[jamie_Ridler]

I am having some serious problems with heat in my computer. I have not yet checked the temperature of the CPU or anything but the computer components and even the case are so hot i can not even touch them. There does not seem to be any problem with any of the fans, the CPU fan is working fine, the fan on the graphics card is working, and the fan for the power supply seems fine too. All 3 fans are new, supply fan was baught 3 days ago, CPU fan i got q month ago, and the graphics card fan is from 2 months ago. I dont know what is wrong and why the fans, even thought they are all working, dont seem to be cooling down the computer. The only way i can get the computer to even stay on without crashing is to have the side open and a desktop fan blowing right into it. If someone can help me even find the problem it will be great, but i need help soon coz i know this is not good for the computer.

Jamie

 

[SPEEDO]

Welcome to the forums jbr151..........

How about a list of hardware so we know where we're going with this?

 

[jamie_Ridler]

This is my hardware:

Mobo: epox ep-3vsa2, with onboard sound.
Chipset: VIA Apollo Pro133T.
CPU: Pentium 3 1.13ghz.
Power: 350w Supply
Graphics: Geforce 4 TI4200 64mb X2 AGP.
Harddrive: 40gb matrox, 15gb samsung.
CD-Drive: Samsung burner.
Network: PCWorld 100/10mb PCI Ethernet Adapter.
Internet: Internal ADSL modem.
Floppy: 1 drive.

I checked in my local computer store to see if it was a problem with to many parts for my power supply, but they said 350w is more than enough. More than that they couldnt say without me taking my computer into the store for a check.

 

[SPEEDO]

OK here is how you should have your fans setup.

Front bottom blowing in.

Back top blowing out.

And your power supply fan should be blowing out of course.

Is this what you've got there?

 

[jamie_Ridler]

Ok i dont know what fans you mean by front bottom and back top, but the power supply fan is blowing out.

 

[War_Monger]

sounds to me like you might not have your fans blowing correctly, what you need to do is have the fan in the front of your comp blowing air in, and then have a fan at the rear blowing air out, you might also take a look at where your computer is situated in your house, its best to have it on a cool ground like wood or cement or linoleum, dont have it on carpet or anything that might help to insulate the computer and make it hotter. i susptect if your case is getting hot to the touch to you may have a defective motherbaord and the heat is bleeding into the case which is making it hot, or your mother board might be fine but your power supply is set to a higher output rating than your mother board was designed for look on the back and set it to the lowest one, it should be a on a red or black switch and the two numbers should be 115 and 235 set it to the lowest and see if that helps.

 

[jamie_Ridler]

Ok i still dont know what fans you mean. I have 1 fan at the back of the box on the power supply blowing air out, 1 fan on the CPU, and 1 fan on the geforce card. I dont have any other fans. As to the location, the computer is on a wooden desk. And about the faulty motherboard, how can i check if it is faulty or not? The power supply i have now is using the same setting as my old power supply but i never had this much heat, although my computer setup was a bit differnet then. I had a voodo3 16mb insted of the geforce, and i had a normal cd-player as well as my burner. It might just be that the power supply is getting to hot and heating up all the case, or its the geforce, because its when i fited these 2 that the heat started rissing.

I also download a program that monitors the computer hardware and it sais 3 things in temperature:
motherboard: 48c
CPU: 57c
aux: 24c

And these readings are when the computer was left idle, i dont know how much it does up when playing games or stuff, and i dont even know what temperatures should be inside. All i know is that the case is too hot, and even the fan on the geforce card (made out of metal unlike most fans inside the computer) is to hot to touch, and if i have to wait about an hour till i can actually touch the geforce.

A big problem is that no matter what part is fautly (motherboard, geforce, power supply), i dont have any money to replace them, so i need to find a way to reduce the heat, that doesnt cost anything.

 

[Volt-Schwibe]

here

ok, it wont let me add a pic, so i have to link you to the pic in the photo gallery.

http://www.techsupportforums.com/vgallery/showimage.php?iid=84&cid=5&sort=date

i hope it helps.

~BoB~

 

[jamie_Ridler]

Well from the fans in the picture i have:
power supply fan
AGP card fan
side panel intake fan
Thats all i have, none of the others, and my computer case only actually has room for 1 more fan on it, the rear exhaust fan. I got air vents on both sides, about 15 little holes on each side panel. Not much but thats it.

 

[Volt-Schwibe]

alright

so you have a power supply fan, and a side panel fan, and a agp fan?

is there also a cpu fan inside? a cpu fan is convective, and only recirculates inside air, unless there is a good side panel fan bringing air in from outside the case, it wont do as much as it should.
are you sure there isnt a way to add a front fan? i dont use a fan on the front of my machine, but i did untill i added the side panel fan. after i added a side panel fan blowing in, my machine didnt need the front panel fan at all.

however, a different machine showed better temps with a front panel fan than a side panel fan.

and another benifited greatly from both

honestly, i think its best to simply have a nice torrent of air in and out and all around inside the case.

i even worked on a machine that had all the fans i showed, and some others. it also had a second 130 watt power supply just to power fans. it had the worst dust problem i ever saw too, but nice low temps if the dust wasnt forming a blanket on the parts.

its really a matter of what sort of temps you have in what exact areas in the case. they sell thermometers you can buy to put in the front of your case. you stick the thermometer to a part, and put the display on the tower, or your monitor, if you buy that model. i know when i get extra cash, i am buying three of them, one for the CPU, one for the power supply transformer, and one for the system temps.

~BoB~

 

[jamie_Ridler]

When i said side panel fan i meant to say cpu fan, the only fan on the side of the case is the power supply fan, both of my other fans are inside on cpu and agp, thats all i have.

My case has no room for any fan infront or on either side, only 1 space for a fan, under the power supply.

 

[crisis]

A friend of mine had a similar problem. The top of his case and his power supply got hot, although his was a very highly specced machine. His power supply actually died, he replaced it and it still got hot. He solved it by fitting 3 case fans, one at the front blowing in and two at the back blowing out.
I'm no expert but I'd say you could do with using your case fan slot. If you require additional cooling there are lots of alternatives like slot coolers, which fit in a free PCI bay and coolers that fit in front drive bays. Two useful websites you should check out:
www.thecardcooler.com - loads of good products and advice.
www.overclockers.co.uk - loads of cooling stuff.
Round IDE cables are also meant to help with cooling although I've never tested this.
Hope this helps a bit although I realise that there may be a more serious fault to blame-you could try e-mailing the people at thecardcooler.com - they seem willing to give advice.

 

[Volt-Schwibe]

ok

is there something in the front that is in the way of adding a front fan?

most newer towers have at least some sort of a provision for a front fan.

i suppose i would suggest to add an extra fan blowing out right under your power supply where you mentioned having room.

i would also see about having someone carve you a fan hole in your side panel. any machine shop should be happy to do this for a very reasonable cost that one would be best blowing in.

as far as pci slot fans, if you put them all the way in the bottom slot, they seem to do ok. they blow in by the way.

you could also check on a tower that has better cooling possibilities.

i myself have a tower that wasnt made to have any fans in it at all. (excpet the power supply, but thats really the supplys' own fan) but now i have removed the speaker plate from the front panel, and carved a hole in the side. i dont use my front fan, but with my side panel on and the fan not on i get up to 68 celcius. with the side panel off, i get to 54 celcius. and with the side panel on, and the side fan running, i get down to 32 and such. the front fan makes no difference now that i have the side fan.

i do however have a "hot spot" forming near my hard disk, and am considering addin a 1.5 inch fan in the front, near the hard disk instead of at the front bottom.

see if there is anything you can do, and also check to see if the heat sink is choked with dust. and check to see if the power supply vent holes arent clogged with dust. dust is very insulative, and will add to your heat problem considerably.

if none of this helps, let us know.

~BoB~

 

[Volt-Schwibe]

also

and an out fan in the back is a good plan, since it helps to releive the heat at the top, but it is also a good idea to keep the case pressure positive. that would be best accomplished by having simply more in fans than out. bottom line is, if it works, and it isnt about to tear itself up, then its lovely.

~BoB~

 

[johnwill]

Actually, if you visit the AMD website, they say that frequently intake fans actually increase case temperatures, and my one AMD systems agrees with them. I removed the intake fan and moved it to the exhaust position, and my MB and processor temperatures fell 3-4 degrees. I have the P/S fan, and two additional exhaust fans, and it works better than with an intake fan.

 

[Volt-Schwibe]

yeah

i can beleive that, its sometimes a matter of your exact conditions.
i have seen many good explainations of why both can work out for someone. stuff like that isnt set in stone it seems.

on my pc i dont have room for an out fan in any of the possible good spots, since it is a 386 case. i am always trying to find a way to add another one though, so you never know, i might have an upper exhaust fan soon. if i toss my ltp1 and com2 ports i could put a 2 inch fan under the supply, i just might do that.


anyways its all a hectic unknown principle, and there are experts that disagree after years of research, so i dont know, i just try to keep mine from buring up.

~BoB~

 

[jamie_Ridler]

Well my case is new so i dont want to go out and get a new one again with a few extra fan spots. About making the holes for some fans, in front i have no room as i got 2 USB and a speaker port on the front bottom, and the way the computer desk is made i cant put in side fans on either side of the computer because the fans will just be blocked, my computer fits into a box almost the same size as the computer itself. I will give the idea of PCI fans a try asn the back is the only place i can fit fans on my case, and ill try and get that fun under the power supply i have room for. Can you fit fans in the front where the floppy or cd players go in? I still have 2 spair slots there. Thanks for all the help anyway, before i this forum i only new of the fans on the CPU and graphics and the powwer supply fan, i didnt know that any other fans even existed and the people at my local computer store were no help at all with this. They say bring over the computer and we will see it, but the problem only happens when playing games, thats when the heat goes up high, and i dont think they will sit in the shop playing games for an hour Anyway thanks to everyone for your help, ill give the extra fans a try.

 

[Volt-Schwibe]

oh wow

i think that may be the problem right there...


that desk of yours might be acting as some sort of a blanket for the side of the case. you might try taking it out of the desk, and see if it helps any.

and the rear exhaust fans under the power supply will most definately help.

and the pci slot fan wouldnt be too useful, unless it would help keep your video area cool.

and yes, they sell a fan that goes in the front in a drive bay, but most people will just tell you that unless your hard disk is overheating, then it isnt worth it to buy that fan.

but get that fan for the rear, and try to get a high volume one, and if you can fit two next to each other, then go for that.

and if you dont get to add the front bottom fan, then see if there is some air holes in the front.

you might also try having the room cooler.

after you add the rear fan, come back (if you havent already) and tell us how it worked out for you.

and as johnwill stated, the rear exhuast fans seem to be the easiest and fastest way to releive some heat. it builds up there, so it makes sense to open a window and let it out.

(although i found a ton more heat loss by adding a 5 inch side panel fan instead, but my tower isnt exactly normal)

~BoB~

 

[crisis]

I downloaded some info from the AMD website, and they recommend using power supplies with 2 intakes, one on the front of the PSU and one on the bottom. This second intake on the bottom draws air away from the processor and helps cool it. Worth considering because a 2-fan PSU won't take up any more room in your case (if you haven't already got one that is!)

 

[johnwill]

Actually, that's one intake (on the bottom) and one exhaust (on the back). I have several of those in my systems. However, the fan on the bottom is just to help push air through the P/S, since it dissipates more heat than anything else as a rule. AT 75% efficiency, a system drawing 200 watts will be dissipating 66 watts in the P/S.