HTPC overheating with games.

sastusbulbas · 23 Oct 2010 at 18:30

Well i guess it was bound to happen, I am now finding some games take my passive GPU to 109*c aand my CPU passive cooled to over 80*c. As is just shut down on me with C&C4 playing.

Guess i am going to have to look at alternative cooling or change case, which is anoying as it was meant to stay under the TV.

Any tips or suggestions on hat options may be worth investigating? The below spwc was based on quiet.

System
Silverstone GD02B case, with two 80mm Sharkoon SE case fans on silent 7v setting.
Asus Maximus II Gene.
Intel E8500 at stock, cooled with a passive Silverstone NT01E.
Corsair Dominator GT.
Powercolor HD5750 passive cooled GPU.
Samsung F3 500gb.
Samsung Blu-Ray drive.
Corsair modular 450w PSU.

I have a couple of bits I could maybe add such as stock 80mm case fans, and a couple of 60mm? Fractals which i found quite noisy. I would like it to stay quiet though but wonder if there is any choice if gaming with this set up?

reilly · 24 Oct 2010 at 21:52

Have you tried things like changing the fans from push to pull or vice versa, location of fans, or increasing the speed of the fans to the next setting as they maybe still silence or a balance between silence/performance

If you have some pounds and pennies to spare, and room you cool install a small water cooling loop. there would not be anymore noisy as you could use the two fans to put on the rad.

I give you credit getting a E8500 passive, I have never scene one, I have never looked mind you.

Guardsmon · 24 Oct 2010 at 22:22

reilly said:
I give you credit getting a E8500 passive, I have never scene one, I have never looked mind you.

I had my Q6600 passive for 8 months with a TRUE120.. Just don't go clocking it to 3.4Ghz is what I found

Well looking at the case I guess your GPU is going to be the biggest challenge as there is no air flowing past it.
Short of cutting a hole in the top (or to the size) of the case you're going to have to change that setup. a PCI fan is 1 option, though they are normally quite noisy. Have a look at the Lian Li BS-07B, its not cheap, but for a good reason.

Otherwise have a look at something like the Artic Accelero S2. I don't know if any are designed to fit your card, you might have to email then. (A thermalright spitfire might be a bit OTT

) The Zalman VF700 used to be pretty quiet if you can get one to fit on your card.

As for the CPU with the NT01E and 2 fans sitting directly behind it it should be fine if you turn them up a bit - might have to try them at 12V.

vsmora · 24 Oct 2010 at 23:29

Try undervolting the CPU, RAM and GPU.

errata · 29 Oct 2010 at 00:00

as above pci slot fan for a quick fi, extracts air out of the case and is next to the gpu, should work provided air can get into the case, you could perhaps fit a switch to activate it for gaming

coupe69 · 29 Oct 2010 at 01:26

errata said:
as above pci slot fan for a quick fi, extracts air out of the case and is next to the gpu, should work provided air can get into the case, you could perhaps fit a switch to activate it for gaming

This sounds like a good plan, you could perhaps connect something cheap like the zalman fan mate to adjust the speed accordingly.