A friend of mine had a MSI KT266 Pro2 with KT266a & the temp readings go all the way to 45°C for the mainboard. It seems a bit high to me.

He has an AOpen HQ-45 which isn't the best case when it comes to ventilation but still...

Does anyone have these kinds of temps ?

Specs :

MSI KT266 Pro2
AthlonXP 1600+ (46°C temp)
256 mb DDR
Western Digital 40GB
Acer DVD-Drive
Acer CD-RW 20/10/40
AOPen HQ-45 (250 watts PSU)

Wow, that's almost as high as my CPU! I have an Asus A7V266 w/ a KT266, and my system board runs at about 26°C. Does his Northbridge have a fan installed on it? Mine does, and my case is very well ventilated, so seriously consider installing case fans!

What if he doesn't survive? He's worth a lot to me

That's maybe worth looking into. That sounds a little hot. Your CPU should be running at something like that.... Maybe a little hotter unless you've got some really good kit.

How are you for extra extractor fans?? It is a cable jungle in there.... Can you move to a bigger case?? All of these things effect temperature.

Although I'd hardly say that your rig is in danger of bursting into flames, you will shorten the life of your components if they run even a little too hot. Heat is the prime enemy of the PC and the colder you can get your machine the better.

Certainly take steps to tidy interior cables if possible... You would be surprised. And, it sounds silly but make sure that any extra fans are the right way round, i.e blowing hot air out not sucking hot air IN from the room.

MSI suck

They've only put a small puny heatsink on top of the northbridge. The CPU temp is only a few degrees higher so there's definitly a problem. There's only one spot to place a case fan & it's in the front of the case so it doesn't do much. I might talk him into changing cases, but he's a bit low on cash for the moment. He's been having HDD problems lately & I'm starting to wonder if it's alos because of the heat.

The "REAL" uncleel

How are you monitoring the temp? By probe or software monitoring program? How accurate is it?

The KT8366 North Bridge on the KT266A Chipset does run pretty hot. Over 50°C would be getting into the danger area.

That's why your seeing heatsinks & fans for chipsets now!
http://www.coolerguys.com/cpucool/video.shtml

I see you have constructed a new lightsaber....

How hot is the hard drive when you touch it??? Is it TOO hot to touch???

Hard drive overheating can cause many probs, including possible data loss...

Different brands and models generate different heat levels... What make is the hard drive, model, RPMs etc???

My IBM Deskstars have been known to get a little hot....

I had a device that was like a removable drive bay but was a hard drive cooler... It didn't fit into the case very well, though, and can only adapt a 3.5inch drive for 5.25inch...

MBM or BIOS

I mostly use Motherboard Monitor but sometimes I'd rather use the readings from the BIOS, which was what I did in this case. I don't see why MSI didn't put a fan knowing the northbridge would produce a lot of heat...

27 °C for the mobo and 55 °C for the CPU in stressfull situation. When reading this temp, this should actually be the temp inside teh case. Are you sure the reading is correct?

Western Digital WD400

It's very hot to touch, even if the PC has been running for only 5 minutes with the case open. There's definitly something overheating in there. He has a Rage Pro VGA card, no OC, an AthlonXP 1600+ no OC either. Actually there's nothign in there that's overclocked.

Re: MSI suck

could you install a fan there?

what direction is the power supply fan blowing? if it is an older case, it might be blowing in, which blows air from the room, over the schorchin hot power supply, and then into your case. Flipping it around so it blows out is a simple procedure, shouldn't take you more than 15 min. and a screwdriver.

-Bourbon

How would that help the chipset much? What you should do is use a Dremel tool to saw out a hole in the case directly over your Northbridge, and install a very high CFM fan there. Plus, add case fans wherever you can, and look into getting a fan for that Northbridge...

switchin the power supply fan (if it is blowin in) could help everything. That fan could be blowing hot air all over his components, which would only contribute to the problem. He had problems with his Hard disks, and that could help with that as well

-Bourbon

The "REAL" uncleel

This is a lil' drastic you think! Not to mention the cost of the tool.

If you finally decide that chipset heat is an issue (despite the fact your not experiencing any problems) then you can look into some cooling options.

That's why your seeing heatsinks & fans for chipsets now!
http://www.coolerguys.com/cpucool/video.shtml

Here's a pic of the tower :



The PSU blows outward but it's the only thing in the whole case tha's blowing air out. There used to be a slot in the front to put a case fan but they changed it & now you can only put usb cables there (so you can plug usb devices in the front, woohoo I really needed that right now :rolleyes: ).

For the moment the temp is down to the 30/35 because I left it open.

The "REAL" uncleel

This means there is not enough air flow. Either additional fans or a lil' case moding is in order.

agree. i saw a post by boby on the old forum about airflow sometime ago. maybe you could check it out.

I know these cases fairly well znd there is nothing wrong with the case, not the power supply.

Is the content realy stagged? I mean, is there space to put a hand in ?

The problem with these midis, is indeed that there is not enough space in it to have a decent airflow when putting a lil' more in it than standard.

If you are not motivated to buy a new one (the maxis are supperb), try finding some rounded IDE's or make them yourself (very hard, never succeeded).

Well...

I'm just gonna leave it open until he saves enough money to buy a spacier case. He doesn't really have much in it, 1 HDD, 1 DVD-Drive, 1 CD-RW, 1 SBLive Player 5.1, 1 RealTek 2089 & an ATI RagePro.

I found a Blue Orb for VGA Cards & NorthBridge chips but if it's anything like the blue orb on my GF3 (when it comes to sound that is), I think I'll pass :dead:

lol, torn i've never had a problem makin my own rounded cables, i've probably made at least 10 so far, they are really easy as long as you aren't drunk

-Bourbon