System running hot

[Aveox]

I recently build a new system, consisting of:

MSI 6712 KT400 motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 2700+ CPU
Gainward GF4 Ti4800 (8x AGP)
Audigy2
2 x Maxtor harddisks

This system runs way to hot. CPU temps are 53C idle and 57C under load (gaming). I already removed the side panels of the case and put a 80mm fan directly over the motherboard to supply cool air, but the temps are still to high. The harddrives and videocard also produce a lot of heat. As I'm typing this, ambient temperature is 27C, and my CPU is at 57C

How can I lower my system temps? The case I bought isn't great. I realize that now. It's a bigtower case with a 80 mm fan mounting in the bottom front and a 80mm fan mounting in the top rear. Its lacking an exhaust hole in the back near the processor, and my power supply is also not equipped with a bottom-intake.

Right now, Im using one fan to blow directly onto the motherboard, and one fan acting as a blowout to get rid of hot air. With the fans in their designated spots (bottom-front/top-rear) the system would idle over 60C (switched system off when it hit 60, so it might even be higher). The case has to sit almost in the middle of the room to get enough cool air. Normally, it will sit on a table between a desk and the wall.

I have also been thinking about watercooling, but that would only cool the processor. I know there are also complete watercooling sets available for CPU, videocard and harddrives, but that's not an option because of the cost. I'm not planning on overclocking, but I just want my system temperatures to go down a bit to acceptable levels.

Edit: typo

[Soheils91]

heres a tip, how far in that fan from the motherboard? Closer isnt always better, leave some distance between the fan and whatever you are trying to cool.

what type of heatsink and fan are you using?? are you sure you set it up right? your hs might not be making good contact with your cpu!! are you having stability issues these temps might not be totally accurate. There is always the possiblity for errors.

You say you have a fan blowing in on the motherboard does your cpu fan blow down on the cpu or out if it blows out and your using another fan to blow in on it then you basically canceling each other out.

[A.K.Arkane]

good tip..

info AMD Anthons do Runn alot hotter the Intel Cpus also

[Aveox]

Here's something: The software MSI supplies with the motherboard (PC Alert 4) says CPU temperature is 57C. The bios says its 53C. I used a thermometer and put it on the processor heatsink. It shows 38-39C. All of this is at idle, and measured within 5 minutes, so conditions are equal. Am I looking at a 15C miscalculation from my bios? Is that something that has happened before?

Im using the stock heatsink/fan combo. I removed the thermal pad from the heatsink and replaced it with a cooling paste to improve conductivity. The store owner where I bought the system recommended using paste to improve conductivity, so that's all taken care of. The heatsink is placed correctly on the CPU. That's the first thing I checked.

One fan is blowing directly onto the processor. It's about 8 cm from the processor fan. I took care they do not cancel eachother out. I tried reversing it, so that it blows hot air away from the motherboard, but that only made temperatures rise 5C. One fan sits in about the center of the case, above the motherboard and it is blowing hot air away from the CPU.

Thanks for the replys so far

[rourkchris]

Sometimes the BIOS reports a wrong temp. It has happened with me and ASUS mobos before. If your worried then try upgrading your heatsink/fan and try a better thermal compound. Maybe Arctic Silver Ceramique. I think this stuff works wonders. Might also try a thermaltake ducting mod.

[wju425]

Check your vcore voltage and see that's ok. I think your voltage should be 1.65v. Try running it at 1.60v.

\o/ Billy

I'm not sure how acurate the temps from the heatsink could be compared to actual cpu temps. I'd say not very considering there will be alot of he disipation between the two. However the bios being wrong is possible and does occur frequnetly. If your not having stability issues then I'd say its more than likely the case. So you can either leave it or you can try flashing the bios to see if that corrects the problem.

But I would say with that setup your temps might be correct. You may need to go to a better hs/fan and as wju suggested your vcore might be off and this would cause higher temps. Stock hs and fans just don't seem to cut it these days.