Shuttle XPC Heat Problem

Howdy everyone! I've got a shuttle XPC small form factor and it has some
heat issues.

Here's a diagram of how the cooling pipes work if you're interested...
some neat stuff.

http://sys.us.shuttle.com/Why_Inside6.aspx

and this is my actual machine...

http://us.shuttle.com/specs_access.asp?pro_id=285

Short explanation of what's going on. The BIOS has a feature that speeds
the fan up when the CPU core reaches a certain temp. Well, I'm not sure
how effective this "feature is" because the fan turns up for litterally
1 second at a time... and it does this over and over. I wish it would
just stay on until the darn thing turns ice cold. This little bugger
heats up badly even when the computer is idle... even when just sitting
at the BIOS screen!!! So with little to no CPU activity, it's
overheating!!! This leads me to believe that it's the Power Supply
that's the culprit. When I open the case, that thing is read hot. (not
litterally)


I'm just wondering if anyone has a suggestion as to how to cool this
machine better. Is there a product to cool the power supply that will
fit into a small form factor? Any suggestions would be cool ~~~punn~~~

-nikoli

nikoli wrote:
Howdy everyone! I've got a shuttle XPC small form factor and it has
some heat issues.

Here's a diagram of how the cooling pipes work if you're interested...
some neat stuff.

http://sys.us.shuttle.com/Why_Inside6.aspx

and this is my actual machine...

http://us.shuttle.com/specs_access.asp?pro_id=285

Short explanation of what's going on. The BIOS has a feature that
speeds the fan up when the CPU core reaches a certain temp. Well, I'm
not sure how effective this "feature is" because the fan turns up for
litterally 1 second at a time... and it does this over and over. I
wish it would just stay on until the darn thing turns ice cold. This
little bugger heats up badly even when the computer is idle... even
when just sitting at the BIOS screen!!! So with little to no CPU
activity, it's overheating!!! This leads me to believe that it's the
Power Supply that's the culprit. When I open the case, that thing is
read hot. (not litterally)


I'm just wondering if anyone has a suggestion as to how to cool this
machine better. Is there a product to cool the power supply that will
fit into a small form factor? Any suggestions would be cool ~~~punn~~~

Are you sure you fitted the heat sink properly?

I've just built a Shuttle SN41G2 v2 with an Althlon XP2600 Barton and I
can't get it to exceed 49 degrees even during a couple of hours constant
video conversion. I didn't use the heat sink compound that came in the
Shuttle kit, but Arctic Silver (v2) and it seems to be doing the trick very
nicely.

--
regards,
dslr

dslr wrote:
nikoli wrote:

Howdy everyone! I've got a shuttle XPC small form factor and it has
some heat issues.

Here's a diagram of how the cooling pipes work if you're interested...
some neat stuff.

http://sys.us.shuttle.com/Why_Inside6.aspx

and this is my actual machine...

http://us.shuttle.com/specs_access.asp?pro_id=285

Short explanation of what's going on. The BIOS has a feature that
speeds the fan up when the CPU core reaches a certain temp. Well, I'm
not sure how effective this "feature is" because the fan turns up for
litterally 1 second at a time... and it does this over and over. I
wish it would just stay on until the darn thing turns ice cold. This
little bugger heats up badly even when the computer is idle... even
when just sitting at the BIOS screen!!! So with little to no CPU
activity, it's overheating!!! This leads me to believe that it's the
Power Supply that's the culprit. When I open the case, that thing is
read hot. (not litterally)


I'm just wondering if anyone has a suggestion as to how to cool this
machine better. Is there a product to cool the power supply that will
fit into a small form factor? Any suggestions would be cool ~~~punn~~~


Are you sure you fitted the heat sink properly?

I've just built a Shuttle SN41G2 v2 with an Althlon XP2600 Barton and I
can't get it to exceed 49 degrees even during a couple of hours constant
video conversion. I didn't use the heat sink compound that came in the
Shuttle kit, but Arctic Silver (v2) and it seems to be doing the trick very
nicely.


Yes, I'm positive on that. My friend (computer building guru) helped me
make sure I got it right when I put the machine together. And mine
didn't come with any compound... I had to buy it from CompUSA. Don't
remember what I bought but I remember asking for the good stuff.

I'm almost positive that it's the power supply that's causing me
problems. Does yours get really hot in there? Mine is untouchable at the
end of the day. I think the fact that the CPU core doesn't stay hot for
longer than a couple seconds proves that it's the power supply heating
things up. If it were the CPU, then the fan would stay on for longer
than a couple seconds at a time. In other words, the fan comes on and
cools the CPU down right away because it's idle and not the source of
the heat.

Do you know of any products that cool power supplies?

"nikoli" wrote in message
news:XeiGc.44074$rh.24058@okepread02...
Howdy everyone! I've got a shuttle XPC small form factor and it has some
heat issues.

Here's a diagram of how the cooling pipes work if you're interested...
some neat stuff.

http://sys.us.shuttle.com/Why_Inside6.aspx

and this is my actual machine...

http://us.shuttle.com/specs_access.asp?pro_id=285

Short explanation of what's going on. The BIOS has a feature that speeds
the fan up when the CPU core reaches a certain temp. Well, I'm not sure
how effective this "feature is" because the fan turns up for litterally
1 second at a time... and it does this over and over. I wish it would
just stay on until the darn thing turns ice cold. This little bugger
heats up badly even when the computer is idle... even when just sitting
at the BIOS screen!!! So with little to no CPU activity, it's
overheating!!! This leads me to believe that it's the Power Supply
that's the culprit. When I open the case, that thing is read hot. (not
litterally)


I'm just wondering if anyone has a suggestion as to how to cool this
machine better. Is there a product to cool the power supply that will
fit into a small form factor? Any suggestions would be cool ~~~punn~~~

-nikoli

If it is getting really hot while sitting at the BIOS screen and the fan is
turning at even the lowest speed then you probably installed the heatsink
block to the CPU improperly or the heatpipes are all defective. I am typing
this on a Shuttle SB65G2 which has a P4 3.0 and it has never gotten to even
60C when running at 100% on CPU-intensive applications like CPDN in a warm
room. This was running the fan in the "auto" mode which resulted in the
temperature remaining more-or-less stable at 56-57C while the fan switched
among the various speeds (letting the system run idle dropped the fan to the
lowest or lowest+1 speed and left it there). I finally decided that the
shifting speeds were more annoying than a continuous drone so I set the fan
to the medium speed in the BIOS and find that the CPU remains at 54-56C
running CPDN. I don't know your BIOS but it seems likely that it has a
similar feature to lock the fan speed.
--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

John McGaw wrote:
"nikoli" wrote in message
news:XeiGc.44074$rh.24058@okepread02...

Howdy everyone! I've got a shuttle XPC small form factor and it has some
heat issues.

Here's a diagram of how the cooling pipes work if you're interested...
some neat stuff.

http://sys.us.shuttle.com/Why_Inside6.aspx

and this is my actual machine...

http://us.shuttle.com/specs_access.asp?pro_id=285

Short explanation of what's going on. The BIOS has a feature that speeds
the fan up when the CPU core reaches a certain temp. Well, I'm not sure
how effective this "feature is" because the fan turns up for litterally
1 second at a time... and it does this over and over. I wish it would
just stay on until the darn thing turns ice cold. This little bugger
heats up badly even when the computer is idle... even when just sitting
at the BIOS screen!!! So with little to no CPU activity, it's
overheating!!! This leads me to believe that it's the Power Supply
that's the culprit. When I open the case, that thing is read hot. (not
litterally)


I'm just wondering if anyone has a suggestion as to how to cool this
machine better. Is there a product to cool the power supply that will
fit into a small form factor? Any suggestions would be cool ~~~punn~~~

-nikoli


If it is getting really hot while sitting at the BIOS screen and the fan is
turning at even the lowest speed then you probably installed the heatsink
block to the CPU improperly or the heatpipes are all defective. I am typing
this on a Shuttle SB65G2 which has a P4 3.0 and it has never gotten to even
60C when running at 100% on CPU-intensive applications like CPDN in a warm
room. This was running the fan in the "auto" mode which resulted in the
temperature remaining more-or-less stable at 56-57C while the fan switched
among the various speeds (letting the system run idle dropped the fan to the
lowest or lowest+1 speed and left it there). I finally decided that the
shifting speeds were more annoying than a continuous drone so I set the fan
to the medium speed in the BIOS and find that the CPU remains at 54-56C
running CPDN. I don't know your BIOS but it seems likely that it has a
similar feature to lock the fan speed.

Please read my reply to dslr.

I do suppose I could try to reseat it... but I'm pretty sure it's not
the culprit in this case.

Does your power supply get hot?

"nikoli" wrote in message
news:upjGc.44082$rh.42857@okepread02...
John McGaw wrote:
"nikoli" wrote in message
news:XeiGc.44074$rh.24058@okepread02...

Howdy everyone! I've got a shuttle XPC small form factor and it has some
snip...
If it is getting really hot while sitting at the BIOS screen and the fan
is
turning at even the lowest speed then you probably installed the
heatsink
block to the CPU improperly or the heatpipes are all defective. I am
typing
snip...

Please read my reply to dslr.

I do suppose I could try to reseat it... but I'm pretty sure it's not
the culprit in this case.

Does your power supply get hot?

No, the PS doesn't get noticeably hot. My model uses the Shuttle 220W PS and
the INPUT to the supply is 180W so the output is definitely within range.
The air exiting the tiny fan on the PS is probably (just guessing) around
45C. Good luck with your problem!
--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

John McGaw wrote:
"nikoli" wrote in message
news:upjGc.44082$rh.42857@okepread02...

John McGaw wrote:

"nikoli" wrote in message
news:XeiGc.44074$rh.24058@okepread02...


Howdy everyone! I've got a shuttle XPC small form factor and it has some

snip...

If it is getting really hot while sitting at the BIOS screen and the fan

is

turning at even the lowest speed then you probably installed the

heatsink

block to the CPU improperly or the heatpipes are all defective. I am

typing
snip...

Please read my reply to dslr.

I do suppose I could try to reseat it... but I'm pretty sure it's not
the culprit in this case.

Does your power supply get hot?


No, the PS doesn't get noticeably hot. My model uses the Shuttle 220W PS and
the INPUT to the supply is 180W so the output is definitely within range.
The air exiting the tiny fan on the PS is probably (just guessing) around
45C. Good luck with your problem!

See, mine gets ridiculously hot. The air coming out of the fan of it is
every bit as hot as the air coming out of the main fan.

Do you know of any products that could help me cool the PS?

wrote:
On Mon, 05 Jul 2004 16:17:30 -0500, nikoli wrote:


John McGaw wrote:

"nikoli" wrote in message
news:upjGc.44082$rh.42857@okepread02...


John McGaw wrote:


"nikoli" wrote in message
news:XeiGc.44074$rh.24058@okepread02...



Howdy everyone! I've got a shuttle XPC small form factor and it has some

snip...


If it is getting really hot while sitting at the BIOS screen and the fan

is


turning at even the lowest speed then you probably installed the

heatsink


block to the CPU improperly or the heatpipes are all defective. I am

typing
snip...


Please read my reply to dslr.

I do suppose I could try to reseat it... but I'm pretty sure it's not
the culprit in this case.

Does your power supply get hot?


No, the PS doesn't get noticeably hot. My model uses the Shuttle 220W PS and
the INPUT to the supply is 180W so the output is definitely within range.
The air exiting the tiny fan on the PS is probably (just guessing) around
45C. Good luck with your problem!

See, mine gets ridiculously hot. The air coming out of the fan of it is
every bit as hot as the air coming out of the main fan.

Do you know of any products that could help me cool the PS?


The PSU is an exhaust system for the whole collection of components
inside the case, consider then that whilst the PSU feels hot it's only
the radiator for the engine.

Not sure if that's true in the case of SFF shuttle xpc.



Any / all computers are always hottest in the BIOS screen, it's only
after POST that other factors play to suppress CPU activity cooling
the CPU.

Well, it's getting hot no matter where it's at... booted, idle, BIOS.


You seem to be describing a ' case cooling ' problem as the root cause
of what you feel is an overheating problem.

Ok, not sure of the difference... but I'll roll with that idea.


How are you measuring hot, what ºC is the case temp in relation to the
room [ ambient ] temp - it should be 10ºC + (ish )


Let's just say that the PS is untouchable at the end of the day. It's
WAY too hot. The case is WAY WAY WAY hotter than the room temp.

Also, this problem seems to be magnified by the humidity. I don't think
it's a coincidence that it's acting up now that we're in mid-summer.
(I'm in the US) The room isn't terribly hot though and my house is air
conditioned. And this problem is not exlusive to the summer months
anyway... it's just a little worse than usual.

On Mon, 05 Jul 2004 16:17:30 -0500, nikoli wrote:

John McGaw wrote:
"nikoli" wrote in message
news:upjGc.44082$rh.42857@okepread02...

John McGaw wrote:

"nikoli" wrote in message
news:XeiGc.44074$rh.24058@okepread02...


Howdy everyone! I've got a shuttle XPC small form factor and it has some

snip...

If it is getting really hot while sitting at the BIOS screen and the fan

is

turning at even the lowest speed then you probably installed the

heatsink

block to the CPU improperly or the heatpipes are all defective. I am

typing
snip...

Please read my reply to dslr.

I do suppose I could try to reseat it... but I'm pretty sure it's not
the culprit in this case.

Does your power supply get hot?


No, the PS doesn't get noticeably hot. My model uses the Shuttle 220W PS and
the INPUT to the supply is 180W so the output is definitely within range.
The air exiting the tiny fan on the PS is probably (just guessing) around
45C. Good luck with your problem!

See, mine gets ridiculously hot. The air coming out of the fan of it is
every bit as hot as the air coming out of the main fan.

Do you know of any products that could help me cool the PS?

The PSU is an exhaust system for the whole collection of components
inside the case, consider then that whilst the PSU feels hot it's only
the radiator for the engine.

Any / all computers are always hottest in the BIOS screen, it's only
after POST that other factors play to suppress CPU activity cooling
the CPU.

You seem to be describing a ' case cooling ' problem as the root cause
of what you feel is an overheating problem.

How are you measuring hot, what ºC is the case temp in relation to the
room [ ambient ] temp - it should be 10ºC + (ish )

BoroLad

N.B. no experience of SFF's

John McGaw wrote:

If it is getting really hot while sitting at the BIOS screen.......

CPUs *do* get hot just sitting in BIOS. They run cooler when the operating
system is running and supplying 'halt' commands to the CPU when it's not
being used. Sometimes the hottest temperatures you'll see are with the
machine just sitting at the BIOS screen.
--
~misfit~