Heat troubles

[neilm]

Hi, I'm running a P4 775 socket processor, they're pretty well known for running hot. The thing is, I think mine is running far hotter than it should be. I've got a rear case fan, 120mm blowing out, and my CPU heatsink/fan is a ThermalTake Jungle512, which moves quite a bit of air. This fan is also blowing out of the case through a vent on the side. The computer can get up to 75 celsius when loading certain things, and this is a huge problem for me. What can I do to reduce the temperature inside my computer?

[CoffeeFiend]

It gets to 75C inside the case? Wow.

You definitely have bad airflow then. Either the fans don't move enough air (not enough CFMs, perhaps they're blocked by dust, grills made of tiny holes in case blocking most airflow, etc), aren't moving air around properly (fans working against each other, not placed in the right places and such), too many ribbon cables blocking airflow, etc.

I'd consider searching for some guides or FAQs about case airflow, getting decent fans (quiet but with enough CFMs), and perhaps even replacing the case altogether (depending - some case just don't have great airflow). I like to cut out those silly "grills" in cases made of a bunch of tiny holes that don't really let any air though and use real grills instead - no matter how good the fans are, those little dinky holes just don't let much air through (kills airflow). There's also ducts, blowers and all that, but even without anything fancy it shouldn't get this hot.

[puntoMX]

Are you sure the thermal paste is applied well? Not to thick applied?

75oC is a lot, can you still touch your CPU cooler without "burning" your fingers?

If you can; make a pictures of the inside of the case and the side panel...

EDIT: crahak, stop posting a few seconds before me , it´s not first time ...

EDIT2:

This fan is also blowing out of the case through a vent on the side.

So, it sucks the air away from the sink? Normaly it blows on the sink... Edited January 17, 2007 by puntoMX

[neilm]

I've switched the fan to suck air onto the heatsink, it feels like the air coming in is fairly cool, so that's good. The problem is my CPU still sits at about 50oC idle, I can touch the heatsink at this temperature and it doesn't feel warm at all, could this mean that the thermal paste is on wrong, or the heat somehow isn't dissipating through the heatsink properly?

update: I just let it load up a game and when the temperature got to 72oC I could still touch the heatsink and it was barely warm.

Edited January 19, 2007 by neilm

[bonestonne]

if you can touch it, the sensor can be off...what are you using to get the temps?

at first i thought my computer had a heat issue, as much of a heat issue as it is, none of the problems have actually been caused by heat.

[neilm]

ASUS utility. BIOS also shows high temperatures when I check it out on startup though.

[bonestonne]

thats interesting, because i have a computer set up with fans very similar to that, and i've never had that problem.

is the CPU usage unusually high at times when you check the task manager? if so, you may need to leave it off for a few hours to let the RAM loose charge.

i don't think i've ever heard of a heat issue on a computer like that, they usually cool very efficiently with a 120mm and a side fan.

[puntoMX]

The problem is my CPU still sits at about 50oC idle, I can touch the heatsink at this temperature and it doesn't feel warm at all, could this mean that the thermal paste is on wrong, or the heat somehow isn't dissipating through the heatsink properly?

Replace the thermal paste, apply it thin. Let us know what it does then...

[Zxian]

Yea.. I was about to say. If you've got any decent fans in the case, high temperatures are often the cause of poor thermal paste application.