# keeping your computer cooled properly



## grub20 (Aug 2, 2007)

hi all recently when i was upgrading my comp with a dvd-rom I turned it off after it being on for about 3h. when i opened it up, i was surprised how hot it was inside. the vid card and motherboard were warm but i have to admit it was the first time i felt them after using my comp. i have 2 fans in my computer - one in the power supply and one below it. so i have some questions:

-i know that regardless of what you do your comp is gonna warm up when u use it, but how warm is too warm? when should i be worried? 

-right now i have my computer tower placed under a desk, is this bad for its air circulation and possibly whats causing it to be so hot? 

-whats a good way to measure whether or not your comp is safe and not going to blow up or burn out all of a sudden while your using it? 

-is hardware warming up related in any way to PSU strength, because i havent upgraded my psu yet (tho i still only have 512 ram and a 128mb vid card right now)

-if i need to buy new fans, how many and what type. thx alot


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

You need to run a program like Speedfan and/or Sensorview to see what the temps are listed as, then we will have a better idea IF you even have a problem. 

Sensorsview:

http://www.stvsoft.com/index.php?opt...d=17&Itemid=33

Speedfan:

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php and compare what results they give you.


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## grub20 (Aug 2, 2007)

The temperature says 53C right now, although my comp has only been on about 30 mins.


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

We need your specs and both at-rest and under-stress temps. If that is a normal operation (not under stress like playing a game), then your computer is running too hot.

List the temps as I requested above and also tell us what fans you have in the case, where they are located and which direction they are blowing. Please include the direction the heatsink fan is blowing. One other thing, what thermal solution did you use???? Like Artic Silver or the factory pad? Oh, it would also help if we knew the specs so we know how warm this unit should get under normal operation. Some differ in what heat they generate.


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## grub20 (Aug 2, 2007)

i just finished playing call of duty 2 and speedfan says 64 degrees C. When i wasnt doing anything it was 53C.

i dont know what u mean by heatsink but like i said i have two fans. one blows out the back of the power supply, the other one blows out the back right under the power supply. 

the specs of my comp are 

intel p4 2.8mhz
512 RAM
Radeon sapphire X300se 128mb
Motherboard (http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic=MB4DELDIM4700&eq=&Tp=)

dont know what else to put down. i bought this computer in 2005


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## grub20 (Aug 2, 2007)

65C after playing company of heroes, hardest game to run thats on my system right now.


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## Nik00117 (Jan 8, 2007)

You have a presshot be happy its that low.

They can hit 80c, final boiling point is around 90c preshots are called that because they are hot!


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

If this is a Prescott, then it is not out of range. However, I have a P4 Northwood 2.8 that idles at 34c and never gets over 50c at highest stress. Not knowing which this is makes our analysis difficult.

While Prescott's are very warm and those temps are not really out of reason for one, I would add a fan in front of the case to get better cooling through there. 

I would suggest the fan whichever one you have. The video card you have doesn't really put out that much heat, but if you were to upgrade, that could conceivably be a problem with the heat generated. That is my advice to you.


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## grub20 (Aug 2, 2007)

Tumbleweed36 said:


> If this is a Prescott, then it is not out of range. However, I have a P4 Northwood 2.8 that idles at 34c and never gets over 50c at highest stress. Not knowing which this is makes our analysis difficult.


all i see in the dxdiag is 'Intel Pentium 4 2.80ghz 2 CPUs'

and could u guys explain what u mean by preshots or prescotts or whatever im lost lol



> While Prescott's are very warm and those temps are not really out of reason for one, I would add a fan in front of the case to get better cooling through there.


is there like a slot where id snap it in or something how exactly should i go about deciding where to put the fan



> I would suggest the fan whichever one you have. The video card you have doesn't really put out that much heat, but if you were to upgrade, that could conceivably be a problem with the heat generated. That is my advice to you.


if the card doesnt put out that much heat what causes it to warm up so much?


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

On most cases, there are some holes in front that you can put a fan in. Usually, you get little bolts or screws with the fan to put them in. That graphics card is not one that puts out a lot of heat. There are some that do. Some CPU's put out more heat than others, so it is quite common to have it warmer than others.


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## grub20 (Aug 2, 2007)

Tumbleweed36 said:


> On most cases, there are some holes in front that you can put a fan in. Usually, you get little bolts or screws with the fan to put them in. That graphics card is not one that puts out a lot of heat. There are some that do. Some CPU's put out more heat than others, so it is quite common to have it warmer than others.


so in other words, its the motherboard or the processor that is causing the gfx card to be hot?


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

As a rule, the processor is the biggest heat generator in your case. The graphics card, hard drives, and other components also can cause heat. Some processors (like the Prescott and some specific AMD units) just run hotter and so one must do a better job of cooling the inside of the case. 

I don't know of a specific issue with the graphics card you have being too hot, but they all generate heat...and plenty of it. Just like your processor does, some graphics cards just run much hotter than others. 

If you cool your case properly, have proper thermal paste on your CPU, it will work just fine and all components will stay within a decent cooling range. In most cases, a front fan helps a bunch because it is pulling cool air in the front of the case. IMHO, you need more cool air in that case from what you have said.


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## grub20 (Aug 2, 2007)

thanks...i heard zalman is a good brand to look at for fans, but how can i tell which is the best?


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

I would look (if you have room in front) for a 120mm fan if you can. If that won't work, then go for a smaller one. The Zalman is good as well as the ones I use which are Antec fans. Most any fan of either of those brands will do a good job for you. Oh, thermaltake also makes some great fans. Most will work and they are reasonable in price.


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## grub20 (Aug 2, 2007)

oh, i also forgot to ask this.

i would like to know more about the prescott pentium model...

im worried. if its getting this hot with just 512 MB of RAM, 350W psu, and 128mb video card, how much hotter will it get when i upgrade soon to a 500W psu, 2GB of ram, and a 256mb vid card? or will it not be that different? basically id like to know how long these prescott things are good for.


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## ChipD (Apr 26, 2005)

Say Grub… Don’t lose the faith! You can keep a Prescott cool. I have the 3 hp version, 2 gig of memory and a 256mb video card. It has never seen 47C, and I’ve tried to heat it up, [two Prime 95’s running for 3-4 hours]. Normal surfing it runs around 35 or 36C. It’s been absolutely bullet-proof since I built it 2 years ago. Good CPU. Ya’ just gotta’ get real ‘Zen’ about the cooling. You do need more PSU…

Chip


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## grub20 (Aug 2, 2007)

does PSU make it run cooler?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Put a Zalman 9500 on a Prescott and it will be fine.


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## crazymanjared (Sep 14, 2007)

System specs: amd athlon 6000x2, msi geforce 8600gts oc edt, asus m2n sli deluxe mobo, 580 watt hiper psu, samsung 500gbhdd, 2 dvd burners. 120mm fan in back, 80mm in front of hdds, 120mm on bottom of psu, 80mm on back of psu, and SpeedFan says my temps are:Temp1: 46c Temp2:45c Temp3:39c Temp1: 40c Core:50c. I'm not really doing anything at all but talking on msn and typing this, are those temps too hot?


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

I would suggest that the temps are a little high, but not out of line for your rig, so that does not bother me if those are correct. Hope you have the rear fan blowing hot air out of the case and the front fan pulling in cool air. I didn't quite undertand the other fan placements and direction they are blowing from what you said, so please clarify.

What really bothers me is the Hyper 580power supply which is very weak and might be the real cause of some of your heat as it struggles to keep up with demands. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that supply is a real tanker.


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## crazymanjared (Sep 14, 2007)

Tumbleweed36 said:


> I would suggest that the temps are a little high, but not out of line for your rig, so that does not bother me if those are correct. Hope you have the rear fan blowing hot air out of the case and the front fan pulling in cool air. I didn't quite undertand the other fan placements and direction they are blowing from what you said, so please clarify.
> 
> What really bothers me is the Hyper 580power supply which is very weak and might be the real cause of some of your heat as it struggles to keep up with demands. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that supply is a real tanker.


Well, the 80mm fan was at the front of my case in front of my HDD's when i got it, same with the back 120mm one, on my hiper psu theres a 120mm fan built into the bottom of it blowing downwards. I do think the back fan is pulling out hot air, kuz there is hot air blowing out of it, and where the fan is on the front of my case is pretty cold, i don't know. :4-dontkno


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