Cooling my PC?

theanimal

Baseband Member
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Alright, so my PC is just an HP with a sound card and graphics card. As well as a 550W rosewill power supply. It runs any game I want it to great, but lately it's been overheating.

AMD Athlon 620 x4 2.6GHz
3x 2GB memory
1TB HD
EVGA GT240 graphics
SB X-Fi XtremeAudio

When I talk about 'idle', CPU @ 28-31C, graphics @ 37C, in the background running are:
X-Fi Volume Panel
Steam
SuperAntiSpyware
Ventrilo
Logitech G15 Gaming Software
EVGA Precision

and under load, CPU @ 50-54C, graphics @ 60-64C, everything above AND:
World of Warcraft, lol
iTunes
Firefox (with 10+ tabs)
Steam chats (3-4)
Ventrilo (2nd)

So i'm willing to buy a fan or heatsink, reasonably price, not looking to spend a fortune, just a couple bucks, i'm willing to possibly buy a new case if my mobo could be put in a different case, I don't know if HP has got it designed to where it can't be. i'm willing to slice and dice my current case to add another fan or anything. so here's some pictures...is there anything I can do to make my comp run cooler?

Also...it jumps from like 30C idle to like 37C just when I open up Firefox, to me that seems a decent bit for just firefox?

Outside the case:
img0280ds.jpg


Inside the case:
img0271.jpg


An alternate heatsink I have, in the case, not connected:
img0276.jpg


I also have that fan above the graphics card that's pushing air out through a PCI slot.

I know this may be a dumb open ended question, but I just feel like the graphics card fan turns on high a lot and it's overheating and getting too hot, I would feel more comfortable if it was running a little cooler...is there anything I can do to cool it? Any help is appreciated, sorry for the long thread heh.

Also, the only reason I don't use the other heatsink which isn't stock, is because it doesn't actually cover the entire surface of the CPU & it aims right up at the graphics card which is already overheating, seems kind of dumb?
 
i have the same heatsink most likely, although all Arctic Cooling Freezers look the same usually. Firstly, jeez that is one crowded case. If possible, i'd recommend getting a bigger case with more space for a few case fans and some empty space for airflow.
 
I was thinking about getting a different case, as this one does seem relatively small. I just wanted to make sure it was possible to swap the HP mobo into a new case, I don't know if they have their stuff arranged so oddly on the mobo that it can't be put into a different case.


Edit 1:
Newegg.com - Xigmatek ASGARD II B/B CPC-T45UC-U01 Black / Black 0.8 mm SECC / Aluminum and Aluminum Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

I know that is a cheap case, but I'm kind of working on a budget. With that case it looks like it has slightly more room than my current case, as well as 3 fans could be mounted to the side there. Would that be an upgrade or no? It looks like I would have to turn my motherboard completely upside down from the way it's mounted now, and it appears as if it would fit.

Edit 2:

So after looking at that case for a while, it's going to be $40 total after shipping and I'll be able to get 3 fans on the side as well as the 1 in the rear, and some comments say you can do a front fan, some say you can't. So overall it seems alright. So is there going to be any other cases that could provide better airflow for ~40$ after shipping?

Also what size fans would mount on the side there? 80mm? I'm sorry, I'm not the best all of this heh
 
I had an HP as well.. it was an HP elite. Goodluck getting fans in there its near impossible.

I then bought this case

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite 310 RC-310-BKR2-GP Black with blue front panel Steel Body / ABS plastic front bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply

which has good airflow for the price. ITs a cheapy though, but it works. 1 fan in the front, one on the side, and one in the back.

It ran nice in cool, until I put a a 460 in there, then it ran a little warm.

The Mobo, should be a Micro ATX, should be and most cases can fit the micro-atx although some of the full towers do not..
 
I had an HP as well.. it was an HP elite. Goodluck getting fans in there its near impossible.

I then bought this case

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite 310 RC-310-BKR2-GP Black with blue front panel Steel Body / ABS plastic front bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply

which has good airflow for the price. ITs a cheapy though, but it works. 1 fan in the front, one on the side, and one in the back.

It ran nice in cool, until I put a a 460 in there, then it ran a little warm.

The Mobo, should be a Micro ATX, should be and most cases can fit the micro-atx although some of the full towers do not..

Yeah, I think i'm just going to switch to that case I posted, it seems to be bigger, much more open space to work with, with the option of a lot of fans, the only thing, is with being able to put 3 fans on the side, should I? Should I have them all blowing air in or blowing out? one blowing in, 2 out? How should I set that up? As well, what size does it look like would fit there? I'm guessing 80mm
 
80mm's are going to be loud too, so beware of that. I prefer to build systems in cases now that have 120mm at a minimum. No 80s, and preferably no 90's either.

Another thing I would do is move your slot fan away from your GPU. You're creating a buffeting effect with the slot fan so close to the GPU. The GPU is capable of cooling itself with the heatsink it came with, so move it up a couple of slots if you must keep it in your system.

Also, you should face your Freezer tower toward the fans in the case (in this case, the rear exhaust fan to the right of it) you're drawing air from an area that's already exhausting air, so you could be starving the heatsink of air. I own that same heatsink (several, actually) and you can indeed mount that heatsink in any one of the four directions according to how you have the clip, regardless of where the motherboard socket retention mechanism is.
 
Those temperatures you gave are far from overheating, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just clean up your case and make sure you blow out all the dust so the air can flow freely and you'll be fine.
 
I ordered a large case w/ some fans and I didn't even think about the heatsink suggestion facing towards the fan sucking outwards. feel stupid for nothing thinking of that.

what do you mean by external venting though?
 
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