# On the hot side?



## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

Hi,
Having seen my SensorView output, Matt suggested I post here for suggestions.



As I'm forever fiddling about inside my machine I tend to leave the sides off as it is more convenient. Also lets me get rid of dust more often. I thought this might also help with cooling but obviously not. Would a domestic fan blowing into the guts help?
Regards,
John.


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Yes. Looks a bit on the warm side. Nothing critical though. A fan would help.

How come the sys fan isnt spinning?


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

I don't have a sys fan (Not a lot of point when the sides are off:grin: ). The only fans I've got are PSU, CPU and graphics.


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Your +5VSB voltage is quite low. Id get that looked into


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

It's a brand new (well, within last year) Jeantech 400w PSU.


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Im sure a hardware guy will pop along and offer better advice. Seems very low to me.


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

Thanks Chris. I also wondered if my 12v was a little high. Strangely enough I went all through last summer with no probs and my study (it's in the attic) is the hottest room in my house.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Your voltages are fine. Try running it with the case closed and 2 case fans fitted, one at the front pulling cool air in and one at the back blowing warm air out. This gives the best results as the cool air is blown across the motherboard and components. Leaving the case open reduces this essential airflow.

Also, apply some thermal compound to the CPU. Instructions *here*.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

In addition, make sure the fan on your heatsink is blowing toward the heatsink rather than away from it.


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

Thanks Guys.
Chaufeur2 has also suggested I redo my thermal past. haven't done it since I built the machine and that was some time ago. I can't put case back on, cos apart from the fact it's acting as a sidetable :grin: I like ready access to the guts as I'm forever altering things. I'm going to try a desk fan blowing into the guts. At Dave's suggestion I reran Sensorview under full load. Pushed the temp up a bit.



I going to catch up on my posts then shutdown. Repaste first thing tomorrow.
Regards,
John.


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## Doby (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi John,

I agree your voltages are fine and actually your temps maybe too, Alot of these socket A motherboards in that timeframe reported temps a bit high, Most of the time it was sensor error meaning you cpu was actually running at its correct temp but the sensor reporting the temp was off. Motherboard manufactuers have improved this and now with the newer boards sensor error is not seen as much.

Another factor was some of these athlons ran a bit hotter, in general if you have no freeze ups you have no temp problem and if the temp stays below 60C I would not worry about it.

Do this unscientific test and tell us what you feel,,,,,,,,, when you see the 54C temp touch the base of the heatsink,,,,,,,,

35C to 45 C = comfortably warm
45C to 55C = need to pull finger away after about 5 to 10 seconds
55C to 65C= need to pull away after 1 second
70C = burnt finger

I have experimented with these "finger" readings and a temp probe and they are faily accurate but a couple of notes,,,,,,,,,,

A heatsink that feels cold or not warm at least a little bit is not making good contact with the cpu, this will always lead to cpu overheat.

You should never burn you finger, A 70C temp normally will only occur if the cpu fan is not working or the wrong heatsink is installed, and even then the system should shutdown, if the heatsink or thermal paste is not correct then the heatsink would feel cold because it is not transferring heat.

I also have a tested but unscientific approach to determining how far a suspected temp sensor is off, I can explain if you think its needed


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

Hi Guys,

I'm not renowned for my patience, so rather than wait til tomorrow I've just spent the last couple of hours repasting my heatsink. The original was solid!!
I also took the opportunity of removing all dust. One of the advantages of spray painting is that I have a compressor handy. Beats canisters any day :grin: My latest Sensors View under full load is as follows:



A bit of an improvement don't you think? I don't even think I need an extra fan.
Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Regards,
John.


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## Ralck (Dec 10, 2004)

That is quite an improvement! Seems like you had quite a blanket of dust in there!

I'm not sure if you said you did, but I recomend getting fans in the front and back like suggested. It will really help keep things a bit cooler (if anything, it seems like it pushes some of the dust out the back of mine so I only have to dust once every 2 weeks instead of 1!).

Other than that, your temps look quite normal now, so you should be all set!

Cheers!


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

Hi Ralck,

It wasn't so much the dust; I tend to keep on top of that pretty well. It was the fact that the paste had gone hard. Hasn't been changed since I built the machine (2 years !!). As for fans, not a lot of use as I don't have a case. My system is open. The number of times I change things the hassle of removing the case each time was a bind. Being open should help with heat dissipation and judging by latest temp figures it seems to work.
Regards,
John.


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

Hi John, just a word of caution. using a compressor can cause problems with moisture so be sure that you have a good working Dryer attached to it or you will be washing your computer


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

kodi said:


> Hi John, just a word of caution. using a compressor can cause problems with moisture so be sure that you have a good working Dryer attached to it or you will be washing your computer


Hi Brian,
Thanks for that, but if I didn't have driers I'd have an even worse problem with my paint jobs :grin: 
Regards,
John.


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