way to give you an answer. For an Abit IS7/IC7
with
an Intel P4C your temps are just about where they should be. For another
board or cpu, they might be considered high.

Oh, sorry. Stupid mistake.
mobo: Epox KHA with VIA KT266 chipset
cpu: Athalon XP 1600+
No overclocking

Thanks =)

XP1600+, that CPU has been around for quite a while. Have you cleaned the
dust out from the insides of the computer, including fans and heatsinks and
motherboard? Dust will make the computer run hot.

Dave