Help - I think I am a newbie in trouble

Deeconz · Post by **Deeconz** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:22 am

A couple of weeks ago I started upgrading my PC, original plan was to just put in new CPU and Graphics card, unfortunaatley I got a little carried away and this turned into a replacement CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Graphics Card, Power supply and case

:

MotherBoard: A8N32-SLI-DELUX
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ Socket 939 1MB
RAM: Corsair Memory TWINX2048 - 3500LLPRO 2x1GB 184Pin
Graphics: inno3D 7900GTX 512MB DDR3 PCI-E DVI
Case: Thermaltake Eureka VC8000BWA
PSU : Hiper-M 580w

I am running 4 x Hard Drives (not sure make & model as I am at work) aand 2x DVD rewriters in the same box.

I managed to assemble them all without either electrocuting myself or frying anything (which I thought was amazing as it's the first time I've put anything inside a PC case

). I finally got it all going but it appeared to be running hot, looking on various forums I saw different ideas on what "Hot" is.

My CPU was running at 47C under no load and the Motherboard got up to 52C without any trouble, I thought this might be excessive so figured that maybe getting rounded cables to improve airflow and a better CPU fan might make a difference and installed:

Fan: Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower CPU Cooler (HS-015-ZA)

Playing F.E.A.R for around 15 minutes saw the Motherboard up around 50C again before I shut it all down worried I might fry something.

The PC is in an area by a window and the overall room temp was around 26C (it was a hot day)

Not sure if this is relevant but the Power supply seems to blow warm air onto the Motherboard through a bottom there is no fan out the back like there was on my old PSU.

Can anyone please advise if:
a) I need to be worried about the temperatures it is running at?
b) If I do need to be worried about temperature what can I do about it?

On the bright side at least it all runs pretty quietly . . . . . . .and it looks kinda pretty with all the flashing lights

x

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 12:52 pm

Hey. welcome aboard!

that's warm but not critically warm.....but the fan on your psu should be blowing air out of the case....there should be an output fan and usually a fan over the cpu - double check the installation here

you're running a lot of stuff in there ... one easy way to check if you have enough air moving through the case is to pop the side off, put down a box fan or some fan and play a game and see if your temps improve ... if you get a substantial drop, then you need to rework the cooling inside the case

i'm sure others will be along shortly

Deeconz · Post by **Deeconz** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:27 am

Thanks for the welcome and for the advice - I'll give it a try when I get home on Friday.

Errrr perhaps a stupid question but could I have put the PSU in upside down ?

- The manual is not very helpful I am afraid.

Basically there is a grill beside the on/off switch at the back (no fan). Once installed there is a round fan on the inside of the computer case - If I install it so that the fan faces up the air projects straight at the top of the case with nowhere to go. If I install it down the air blows onto the motherboard (between the CPU fan and the air outlet fan).

Should I have installed it so that the fan goes up? - there is no top venting in the case.
Is it normal for the motherboard to be hotter than the CPU? (Usually 2-4C more)
If so what is a "safe" tempereature for the Motherboard?

I have read that the CPU can run up to 65C without problems but can't find anywhere which says what is safe for the Mobo. I will probably add another 7900GTX in SLI mode at some point and want to make sure that I have a resonable running temperature before I do so

Thanks for the help

nitro237 · Post by **nitro237** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:03 am

Welcome to PCA

The fan on the power supply that is inside the case should be facing the bottom.

Deeconz · Post by **Deeconz** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:50 am

Thanks for the Welcome Nitro,

I am most pleased to hear what you say

it means I did it right !!!

I was kinda worried about that!

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:05 pm

I concur with wjohn - those temps are acceptable. A quality Power Supply Unit (PSU) should have 2 fans - one on the back by the power plug and one inside pointing down over the CPU. Both these fans are EXHAUST fans, not intakes, so air should actually be being drawn up into the PSU and blown out the back of the PSU.

I'd be concerned if there's only one fan in the PSU, although there ARE some very good quality single fan PSUs that are specifically built that way to make them quiet, and they overcome the lack of the 2nd fan by using a very efficient fan.

I'd recommend you post the brand and model of your PSU so we can critique it for you.

If you feel you want some additional cooling you can always mount an extra intake or exhaust fan, although it sounds like it's not strictly necessary, and it would make the system noisier (unless you use an ultra quiet fan like a Nexxus fan).

Most cases have a place to mount an extra exhaust fan on the back immediately behind the CPU, and/or a place to mount an intake fan on the front of the case.

Let me also welcome you to the forums BTW!

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:30 pm

Welcome Deeconz

I remember about 10 yrs ago, that you could buy a power supply that would blow air inside the case instead of outside of the case. All my old links for this are dead, but if I remember correctly, one site said it did not really matter, as long as you had other case fans blowing out and not in.

I personally never did like the idea of having air from the outside being drawn in by the power supply fan into the case, since power supplies also generate heat.