Hey,
I am concerned that my system might be running a little too warm.
My System:
nVidia GeForce 8800GTS (640mb)
2gigs of Geil 800mhz memory
AMD 64x 5400+ 2.8ghz
Fozconn mb with SLI 590
Creative SoundBlaster X-FI Xtreme Gamer
800w Tagan Power Supply
120gig HD Raptor (100,000RPM)
400gig HD (standard rpm?)
CoolerMaster Centurion Case

The case has 1 side fan blowing in, plus an exhaust tube that runs to the CPU, and one fan on the back blowing out. The video card has a stock cooler attachment blowing out, and the cpu also has the original fan and heat sink. The nVidia health monitor usually reads the gpu and cpu as stable, but the system temp is always around 55C+ and blinking as a warning (i've also read that system temp shouldn't be much more than 10+/- room temp).
When i was putting the system together the metal cover piece that fits to surround the mb i/o ports (mouse/keyboard/etc) didn't fit (neither the one that came with the case or the one from the mb itself) so their is an opening there. Recently i've taken to leaving the case open with a small high velocity fan (not touching the case, trying to avoid any static issues) aimed directly on the HDs and the mb. Needless to say, i wouldn't mind doing away with this situation... Any suggestions?

Oh, and i am not interested in OCing if that makes a difference...

i guess what i'm really getting at is whether or not i should invest in liquid cooling, more fans, or perhaps some better heatsinks or radiators... without killing my wallet of course.
I mostly game with the system, crysis, wow, hl2, cs2, starcraft, civIV, that kind of stuff.

The key to a well cooled case is to try to maintain good air flow. Cold air drawn in from the front of the case, cools the components and is then forced out by the exaust fans at the rear.

The trouble is you have unfanned holes at the back which is drawing in air but is just being sucked straight out by the exhaust fans and not aiding in cooling the components. This also reduces the amount of now warm air that was drawn in the front being released by the exaust fans causing warm pockets in the case.

I would recommend blocking the gaps, even if it means a bit of cardboard untill a proper solution can be found.

If your 8800 runs @ 55C on idle does it go way above 60C when gaming? I am sure that it does. My case doesn't have the metal piece that seals off the ethernet and other motherboard outlets. That doesn't hurt my cooling (in fact I believe a little breathing room is good). My 8800 GTS runs around 55C tops @ regular use. I quit gaming so I don't need to worry about the GPU getting hot. You can select an aftermarket GPU fan that will do a better job than the stock fan. You could download "n'Tune" from the Nvidia website. This application has a fan speed control. Also, I've gotten used to keeping the side off of my case. I want to hear and see every change in what has developed to be a four thousand dollar bunch of upgrades. Good Luck. Keep experimenting.

Yeh, i think that around what my gpu runs at with the stock cooler.

What do people think about the www.arctic-cooling.com products? the cpu cooler freezer 64 pro and the accelero xtreme 8800 for the gpu were what i was thinking about, considering they're actually fairly cheap.

If you are not OC'ing any components at all there should be no reason to install after market cooling solutions.

Well, normally i would have thought so too, but my system runs hot just because of the all the compnents. The avg system temp is like 40C if i leave the case closed, 30C with the case open and the high velocity fan sitting on it.

If its saying the system temp is 55c and blinking, I take it that means your motherboard is @ 55c ,,, which is insanely high! Don't worry about GPU ,, those things will run just fine up to 100c ,,90c on some cards,,, What exactly seems to be your concerns,,, From what you stated only problem I saw was a 55c on system temp,, which seems like you fixed to 40c ,,,, which is still high. Where do you live ? What is your room temp ? ,,,,, ambient cold temps will always help more then placing 20 fans in the case,,, because if the temps are hot, and its a 80c day,, then like it or not the fans will blow hot air ,,,, might as well turn off all the fans,, reduce the noise, and open the case like you said,,, gl,,

May I suggest a replacement heat sink fan. If you have room, a Zalman does a really great job. The problem is that any AMD Dual Core over 4200+ will increase the temp by an average of 5-8 degrees celcius. Once I replaced my stock heat sink fan with a Zalman 9500, my temps went down an average of 8-10 degrees. Of course, I am running 2 intake and 3 exhaust fans along with the Zalman. In addition, an increase in heat in my system does come from the massive 8800 GTX, but a pci exhaust fan just below the card makes a difference.

O.o?? i juz bought a 8800gt card and e instructions inside say tat it is not wise to open the side cover as it would affect the air flow and might not get an optimum cooling from the fans...so the question is, to open or not to open the side cover?

What is the CPU temperature? Your GPU temp is fine. If your CPU temp is below the mid 60s under load it is fine.

If both of those are fine, you can make a pretty safe assumption that the motherboard temp is fine too because there is no reason for it to be hot while the others are cool.

It could just be a faulty sensor, there is no way you could have an acceptable CPU temp and a dangerously high motherboard temp, because the only way for the motherboard to get that hot is if you had no airflow, and if you had no airflow your CPU temp wouldn't be fine.

This is true, as is the software you are using may be giving inacurate readings.

An example from personal experience is when using Sisoft sandra to burn-in components on my rig, it will halt on error of CPU#2 overheating at 80oC.
If I disable the Sisoft monitoring tool and just let it continue burn-in, neither Everest or Asus Probe report CPU#2 going beyond 44oC under load.

That's bullcrap. How are you supposed to install/swap out any hardware unless you open the side cover?? I can see if you take the cover off IF you have the computer running, but that only minimally affects the temps.

You need to get an I/O shield...

I actually made one out of cardboard before, although it doesn't look all that great, it does the job. I suggest you do the same.

Like SNGX mentioned, if your GPU and CPU temps are fine, they're fine. Don't go worrying about nonsense XD

If you really want to reduce temps, I'd suggest aircooling for you. Watercooling, although is getting pretty mainstream these days, are still quite expensive. Not to mention would be kinda redundant, since you don't overclock. Might prolong the life of your components, but then again, a good aircooler will do the same, while saving money.

I'm not a big fan of stuff being able to boil water in my computer, and the fact its designed to run at those temps don't put me at ease at all. I'd personally still change over the cooling for the graphics card to something bigger. Better cooling not only dissipates the heat better, but also reduces the amount of heat put out in the first place (reduced temps = reduced resistance = reduced heat produced).

Then again, if you are happy running your comp as it is, there is no reason to change.