Serious heat issues... - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Halx · 08-02-2006, 03:24 PM

I've run out of ideas. My CPU is running at 59C when idle. Sure, it doesn't help that it's 101 degrees fahrenheit and I have no air conditioning, but I still feel like this is excessive. I can't run WoW without a 7" fan blowing directly into my case. My computer just pumps out heat.

P4 2.8GHz
Gigabyte GA-8IK1100 mobo
2x 512mb Corsair DDR 400, dual channel
All Aluminum Lian-Li case

I mean, screw air flow, I have a fan blowing directly into this thing and its still crazy. I'm feeling like something is wrong. I just took off my heatsink, cleaned it out, reapplied new thermal grease, replaced some cables, rearranged a few things. Nothing is working. The heatsink I have isn't anything special... in fact its just stock, but it should be doing its job anyways, right?

KnifeMissile · 08-02-2006, 05:51 PM

If it's honestly 38° centigrade in your room then I'm not surprised that it's running so hot, even on idle. The P4 is an awful processor and I regret having purchased mine, multimedia be damned!

If you're still concerned with the temperature and you've done all the things you've claimed to do then the only alternative that I can think of is getting a new, heavy duty, heat sink. There are plenty of third-party ones deploying fancy techniques like heat pipes.

portwineboy · 08-02-2006, 06:06 PM

I'm going to hazard a guess and say the CPU is running hot because your apartment is running hot. I'd rather see the idle temp around 45C and peak about 60C with a stock fan on that chip.

Given the enviromental situation you might be better off getting a different cooler for the CPU. Also, unless you are pretty good with the thermal paste it's pretty easy to apply it in a way that would generate more heat, not less.

/edit to say I type slow, KnifeMissile beat me to it.

Dilbert1234567 · 08-02-2006, 06:21 PM

Have you cleaned your heat sink from dust? Second, are you sure the heat sink is getting a good connection to your CPU, not just thermal grease wise, are you sure it’s perfectly flat. I’ve seen some heat sinks that are bowed in or out making it not touch properly, resulting in high heats.

NotAnAlias · 08-03-2006, 12:05 AM

38 degrees inside, jesus, that's hot. You could look into investing in a heatsink. I am way out of touch with the cooling/oc world, but i'd suggest hitting up hard ocp and other overclocking sites and looking at what they recommend.

cyrnel · 08-03-2006, 08:31 AM

Aye, the stock P4 heatsinks were not impressive. Just about anything aftermarket will be better. I like Thermaltake & Thermalright though Zalman or whatever would be fine.

Shops frequently threw away the factory P4 HSF combos.

Back to the thermal grease, just a dab, right?

Halx · 08-03-2006, 09:24 AM

Hmm.

Ok, is this too much? I put some thermal grease on the CPU... maybe a dab enough to cover Lincoln's head on a penny. Then I take a razorblade and I basicly flatten out the compound and spread it across the chip evenly. I come away with a lot of excess grease on the razorblade, but the surface of the chip is covered smoothly with a very very thin layer of grease. The heatsink fits right on it without a problem.

Before maintenance: Computer hard boots itself because it gets too hot.
During Maintenance: Clean out wads of dust from heatsink. Scrape off old thermal paste and put on new paste. Rearrange cabling in case.
After maintenance: Same thing. Temp idles at borderline alert status.

Anyone have any suggestions on a specific heatsink?

Dragonlich · 08-03-2006, 10:25 AM

You might want to try one of them Zalman coolers. I have had good results with a CNPS7000 AlCu, but the 7700 is slightly better (and bigger!). You might also look at the newer Zalman CNPS9500, which is pretty damn good... and big. The advantage of Zalman is that they're good *and* quiet.

Crack · 08-03-2006, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halx

Anyone have any suggestions on a specific heatsink?

Really depends on what you want to spend, you can damn nigh break the bank cooling a CPU...

For a Socket 478... I have always like the AeroCool brand (for Socket A too!) this is a cheapish/decent one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835183107 I can list a few others as well if you want to give me a price barrier...

portwineboy · 08-03-2006, 03:06 PM

Hal it sounds like you did the thermal paste just right...as long as in the removal process old paste you didn't scratch any of the flat surfaces.

I like the Zalman coolers, however, I am in the process of building my first Intel rig since my 386 chip, so I'm not up on which model to recommend.

/waiting for Conroe...

Plaid13 · 08-03-2006, 03:21 PM

In all honesty... any heatsink you do put on isnt going to help much. 101f is just too hot to run a computer in. 85F is about as hot as they are designed to handle. If you really want that thing to run cooler buy yourself a good window AC unit. If thats not possible try moving the computer into the basement if you have one. IF there is really nothing you can do about the temp in the room the only thing you can do is increase the airflow through the computer. a bigger fan isnt always the answer. sure it will blow alot of air into the case but then that air most likely has trouble getting out so it just spins around inside being hot.

Having too much thermal past is a bad thing btw. but i kinda doubt thats your problem.

My personal fav setup is having a intake fan on the side of the case that has a air duct directing all of that cool air right to the fan over the processor. then a intake fan on the lower front of the case and two exhaust fans in the back of hte case at the top. That way you know all the air being blow over your CPU is as cool as it can possibly be without hurting the air flow to the rest of the case. Its very cheap to set up and has worked wonders on my case. If you want you can make the airduct out of real cheap stuff even. cut up a part of a pop bottle to make the duct and just tape it to the back of the fan.

Not really sure how your case is set up now without pictures or anything but with a air duct right to the cpu as long as air is flowing right from the outside of the case directly onto the cpu thats about as cool as your going to get. Most likely your orginaly heat sink is plenty good. But i dont have any experiance with pentiums just amds. But i know the heat sink and fans that come with AMD are about as good as they get. buying aftermarket one for them is almost always a total waste of money. But if pentium heat sinks are really that much worst then AMDs are and it does help getting a aftermarket one it will just help that much more running a air duct to it. just make sure you have enough exhaust fans on the case to suck all the air out thats being blown in. otherwise air will just stay in the case and heat up.

Dilbert1234567 · 08-03-2006, 05:58 PM

You could always lower the voltage on your CPU, and see if its still stable, that will reduce your temp. my amd64 is running at 1.3 volts instead of 1.4 for a nice temp reduction of 10F

Beyond that for a new cooler, one of the zalman flowers is a good choice, as long as it will fit on your board. i have one in 2 of my 5 systems, they are wonderful, on my server, the fan stopped (it was unplugged by accident to no fault of the product) and it kept running fine, albeit at 130F. For your situation with the high external temp, you need to remove the heat fast; get a high powered fan, like: http://www.amazon.com/Vornado-610W-P...890219?ie=UTF8
Take off the side of the system and use this to get the hot air out. See if you can go to Wal-Mart and pick one up cheep, keep the receipt just in case it’s not enough.

KnifeMissile · 08-03-2006, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plaid13

Not really sure how your case is set up now without pictures or anything but with a air duct right to the cpu as long as air is flowing right from the outside of the case directly onto the cpu thats about as cool as your going to get. Most likely your orginaly heat sink is plenty good. But i dont have any experiance with pentiums just amds. But i know the heat sink and fans that come with AMD are about as good as they get. buying aftermarket one for them is almost always a total waste of money. But if pentium heat sinks are really that much worst then AMDs are and it does help getting a aftermarket one it will just help that much more running a air duct to it. just make sure you have enough exhaust fans on the case to suck all the air out thats being blown in. otherwise air will just stay in the case and heat up.

The emphasis is mine...

In an attempt to quell the proliferation of metaphysics, I should remind you that even fluids obey conservation of mass. Thus, if you push air into the computer case (say, with an intake fan), then an equal amount of air will be pushed out, regardless of whether you have an outtake fan or not.

Now, don't get me wrong, the addition of an outtake fan can help you shape the kind of airflow you want but, even with its absence, the air simply won't "stay in the case and heat up..."

Plaid13 · 08-04-2006, 04:33 AM

that really depends because the airflow could be off and you could have the cool air going out before it even cools the processor while the hot air spins around in a boxed section or that air from the fan could be pushed off out to the sides and not flow past the heat sink like you want it to. with just one big fan blowing at the case it might not flow past the cpu it could end up just blowing around in front of it without really getting to it. Thats why a case with good airflow runs cooler then a case with the side panal removed and a big fan blowing at it. and i assume thats what he ment by having a 7 inch fan blowing right into the case. with the side of the case open most of the air jus bounces off stuff in there and comes right back out at the fan without getting down in by the heat sink very well. Now if that fan was mounted in the case with a 7 inch hole so all the air couldnt blow right back out by it it would still do better with the same amount of exhaust fan power blowing it out because if theres not enough air being sucked out of the case it would increase the air pressure in the case and that fan would start causing turbulance and basicly just beat the hell out of the air instead of blowing it all into the case. idealy you want to have a little more exhaust then intake just to help the dust get sucked out instead of building up inside the case. At least thats what i have read in some overclocking forums. But yes your right that same amount of air will get pushed out but.. will it get pushed out past what you want it to or will it blow around in a circle without getting to what needs to be cooled.

Dilbert1234567 · 08-04-2006, 12:19 PM

In your case, bigger is not always better, a large zalman will not suit you well with out help. The large copper heat sinks with slow fans work great in normal situations, they balance out the spikes of heat by spreading the heat over a large area, and then slowly cooling it down with a large, slow fan. In your case, you are trying to cool your heat sink with hot air, so you will need much more air to cool it with, not more copper. If your not concerned about noise, get a large box fan, and mount it on the side of your case, and suck the air out, better yet, if both sides come off of your case, blow in one and out the other.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=172282

Ratman · 08-04-2006, 02:51 PM

You might want to try lapping your hetasink as well.

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1015/

KnifeMissile · 08-05-2006, 01:27 PM

You know, Ratman, I think the original saying goes:

"In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is..."

Are we not men?

soccerchamp76 · 08-05-2006, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KnifeMissile

The emphasis is mine...

In an attempt to quell the proliferation of metaphysics, I should remind you that even fluids obey conservation of mass. Thus, if you push air into the computer case (say, with an intake fan), then an equal amount of air will be pushed out, regardless of whether you have an outtake fan or not.

Now, don't get me wrong, the addition of an outtake fan can help you shape the kind of airflow you want but, even with its absence, the air simply won't "stay in the case and heat up..."

Actually, that is incorrect. Conservation of mass states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. Pressure is the term used for various amounts of fluids (air/liquid) per unit. With more intake, he could have greater pressure built up in his case. Having a better or bigger exhaust fan in that case would be necessary to move out the greater amount of air.

KnifeMissile · 08-06-2006, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soccerchamp76

Actually, that is incorrect. Conservation of mass states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. Pressure is the term used for various amounts of fluids (air/liquid) per unit. With more intake, he could have greater pressure built up in his case. Having a better or bigger exhaust fan in that case would be necessary to move out the greater amount of air.

While it's true that there's more to the situation than conservation of mass, I had thought that that something "more" would have been common sense and would not need mentioning.

Even if the case doesn't have an exhaust fan, computer enclosures are not air tight, even if you disregard the exhaust valve(s) that it will certainly have. Thus, the air pressure in the case will equalize and, thus, the same amount of air that was pushed into the case will have left. QED...

Jack1.0 · 08-06-2006, 07:44 AM

I personally use Zalman coolers because they do a great job of keeping my CPU cool while running very quietly. I a hot room there will be limits to how effective any cooler will be. For about $100 you can get an small window mounted air conditioner. Might help out more than just the computer......

pornclerk · 08-06-2006, 08:14 AM

Why not just turn the computer off when you aren't using it? It will save it from becoming hotter in the room and the machine will get a chance to cool down for a while.

Dilbert1234567 · 08-06-2006, 01:10 PM

play your games at night, its cooler then.

Plaid13 · 08-06-2006, 04:37 PM

I really think the best option is the window AC unit. Drop the temp in the room 30 degrees and it will most likely drop the computers temp about the same amount. I would really like to hear what you try and how well it works. always intresting to hear how people cool computers. Such a simple thing to do and so many diffrent ways to do it.

FallenAvatar · 08-06-2006, 04:59 PM

The air might have something to do with it, but try cleaning out everything, maybe checking your heatsink or upgrading.

soccerchamp76 · 08-06-2006, 06:40 PM

When the surrounding temperature is around 100 degrees, there isn't that much that you can do. You could buy a bigger heatsink but once that heats up after awhile, the temperature drop won't be much at all.

captobvious · 08-06-2006, 07:29 PM

I agree with the others that your best bet would be making the surrounding temperature cooler. It reminds me of when I had my computer in a tiny room with no AC a few years ago. Having the computer running made it even worse. Besides the suggestions to buy a window AC unit, you could also try moving your computer to more open area of your house/apartment. The increased ventilation might help your computer run a little cooler.

shakran · 08-06-2006, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KnifeMissile

Even if the case doesn't have an exhaust fan, computer enclosures are not air tight, even if you disregard the exhaust valve(s) that it will certainly have. Thus, the air pressure in the case will equalize and, thus, the same amount of air that was pushed into the case will have left.

But it can still leave slower than it can come in. Look at a soaker hose to get an idea of how this works. You can open up the faucet, and the water comes in quickly until the hose is full. Then there's lots of pressure on the intake side but, even though the soaker hose is not water tight, it still comes out slowly. Now, add a heat source to the soaker hose (leave it out in the sun) and wait about half an hour. Check the water coming out of the soaker holes. It'll be warm, even though the water going in is cool.

It works the same way for a computer case. If you put, say 300CFM worth of fans in the front, but the case can only evacuate 75CFM out the back, then you'll get higher air pressure inside the case than you normally would. It'll eventually equalize, but at a higher pressure than when it's off. And that extra air will just heat up instead of removing heat from the case. That's why you want a fan or two in the back - to speed up the egress of air from the case.

Atomic Pinkie · 08-06-2006, 10:36 PM

Room temp is key when running a computer nowadays. I had a similar problem when I moved into my apartment, summer days + computer = overheat. AC unit fixed that problem, a nice 70-75 Faranheit room temp and I'm back down to 30ish celcius for the CPU temp.

I even have a P4 2.8ghz!

:P

KnifeMissile · 08-07-2006, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shakran

But it can still leave slower than it can come in. Look at a soaker hose to get an idea of how this works. You can open up the faucet, and the water comes in quickly until the hose is full. Then there's lots of pressure on the intake side but, even though the soaker hose is not water tight, it still comes out slowly. Now, add a heat source to the soaker hose (leave it out in the sun) and wait about half an hour. Check the water coming out of the soaker holes. It'll be warm, even though the water going in is cool.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say with the "soaker hose" analogy nor am I sure if you understand what I'm saying (or not saying).

So, lets clarify this much. Do you believe that the same amount of water that you push into a (filled) soaker hose will be pushed out?

Quote:

It works the same way for a computer case. If you put, say 300CFM worth of fans in the front, but the case can only evacuate 75CFM out the back, then you'll get higher air pressure inside the case than you normally would. It'll eventually equalize, but at a higher pressure than when it's off. And that extra air will just heat up instead of removing heat from the case. That's why you want a fan or two in the back - to speed up the egress of air from the case.

I'm getting the sense that there might be some inkling of understanding when you admit that the pressure will "equalize," so lets run with that.

I think your characterization of "eventully" when you refer to the equalization of pressure is dishonest in that the pressure will equalize in a fraction of a second. Even when you have intake fans pushing air into the case faster than the outtake fans are pushing it out, while there is a positive pressure differential, the pressure difference will always remain minimal because the computer case is so porous... It will even be pushed out the outtake fan valve faster than the outtake fan can push it!

Now, it's probably important to note that I have, yet, to make any statement on the thermal propterties of such a system, if that's what you're trying to debate. The only thing I've discussed, so far, is the volume of air in the case and how it must remain (relatively) constant.

Outtake fans are useful (in addition to intake fans) if you want to shape the air flow. So, if you want air to be pushed out a specific valve (rather than just any and all pores), then an outtake fan will help do that but, make no mistake, (and this was my only point) that air will be pushed out whether you have an outtake fan or not!

08-02-2006, 03:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	Serious heat issues... I've run out of ideas. My CPU is running at 59C when idle. Sure, it doesn't help that it's 101 degrees fahrenheit and I have no air conditioning, but I still feel like this is excessive. I can't run WoW without a 7" fan blowing directly into my case. My computer just pumps out heat. P4 2.8GHz Gigabyte GA-8IK1100 mobo 2x 512mb Corsair DDR 400, dual channel All Aluminum Lian-Li case I mean, screw air flow, I have a fan blowing directly into this thing and its still crazy. I'm feeling like something is wrong. I just took off my heatsink, cleaned it out, reapplied new thermal grease, replaced some cables, rearranged a few things. Nothing is working. The heatsink I have isn't anything special... in fact its just stock, but it should be doing its job anyways, right? __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

08-02-2006, 06:06 PM	#3 (permalink)
portwineboy Master of No Domains Location: WEEhawken, New Joisey	I'm going to hazard a guess and say the CPU is running hot because your apartment is running hot. I'd rather see the idle temp around 45C and peak about 60C with a stock fan on that chip. Given the enviromental situation you might be better off getting a different cooler for the CPU. Also, unless you are pretty good with the thermal paste it's pretty easy to apply it in a way that would generate more heat, not less. /edit to say I type slow, KnifeMissile beat me to it. __________________ If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.

08-02-2006, 06:21 PM	#4 (permalink)
Dilbert1234567 Devils Cabana Boy Location: Central Coast CA	Have you cleaned your heat sink from dust? Second, are you sure the heat sink is getting a good connection to your CPU, not just thermal grease wise, are you sure it’s perfectly flat. I’ve seen some heat sinks that are bowed in or out making it not touch properly, resulting in high heats. __________________ Donate Blood! "Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

08-03-2006, 08:31 AM	#6 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	Aye, the stock P4 heatsinks were not impressive. Just about anything aftermarket will be better. I like Thermaltake & Thermalright though Zalman or whatever would be fine. Shops frequently threw away the factory P4 HSF combos. Back to the thermal grease, just a dab, right? __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

08-03-2006, 09:24 AM	#7 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	Hmm. Ok, is this too much? I put some thermal grease on the CPU... maybe a dab enough to cover Lincoln's head on a penny. Then I take a razorblade and I basicly flatten out the compound and spread it across the chip evenly. I come away with a lot of excess grease on the razorblade, but the surface of the chip is covered smoothly with a very very thin layer of grease. The heatsink fits right on it without a problem. Before maintenance: Computer hard boots itself because it gets too hot. During Maintenance: Clean out wads of dust from heatsink. Scrape off old thermal paste and put on new paste. Rearrange cabling in case. After maintenance: Same thing. Temp idles at borderline alert status. Anyone have any suggestions on a specific heatsink? __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

08-02-2006, 05:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
KnifeMissile Location: Waterloo, Ontario	If it's honestly 38° centigrade in your room then I'm not surprised that it's running so hot, even on idle. The P4 is an awful processor and I regret having purchased mine, multimedia be damned! If you're still concerned with the temperature and you've done all the things you've claimed to do then the only alternative that I can think of is getting a new, heavy duty, heat sink. There are plenty of third-party ones deploying fancy techniques like heat pipes.

08-03-2006, 12:05 AM	#5 (permalink)
NotAnAlias Tilted Location: Auckland, New Zealand	38 degrees inside, jesus, that's hot. You could look into investing in a heatsink. I am way out of touch with the cooling/oc world, but i'd suggest hitting up hard ocp and other overclocking sites and looking at what they recommend.

08-03-2006, 10:25 AM	#8 (permalink)
Dragonlich 42, baby! Location: The Netherlands	You might want to try one of them Zalman coolers. I have had good results with a CNPS7000 AlCu, but the 7700 is slightly better (and bigger!). You might also look at the newer Zalman CNPS9500, which is pretty damn good... and big. The advantage of Zalman is that they're good and quiet.

08-03-2006, 03:06 PM	#10 (permalink)
portwineboy Master of No Domains Location: WEEhawken, New Joisey	Hal it sounds like you did the thermal paste just right...as long as in the removal process old paste you didn't scratch any of the flat surfaces. I like the Zalman coolers, however, I am in the process of building my first Intel rig since my 386 chip, so I'm not up on which model to recommend. /waiting for Conroe... __________________ If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.

08-03-2006, 03:21 PM	#11 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	In all honesty... any heatsink you do put on isnt going to help much. 101f is just too hot to run a computer in. 85F is about as hot as they are designed to handle. If you really want that thing to run cooler buy yourself a good window AC unit. If thats not possible try moving the computer into the basement if you have one. IF there is really nothing you can do about the temp in the room the only thing you can do is increase the airflow through the computer. a bigger fan isnt always the answer. sure it will blow alot of air into the case but then that air most likely has trouble getting out so it just spins around inside being hot. Having too much thermal past is a bad thing btw. but i kinda doubt thats your problem. My personal fav setup is having a intake fan on the side of the case that has a air duct directing all of that cool air right to the fan over the processor. then a intake fan on the lower front of the case and two exhaust fans in the back of hte case at the top. That way you know all the air being blow over your CPU is as cool as it can possibly be without hurting the air flow to the rest of the case. Its very cheap to set up and has worked wonders on my case. If you want you can make the airduct out of real cheap stuff even. cut up a part of a pop bottle to make the duct and just tape it to the back of the fan. Not really sure how your case is set up now without pictures or anything but with a air duct right to the cpu as long as air is flowing right from the outside of the case directly onto the cpu thats about as cool as your going to get. Most likely your orginaly heat sink is plenty good. But i dont have any experiance with pentiums just amds. But i know the heat sink and fans that come with AMD are about as good as they get. buying aftermarket one for them is almost always a total waste of money. But if pentium heat sinks are really that much worst then AMDs are and it does help getting a aftermarket one it will just help that much more running a air duct to it. just make sure you have enough exhaust fans on the case to suck all the air out thats being blown in. otherwise air will just stay in the case and heat up.

08-03-2006, 05:58 PM	#12 (permalink)
Dilbert1234567 Devils Cabana Boy Location: Central Coast CA	You could always lower the voltage on your CPU, and see if its still stable, that will reduce your temp. my amd64 is running at 1.3 volts instead of 1.4 for a nice temp reduction of 10F Beyond that for a new cooler, one of the zalman flowers is a good choice, as long as it will fit on your board. i have one in 2 of my 5 systems, they are wonderful, on my server, the fan stopped (it was unplugged by accident to no fault of the product) and it kept running fine, albeit at 130F. For your situation with the high external temp, you need to remove the heat fast; get a high powered fan, like: http://www.amazon.com/Vornado-610W-P...890219?ie=UTF8 Take off the side of the system and use this to get the hot air out. See if you can go to Wal-Mart and pick one up cheep, keep the receipt just in case it’s not enough. __________________ Donate Blood! "Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

08-04-2006, 04:33 AM	#14 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	that really depends because the airflow could be off and you could have the cool air going out before it even cools the processor while the hot air spins around in a boxed section or that air from the fan could be pushed off out to the sides and not flow past the heat sink like you want it to. with just one big fan blowing at the case it might not flow past the cpu it could end up just blowing around in front of it without really getting to it. Thats why a case with good airflow runs cooler then a case with the side panal removed and a big fan blowing at it. and i assume thats what he ment by having a 7 inch fan blowing right into the case. with the side of the case open most of the air jus bounces off stuff in there and comes right back out at the fan without getting down in by the heat sink very well. Now if that fan was mounted in the case with a 7 inch hole so all the air couldnt blow right back out by it it would still do better with the same amount of exhaust fan power blowing it out because if theres not enough air being sucked out of the case it would increase the air pressure in the case and that fan would start causing turbulance and basicly just beat the hell out of the air instead of blowing it all into the case. idealy you want to have a little more exhaust then intake just to help the dust get sucked out instead of building up inside the case. At least thats what i have read in some overclocking forums. But yes your right that same amount of air will get pushed out but.. will it get pushed out past what you want it to or will it blow around in a circle without getting to what needs to be cooled.

08-04-2006, 12:19 PM	#15 (permalink)
Dilbert1234567 Devils Cabana Boy Location: Central Coast CA	In your case, bigger is not always better, a large zalman will not suit you well with out help. The large copper heat sinks with slow fans work great in normal situations, they balance out the spikes of heat by spreading the heat over a large area, and then slowly cooling it down with a large, slow fan. In your case, you are trying to cool your heat sink with hot air, so you will need much more air to cool it with, not more copper. If your not concerned about noise, get a large box fan, and mount it on the side of your case, and suck the air out, better yet, if both sides come off of your case, blow in one and out the other. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=172282 __________________ Donate Blood! "Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

08-04-2006, 02:51 PM	#16 (permalink)
Ratman Addict Location: Somewhere... Across the sea...	You might want to try lapping your hetasink as well. http://www.overclockers.com/tips1015/ __________________ The difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference. "God made man, but he used the monkey to do it." DEVO

08-05-2006, 01:27 PM	#17 (permalink)
KnifeMissile Location: Waterloo, Ontario	You know, Ratman, I think the original saying goes: "In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is..." Are we not men?

08-06-2006, 07:44 AM	#20 (permalink)
Jack1.0 Tilted	I personally use Zalman coolers because they do a great job of keeping my CPU cool while running very quietly. I a hot room there will be limits to how effective any cooler will be. For about $100 you can get an small window mounted air conditioner. Might help out more than just the computer...... __________________ Jack1.0 ---------------------------------------------- I've learned to embrace my inner Geek. I haven't found anything else I'm good at.

08-06-2006, 08:14 AM	#21 (permalink)
pornclerk Insane Location: Ontario, Canada	Why not just turn the computer off when you aren't using it? It will save it from becoming hotter in the room and the machine will get a chance to cool down for a while. __________________ Who wants a twig when you can have the whole tree?

08-06-2006, 01:10 PM	#22 (permalink)
Dilbert1234567 Devils Cabana Boy Location: Central Coast CA	play your games at night, its cooler then. __________________ Donate Blood! "Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

08-06-2006, 04:37 PM	#23 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	I really think the best option is the window AC unit. Drop the temp in the room 30 degrees and it will most likely drop the computers temp about the same amount. I would really like to hear what you try and how well it works. always intresting to hear how people cool computers. Such a simple thing to do and so many diffrent ways to do it.

08-06-2006, 04:59 PM	#24 (permalink)
FallenAvatar Psycho	The air might have something to do with it, but try cleaning out everything, maybe checking your heatsink or upgrading. __________________ Fetch me the spirit, the son and the father, Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended.

08-06-2006, 06:40 PM	#25 (permalink)
soccerchamp76 Go Cardinals Location: St. Louis/Cincinnati	When the surrounding temperature is around 100 degrees, there isn't that much that you can do. You could buy a bigger heatsink but once that heats up after awhile, the temperature drop won't be much at all. __________________ Brian Griffin: Ah, if my memory serves me, this is the physics department. Chris Griffin: That would explain all the gravity.

08-06-2006, 07:29 PM	#26 (permalink)
captobvious Insane Location: Somewhere	I agree with the others that your best bet would be making the surrounding temperature cooler. It reminds me of when I had my computer in a tiny room with no AC a few years ago. Having the computer running made it even worse. Besides the suggestions to buy a window AC unit, you could also try moving your computer to more open area of your house/apartment. The increased ventilation might help your computer run a little cooler.

08-06-2006, 10:36 PM	#28 (permalink)
Atomic Pinkie Addict Location: Chicago	Room temp is key when running a computer nowadays. I had a similar problem when I moved into my apartment, summer days + computer = overheat. AC unit fixed that problem, a nice 70-75 Faranheit room temp and I'm back down to 30ish celcius for the CPU temp. I even have a P4 2.8ghz! :P __________________ Where dem bitches at?