Gradual increase of CPU temps?

Papa Lazarou · 10 Sep 2006 at 14:09

I'm re-using an old system as a media centre and for running some games (MAME etc). I've put it in a more compact Lian Li case, compared to a big Coolermaster case it used to use, and since doing so the temps have gone up. I've also had to increase the CPU vcore slightly to get it stable (compared to what it ran at in the old case).

The CPU temp on the on board monitor is pretty cool when first booted up. About 35 when Windows first loads. After about an hour idling (browsing etc) its at around 49. During 100% use in a game it gets to about 53. Is this temp OK for an XP-M? Having no stability issues since increasing the vcore.

System temps on the board monitor and the Silverstone controller show about mid 30's once its been on for a good while.

The heatsink is getting very hot to the touch and very warm air is being blown out of the side of the case by the 120mm exhaust fan. I'm fairly confident the heatsink is seated correctly.

System is :

Lian Li PC-G50 case w/ 2 x 120mm case fans
Athlon XP-M 2500+ @ 2.2 Ghz, 1.6v
Thermalright SLK 947U cooler w/ 92mm Zalman fan, and a bit of AS5 compound
Geil PC3200 512mb
Abit NF7S 2.0
X-Pro 460w PSU (w/ 120mm fan)
Asus Geforce 6800 128mb AGP (soft modded to 6800GT)
2 x hard drives, 1 x DVD RW
Compro DTV card
Edimax Wireless card
Silverstone fan controller

In this particular case, the PSU is on top of the heatsink and there is a gap of only about 1cm between the Zalman fan and PSU. Could this be causing it?

Will it be OK to leave it like this? I don't want to add more fans. If anything I'd actually like to make it quieter.

BlueAura · 10 Sep 2006 at 14:46

If you think it is the PSU causing the problem tape some heat insulator to the underside of the PSU near you CPU cooler and see if it makes a difference. Or even take the PSU out the case and run some more tests.

Sounds about right to me though, when you boot after have the PC switched off for an hour or so remember the heatsink will be stone cold, it takes a while for the heatsink to rise to the operating temperature of the CPU. The PSU will be the same though so as the PSU gets hotter it will disipate more heat, some of which might be transfered to your heatsink.

silversurfer · 10 Sep 2006 at 15:43

53c is hot but ok as a maximum.

Noble-Kebab · 10 Sep 2006 at 16:14

yes they are ok cpus can run at 70 but thats burn out time

Few things to try

Extra fan on side panel.

New layer of thermal paste on the cpu

Clean the heatsink of any dust

remove the side panel and see if there is a major drop in temp. If so you have an airflow problem.

Papa Lazarou · 10 Sep 2006 at 20:06

Right, I think it is an airflow problem. I don't think the PSU is getting warm enough to affect the processor temps, but the fact its covering the fan is probably not helping I guess. Not much I can really do about that though. I've managed to dropped the max CPU temps about 5 degrees just by moving some cables about. I really haven't got very good cable skills

Removing the cover drops it more.

I'll get a pic up and would welcome any tips on tidying it up!!

postmanfw · 12 Sep 2006 at 11:17

try reversing the side fan so it is feeding hsf instead if starving it? not got one myself but its a bad idea to have two fans near to each other running opposite ways (pressuming hs fan blows down on to hs?)