The short:
I've paired a D 920 with the Intel 945GPM board (mATX) in my first HTPC project. The chassis is an nMediaPC 200, which is little cramped, but not so bad - there's lots of ventilation slots on the top, sides, back exhaust, etc. but I am concerned it's a little (a lot?) too hot for my liking.
The long:
The problem in trying to evaluate what to do/improve/replace - I don't know what temp monitor is actually accurate--
In Intel's Utlity "Hardware Monitor" (Windows XP MCE 05) it reads as this (at idle):
"Processor Zone Temp" 50C
"System Zone 1" 42C
"System Zone 2" 42C
"Processor Fan" 2550 RPM
Which is all "in the green" - But the BIOS sings a slightly different story (at idle/sitting in BIOS):
"Processor Temp" 63C
"Internal Temp" 47C
"Remote Temp" 45C
"Processor Fan" 2640 RPM
Everything is about 2-4C cooler when the top/cover is removed - so I'm not TOO worried about overall case ventilation. (I let things idle for about 10 minutes in each state before writing down readings)
To confuse matters more, this chassis comes with a front LCD panel with 2 temps sensors, but they are both in Farenheit and when converted come out 10-20 degrees cooler than both Windows and BIOS temp readings above...
I've tried the attached the "CPU" sensor in two places, 1st shoved as far into the fins on HS as possible, and right now its on the ledge/side of the processor same temp range in both places - 109F-115F (42C-46C) UGGGGGHHHH
What I do know is I've looked over Intel's tech specs for the D9xx, and am not real comfortable with the CPU being up near 65c - if that's the case (see BIOS reading).
So can I trust any of the above methods as accurate? I'm about to give this all up, close things up and wait for an alarm or auto-shutdown, cuz I'm tired of agonizing over it. How can I decide on new HSF without being sure what the actual temps are?
1 other note to this diatribe - this is my first build where I've selected my own PSU (and my first mATX) - does it look beefy enough??? It's pretty high quality IMO - I didn't really consider the wattage very long when I was selecting since I was only planning on 1 HD....
Full specs
nMEDIAPC HTPC 200SA
Intel Pentium D 920 Presler
Intel D945G-PM-LKR (MicroATX)
SILVERSTONE SST-ST365 ATX 360W Power Supply
pqi TURBO 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (PC2 5400)
POWERCOLOR 1600XTBRAVO256 Radeon X1600XT 256MB
Seagate ST3300622AS 300GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R IDE
I've paired a D 920 with the Intel 945GPM board (mATX) in my first HTPC project. The chassis is an nMediaPC 200, which is little cramped, but not so bad - there's lots of ventilation slots on the top, sides, back exhaust, etc. but I am concerned it's a little (a lot?) too hot for my liking.
The long:
The problem in trying to evaluate what to do/improve/replace - I don't know what temp monitor is actually accurate--
In Intel's Utlity "Hardware Monitor" (Windows XP MCE 05) it reads as this (at idle):
"Processor Zone Temp" 50C
"System Zone 1" 42C
"System Zone 2" 42C
"Processor Fan" 2550 RPM
Which is all "in the green" - But the BIOS sings a slightly different story (at idle/sitting in BIOS):
"Processor Temp" 63C
"Internal Temp" 47C
"Remote Temp" 45C
"Processor Fan" 2640 RPM
Everything is about 2-4C cooler when the top/cover is removed - so I'm not TOO worried about overall case ventilation. (I let things idle for about 10 minutes in each state before writing down readings)
To confuse matters more, this chassis comes with a front LCD panel with 2 temps sensors, but they are both in Farenheit and when converted come out 10-20 degrees cooler than both Windows and BIOS temp readings above...
I've tried the attached the "CPU" sensor in two places, 1st shoved as far into the fins on HS as possible, and right now its on the ledge/side of the processor same temp range in both places - 109F-115F (42C-46C) UGGGGGHHHH
What I do know is I've looked over Intel's tech specs for the D9xx, and am not real comfortable with the CPU being up near 65c - if that's the case (see BIOS reading).
So can I trust any of the above methods as accurate? I'm about to give this all up, close things up and wait for an alarm or auto-shutdown, cuz I'm tired of agonizing over it. How can I decide on new HSF without being sure what the actual temps are?
1 other note to this diatribe - this is my first build where I've selected my own PSU (and my first mATX) - does it look beefy enough??? It's pretty high quality IMO - I didn't really consider the wattage very long when I was selecting since I was only planning on 1 HD....
Full specs
nMEDIAPC HTPC 200SA
Intel Pentium D 920 Presler
Intel D945G-PM-LKR (MicroATX)
SILVERSTONE SST-ST365 ATX 360W Power Supply
pqi TURBO 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (PC2 5400)
POWERCOLOR 1600XTBRAVO256 Radeon X1600XT 256MB
Seagate ST3300622AS 300GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R IDE