New HTPC - concerning temperatures

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Soldato
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17 Dec 2006
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Just built up my new HTPC from my old gaming machine. Unfortunately I wasn't able to put my Zalman CNPS9700-LED into it as it was literally about 3mm too high which was annoying so I'm back on a stock cooler. I'm just wondering if these temperatures might be a cause for concern:

Idle
CPU: 55/51/50/47
GPU: 47c
HDD: 42c
Mobo: 43c
PWM: 43c

Load
CPU: 71/68/67/70
GPU: 65c
HDD: 43c
Mobo: 45c
PWM: 54c

I'd guess they aren't really bad - just don't like seeing numbers that high, although I guess it's to be expected moving a full gaming rig into a case half the size :P Thinking about maybe replacing the stock cooler with a Mini Ninja, although not sure if it's worth it as from the idle temperatures the case temperature seems about 40-42c.

The only one I'm rather concerned about is the hard drives, as I never like them getting about 35c, are they okay or probably cause for concern?
 
goujon945 said:
What HTPC case are you using?
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Silverstone LC17B

It was a really tight squeeze getting everything in there, handle to bend the 24pin motherboard connector on a 90oc angle, and could only get 2 / 6 hard drives in :/ The airflow in the case will be horrible, but not sure if that's something that can be sorted (other than maybe unscrewing two blanking plates below the GPU slot to allow air in there?)
 
flibby said:
Silverstone LC17B

It was a really tight squeeze getting everything in there, handle to bend the 24pin motherboard connector on a 90oc angle, and could only get 2 / 6 hard drives in :/ The airflow in the case will be horrible, but not sure if that's something that can be sorted (other than maybe unscrewing two blanking plates below the GPU slot to allow air in there?)
Click to expand...

get two 92mm sharkoon silent eagles to mount to the two drive cages, that'll give you plenty of airflow from the front. get the mini ninja (check it fits first!) or the best orb cooler you can find. i bet something like the si-128 would work well too
 
ok then, if you have plenty of airflow you just need a better cpu cooler then:) i take it its the 4850 in the htpc? consider an aftermarket cooler that vents the air outside the case like the stock 4870 cooler does, that should make a large difference and i dont think they are that expensive.

also, try switching off that side fan to see if it improves the temperature at all.
 
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james.miller said:
get two 92mm sharkoon silent eagles to mount to the two drive cages, that'll give you plenty of airflow from the front. get the mini ninja (check it fits first!) or the best orb cooler you can find. i bet something like the si-128 would work well too
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Ah you replied when I was replying :)

The current fans are not the stock fans that come with the case. I've installed 2x 92mm Xilence Red Wing's in the hard drive bays. I've also removed the 2 stock 80mm's at the back of the case and added 2x Xilence 80mm Red Wings, and there is one stock fan on the side of the case next to the CPU. I'm definitely considering the Mini Ninja as you've mentioned, it would help a lot - but it seems like general case temperature is a bit on the high side at moment.

james.miller said:
ok then, if you have plenty of airflow you just need a better cpu cooler then:)
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See that is what I can't understand fully - it has lots of airflow, but ambient temperature is high :/ 40c-45c.

Cheers for the replies.
 
i can only really think that its the graphics card pumping hot air back in to the case thats causing it. the hdd temperatures in my lc17 are a good 10c lower and cool to the touch. do you have a spare gpu ( something that puts out much less heat) to test that theory? i know it means some mucking about, but you'll know if it is then.
 
Unfortunately not. Used to have a 7600GT in my second machine, but that packed up a couple of weeks ago and having to use onboard in the second machine. It could well be the graphics card as you say, as basically due to the size of the card the inner case is literally cut in half. CPU/RAM area and GPU/HDD area.

Think I'll try removing a couple of blanking plates from the back of the machine under the graphics card to get an airflow of sorts in there, see if that helps for the moment.
 
Temperatures seems a little better, cranked the stock cooler up to full to try it out. Basically removed all the spare blanking plates to allow air to flow out of the case as it may have been building up with no where to go. Also instead of putting the 2 hard drives on the top + middle slots, I've got them on the middle + bottom which seems to be better for airfow across them.

Also quite a hot day today, there's no sun but good lord it's humid. Although I guess it's days like this that are the worst case scenario and it's nice to make sure even on the hotest days the PC will be okay.

Idle
Idle
CPU: 42/38/40/35 (-9 to -12c)
GPU: 45c (-3c)
HDD: 42c (~)
Mobo: 40c (-3c)
PWM: 37c (-6c)

Load
CPU: 63/60/61/57 (-5c to -8c)
GPU: 58c (-7c)
HDD: 43c (~)
Mobo: 43c (-2c)
PWM: 48c (-6c)

Thanks for the help, guess I'll just have to live with the above normal temperatures. As long as the machine works and doesn't fail, then I guess it's okay although the HDD temperatures are still annoying me. I can't really do anything with them unfortuantely as they are on the drive bay that is directly oposite the PSU which means they are kinda stuffed in the corner. I couldn't put them in the other bay as they would have clattered the GPU.

It's only my 80GB Seagate 7200.10 that is the hot one, the Samsung Spinpoint F1 500GB which is directly above it is at 32c (10c lower).
 
thats still a lot better. i have my drives in the top and bottom slot. theory goes there's less airflow across that middle slot because of the dead spot behind the fan's motor.

but yeah, that is better, i still think your limited by the stock cpu cooler and that gpu heatsink (why did they design it like that? i know they wanted single slot but the 4850's still run very hot).

not sure what else you can try right now. perhaps a spare fan on the back of the case behind those blanking plates to see if pulling that hot air out improves it?


IMG_1119_small.jpg


pcrightnowwh2.jpg


thats my one:)
 
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Heh that looks pretty much exactly the same as my layout. My hard drives are where yours are, PSU is the same direction, I have a PCI card where you do (sound card). Your cables just look neater :P I had major trouble getting the cables routed, and mega trouble getting the 24 pin power connector into the board and trying to get the 5.25" drive bay to go in, had to bend the power cable.

Thanks again for the help btw :) I'll just stick with what I have, although may splash out for a Mini Ninja and just sell my CNPS9700 on the MM.
 
yeah fitting all in is...interesting. my atx connector sits under the bottom 5.25" bay as well, so i had to gave that a bit of a bend. it all goes in though! it tried to route cables out of the way wherever i could, like the sata leads (everything is sata in mine) between the ram modules and under the graphics card and also the atx12v cable is under the graphics card.. you can tidy some cables away between the two drive cages and between the left cage and the side of the case, too:)

i think with a better cpu cooler you will be just fine now. id still seriously consider a dual slot cooler for the gpu though - my gtx still does get very hot in my case but not as hot as a 4850 does even in a case with far more airflow:)
 
james.miller said:
i think with a better cpu cooler you will be just fine now. id still seriously consider a dual slot cooler for the gpu though - my gtx still does get very hot in my case but not as hot as a 4850 does even in a case with far more airflow:)
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Sorry forgot to mention that, it has a Zalman VF1000 attached to it :) I used to get 80c idle, 90c load prior to installing the VF1000 and that was in a P180, so I daren't even imagine what a stock cooler on a 4850 would be like in my case :P
 
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