Overall temps problem, need advice

milespower

Posts: 32   +2
Hi
So, I made the choice of checking my temps on this computer, since the case was very hot in the back and I suspected something was wrong.

First of all, my "old but still good" build:

CPU: Intel Pentium D 945 @ 3.40 Ghz
---- Cooling device: Artic Cooler Freezer 11 Rev. 2
GPU: XFX Geforce 6800GS 256MB AGP8X
---- Cooling device: Zalman VF800-Cu
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB IDE + Hitachi Travelstar 80GB USB

Fans: Processor (intake via CAG 1.1), Rear Outtake + PSU Outtake + Front Intake + Some holes in the case (already there)

The temps are as follows: (colors indicate state of attention)

Ambience: 42ºC <--> 51ºC (inside the case)
CPU: 52ºC <--> 65ºC
GPU: 62ºC <--> 96ºC
GPU Ambience: 50ºC <--> 62ºC
HDD0: 36ºC <--> 44ºC (directly above the intake fan)
HDD1: 29ºC <--> 32ºC (USB case away from this nonsense)

(Room temperature is around 23-26ºC because of summer)

So the temps that worry me are the colored ones, especially that bold italic underlined red one which is really stressful.

Well, I know the GPU is hot, what I wonder is
1) how to make it go cooler

and about all the temps:
2) is the room temperature a factor to this?
3) is the CPU hot for what it should? I hear P4's are very hot, and since this is a Dual Core P4
4) the HDD1 used to be inside the case (temps 40ºC <--> 51ºC), but kept clicking and having low performance. It stopped the moment I took it from there. While this is nowhere near to happen with HDD0, is the temperature affecting possible performance?
 
Blow the dust that has collected over the years out of the various heat sinks & fans. Yes, room temp is always a factor with a heat sink & fan. The old Prescotts ran hot, but I don't think 65 is too hot, but it's getting close, The maximum temp for a P4 is 70 I think. The heat could cause your computer to throttle down and reduce its performance.
 
I can only really help on questions 1 and 2. I had a heating problem with my gaming desktop and my laptop. Here's some tips on the subjects:

Desktop:
- Like Cinders said, clean out your computer once a month ideally
- Of course a lower room temperature would help the cooling in theory, but I wouldn't be too concerned with it. (1.) Its hard to say just how much a lower room temp would help. (2.) Its pretty impractical to crank down the room temp every time you want to use the computer.
- If you want a relatively cheap way to cool your computer: take off your cover (keep it off); buy a small, cheap fan; have it continuously blowing air through your open tower. It won't be quiet, but it got the job done for me.
- A more expensive (but sick) way to cool it: Corsair offers pretty good deals on water cooling >> http://lifehacker.com/5920525/the-c...nd-silent-with-maintenance+free-water-cooling

Laptop:
- Try to elevate the bottom of the computer as much as possible to increase air flow
- Of course a lower room temperature would help the cooling in theory, but I wouldn't be too concerned with it. (1.) Its hard to say just how much a lower room temp would help. (2.) Its pretty impractical to crank down the room temp every time you want to use the computer.
- Go into power saver mode or at least turn down the display screen as much as possible. The display sucks the most power (and therefore causes the most heat generation).
- If you are at home and have ziplock bags: take two large ziplock bags. Fill one with water (not all the way, just enough to create a nice platform of water). Suck all of the air out and close the bag before more gets in. Then put it inside the second ziplock bag. Suck the air out of the outer bag. Then put this under the laptop's CPU (I think it is usually near the middle-left of most laptops).
- If you aren't messing around: Repeat this^ three more times. Set all four in the freezer. Rotate them two at a time to cool the whole bottom of the computer.
 
Blow the dust that has collected over the years out of the various heat sinks & fans. Yes, room temp is always a factor with a heat sink & fan. The old Prescotts ran hot, but I don't think 65 is too hot, but it's getting close, The maximum temp for a P4 is 70 I think. The heat could cause your computer to throttle down and reduce its performance.
It is clean. All the heatsinks are new and the fans were cleaned at the same time the new heatsinks were to be installed.

Bear in mind this is a Dual Core P4, not an actual P4, therefore the temps shall be a bit higher I guess.

The performance bit was relative to hard drives, since sometimes I get breaks during HD reading for about 1-2 seconds.
 
[LEFT]So you made me wonder if 65C was hot or not, so I looked the answer up on the web and I found that Intel has the max tcore temp listed as 63.4, but tcore is different than core. Do you have CoreTemp installed. What does it say is your max core temp?[/LEFT]
 
The performance bit was relative to hard drives, since sometimes I get breaks during HD reading for about 1-2 seconds.

And it keeps getting worse. In WinAMP for instance, it takes 5 full minutes to change a song, no joke. And it feels like my harddrive has the transfer rates of an SD card, but when I benchmark it using HD Tach the results are normal. Weird...
[LEFT]So you made me wonder if 65C was hot or not, so I looked the answer up on the web and I found that Intel has the max tcore temp listed as 63.4, but tcore is different than core. Do you have CoreTemp installed. What does it say is your max core temp?[/LEFT]

I have AIDA64's System Stability Test, which is a stress test, but I just use the graph / average calculator function of it. Besides installing Core Temp didn't help, as it behaves like it isn't supported by my CPU (and what would I know, it isn't! At least according to their site.) However I did some research and managed to find the info manually:


Minimum/Maximum operating temperature ? 5°C - 62.3°C (775_VR_CONFIG_05A)
Minimum/Maximum power dissipation ? 63.13 Watt (Stop Grant mode) / 118.75 Watt (775_VR_CONFIG_05A)
Thermal Design Power ? 95 Watt (775_VR_CONFIG_05A)

Can't seem to find TjMax, found TCASE is 63.2ºC (mine is 42ºC most of the time)
 
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