system specs:

athlon xp 3200 w/ noname cooler(better than stock)
geforce 6800 ultra (425/1200) w/ arctic cooling silencer
wd 80 gig 8 mb cache
1 gig mushkin high perfromance mem w/ heatsink
raid max milano case w/ 3 80mm fans

my gpu runs at 75c and cpu at 50c under load(thats with the case open)

my brother has the same hardware in a lian li case, and it runs much cooler with a higher oc.

is this because of the case or is there something wrong with my hardware?

plz help thanks

hi and welcome to techspot

those temps look fine to me.

athlon XPs are hot running CPUs, especially the high PR rated ones (like the 3200+) because they are the highest clocked processors in the XP line. 50c is normal and safe for an A-XP (they have a max temp of 95c)

i know nothing about that video card you have, but in general video cards have a higher heat tolerance than CPUs do, so 75c is high, but probably still safe.

you have three factors hurting your cooling:
1. your case is open, but is there a fan nearby blowing air into the open case?
2. you have a "noname cooler" that you say is better than stock... how is it better?
3. your vid card has an arctic "silencer", does this mean that it's fan-less or has a low speed fan? these will be nice and quiet, but will not cool as well.

1. there is no fan blowing into the case
2. the cooler is a mix between a vantec(?) aluminum heatsink and a silverstone fan
3. the "silencer": quiet, yet good : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186133

well athlons to run hot etc but i also have a nvidia 6800 128 mb bfg 8xagp it runs 55 as normal temp usally when i have a ac running it goes to like a 47 etc

The temps actually look fine, like King Cody said. I wouldn't worry.

But if you really want to reduce it, you'd want more fans on your case. I hope you're not running your comp with the side panel off, cos that doesn't help unless you get a fan blowing into it.

Fans on cases usually tend to be input if its on the side, or front, and output if its on the back or top. However from my experience, input or output on the top one doesn't really matter if the back fan is much larger (in terms of CFM). You'd want to calculate the amount of air going in and out for that.

Get 120mm fans if your computer can support it. You might want to drill some holes for that if you're handy enough.

The silencer is one of the best around for your GPU, so you can't really do anything about it. However, I'd have expected a slightly lower temp, so I'd be putting the blame on high case temp. Bear in mind those temps are still good.

soooo..... if i run my comp with the side panel off, it would be worse than if i ran it with the side panel on? i always thought tht the air on the outside of the case was cooler, and the side panel somewhat restricts airflow.

i think im gonna go with this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811112022 , cuz my current case is so small, that the hd is literrally on the vid card (although not touching it)

my desk is very poorly desifgned, and there is a board right behind the top(rear fan & psu) part of my computer, so it sits in a very confined space. can this be a major factor?

with the side panel removed and no fan blowing into it, you actually have too much open space. so the heat generated has no place to go, it just sits there. with the side panel on, the fans will suck out the hot air (which will naturally pull in ambient air. bottom line, put your side panel back on.

well that's no good. hard drives (especially western digitals) can generate alot of heat. and if it's that close to your video card, then it's just heating up your card as well. a well placed fan could help out alot in your situation. also, do you have room to mount the hard drive anywhere else in the case?

of course! that may be the biggest factor of all. no matter how good your case cooling is, it will only be as good as the ambient air around it. if your exhuast fans are blocked by a piece of wood, then the would-be exhausted heat remains trapped inside. you should either remove that piece of wood that blocks the exhuast fans, or simply move the case into a more open area that gets more ambient air flow.

Well, I have Western Digital HDD and is only warm to the touch, even with a 105° F ambient temperature...