Overheating issues?

LHC

Now, I realize that my case will heat up after being turned on, but I dont know about this much.. (GPU on the right)





This was it being completely idle on the Windows desktop. And the weird thing is, the temperature gets this high at idle, but at full load it only goes up by like 1 or 2 degrees.

Could it be my fairly cheap mobo, the Abit NV8?

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Dyre Straits

I can't think of how a mobo would cause overheating unless for some reason it's not providing enough voltage. But, then, that points to a weak PSU.

Most likely, your problem is a lack of fans and airflow. Where exactly is the case located and is there sufficient room for the hot air to escape from the case? I've seen some people cram their computer into a small compartment that idiot designers of furniture say is for a computer. That's the worst area to put one....in an enclosed tight area like that.

So, start with how efficient is the airflow, how well are the fans operating, do you have enough fans installed, is the PSU putting out enough power for your system?....

Also, how long has it been since the case was cleaned out really good? Dust and debris built up inside is an insulator and will retain heat.

Just a few thoughts before I crash for the day....

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LHC

It's against the side of my desk, there is room in the back of the case for airflow, but maybe not much. I have two 120mm fans and one 80 mm side fan (I dont know how effective one 120mm is).

My PSU should be enough, I have 550 watts for my system. I dont think my parts require all that.

I cleaned the case out a few days ago actually. There was a lot of dust

I'm in school right now, but I'll take a picture of everything once i get home. Off-hand, this is the only picture I have



(the back isnt against the wall)

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>GSXR<mrbusa

What utility are you using to monitor your temps?
Try a few different programs that have sensor reading capabilities and see if they are all the same.
If you applied the thermal paste on your hardware, what thermal paste did you use?
The reason this is strange is that if it was a airflow issue or bad fans then the load temps would go up accordingly and not just a few degrees over idle temps.
Have you tried removing the side of your case and put a room fan pointed towards the inside or the case and see if the temps are lower?

LHC

Im using ATI Tray tools to monitor the temps, but Ill try some others when i get home. But I remember seeing my temps that high one time and thought nothing of it. I'll try the room fans on it when i get home, and I used the thermal paste that came with he heatsink (I had to buy it separately because my CPU didnt come with a heatsink and fan). Could it be that I bought a heatsink and fan that was compatible with multiple processors, and therefore it isnt taking the heat correctly? (for my processor anyway)

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>GSXR<mrbusa

Which HS/F are you using on your CPU?
I do not recommend using any of the thermal paste that comes with a HS/F package unless it is quality product. Also it is a good idea to go with a highly rated cooler and if the finish is not perfect then read up on lapping and lap it good. AS5 is in the top 2 thermal grease products and is what I use to achieve my temps.
As far as the GPU goes, the 1800 series cards run hot but you should be able to lower it allot by applying AS5 and even more if you get an after market cooler and lap it really good. Most of the singleslot x1xxx coolers sucked and really limited the overclocking ability of the series.

Some people do not mind hot components and as long as there temps are right at the limit they are content. You have to remember that the hotter the component the shorter the lifespan and the lower your achieved overclock will be and the less stable your system will be at full load. When a PC is air cooled there is always room for improvement.

temeteus82

what kind of cooling you have on your gfx card?? I recommend that you totally removing your gfx card and clean it from dust...

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Dyre Straits

The reason this seems to be a cooling/airflow problem to me rather than just a CPU or GPU overheating is that BOTH of those temps go up. It's not isolated to one or the other. I suppose if the graphics card is getting hot, it could affect the overall temp, but, at idle, in my case, which is VERY similar to yours, my temps right now are 41/41. I never see anything in the 60s on my GPU unless I'm playing 3D intensive games.

So, if I was seeing this on my own system I'd first check that all the airflow is clear around the video card, CPU, and anywhere a fan needs to function. Then, with the video card I'd make sure that fan is not obstructed by something else right next to the fan. (Is there another card slotted in next to it?)

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LHC

From just completely opening the case, my GPU temp dropped around 6 degrees (I usually have the side partially opened)



Here are some pics I just took:






And while making this post, my temps dropped to 42 and 59.. maybe i should try the room fan thing?

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Judas

Check your processes by opening up the task manager,

See what the System Idle Process is sitting at (CPU usage wise, if you've got nearly nothing running at the time, it should stay at least above 90 or 95%, usually if absalutely nothing else is running, it should stick to 99 majority of the time)

i'm curious to know if perhaps a program has the cpu pegged at all times.

btw, looking at your cables and case, it looks like you have ALOT of fans or something, and it appears that your CPU fan isn't plugged into your motherboards cpu fan header, would it be right to assume you've got a fan control of somesort? (that's ALOT of cable splitters and whatnot imo)

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LHC

System Idle Process seems to be working fine



And yea, my PSU has too many cables On the left, see that black, red, yellow, and white wire? That leads to the front outside of my case where I can control the CPU fan speed. And on the back of my PSU I can control fan speed, and they are always set to the highest

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LHC

I downloaded Everest, and it tells me that my CPU is about 43, Motherboard is 35, Aux is 31, and my SATA hard drive is at 40. It doesnt see the GPU sensor it seems

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temeteus82

I think that you have some dust inside that X1800 cooler... in it's heatsinks fins

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niceguyrichy

bear in mind that even 70°C under load isn't that hot for that GF card, so if that's as much as you're getting there shouldn't be a lot to worry about.
if the ambient temp of your case is still high though, do what was said above and make sure you got plenty of system fans with decent ventilation

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LHC

Yea I'm not too concerned about the temperature at load.. I'm just confused as to why the idle and load times are practically the same

GPU is down to a solid 58 on ATI Tray Tools.. I'll take the video card out soon and clean it up

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LHC

Put some compressed air into it.. nothing was really in there and it didnt seem to help the temperatures much..



Right now it's varying between 52 and 53 and steadily going up

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LHC

(sorry for triple post)

So here's the thing.. at idle it stayed around 58.. I then played a game where it went up to 71 (the normal load temp) and then afterwards, when I let it sit for a little bit, this was the result



So seemingly everything is a lot better now.. any concluding remarks anyone? Thanks for helping getting it lowered

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>GSXR<mrbusa

I would definitely put some different thermal paste on both your GPU and CPU. Those 1800 coolers sucked bad and the original Zalman grease that comes with those CPU coolers sucks even worst than the 1800 cooler.

LHC

Alright.. how's this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100401

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>GSXR<mrbusa

Personally I would go with this. It is the best at the moment. The Zalman silver compound is almost as good but it costs a little more.
If you apply it correctly there is no other way to get the best temps out of your current HS/F combo. A good lapping of the HS/F will help even more.
There is not allot that can be done with the stock 1800 cooler other than to toss it and get an after market cooler. The as5 should still bring temps down some. There is a burn in period for as5 and the temps will drop over time.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007

Dyre Straits

That's really looking to be a lot better. After my own system has been on all day long, I'm still seeing constant idle temps (ATT) of 42/42. However, my PowerColor X1950 Pro has the best cooler ever and that makes a lot of difference, I believe. However, due to it's HUGE size, I lose access to the PCI slot next to it. If I really needed that slot, I might sacrifice a little higher temps on the card for it. But, I don't really need that slot and hope I don't.

I'd say you're looking good.

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LHC

I'm ordering the AS5, and I'm thinking about getting the Xccelero X2 for my GPU cooler.. I may need to get rid of a PCI card to use it though

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186002

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Dyre Straits

Yep, that's the best way to go. Good luck!

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Tipstaff

BTW, just out of curiosity, what is your ambient room temp?

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Dyre Straits

Can just anyone answer that question?

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LHC

Room temp is normal.. in the room next to mine it's 66 F, so in here it'll be a couple degrees more with my computer

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Tipstaff

<shakes his Magic 8 ball>

Answer: Maybe yes, maybe no.

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PangingJr

if your room temp is at around 66F/18C-20C then i think the hard drive temp of 40C is actually quite too warm, esp, if that is the temp when it is at idle and not been in heavy use just earlier.

i think the hard drive's temp alone indicates that you have some air flow and cooling problems inside your computer case.
i think the CPU and GPU temps should be able to be improved even more if you can manage to have more colder air intake, and a more faster exhaust case fan.

Judas

40*C hardrive temp is a bit high specially sitting in a room that cool.. (66*F is damn cold, i prefer a room temp of 72-74*F = 21ish*C)

atm, i've got 4 320gb HD's in raid 0 constantly working, and my reported temperature in my case is under load, 38*C

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LHC

I think it's primarily the hard drive's own construction, because I remember that when I ordered it, people noted the high temps it got to

Maybe my computer is running hot because there is just a bunch of hot things all running together or something? Yanno, like one massive heat wave..

That one particular HDD is a Seagate SATA 2 300GB, model number St3300822as

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