Heat Question

[krmarks]

Long time reader, first time poster...anyway. Here is my question: I have an issue with what seems to be heat related. Each time I play a graphically intense game, it freezes my system after about 30 minutes. When I take the side of the case off and let the system cool down, I am able to play for any amount of time I want. No freezes or lockups. If I reboot and check the bios after a freeze the system temp is about 45-50 C and the cpu temp is about 52-57C. I figured that was not too hot, but with the side of the case on, I get freezes and without it...life is good.
Here is my sys specs
Windows XP Pro
WD 40Gig HD
MSI Geforce3 TI500
ECS k7s5a Mobo
AMD XP1800 (no overclocking)
512 DDR2100
300Watt PS
Thermal Take Volcano 7
1 case fan 2500rpm
1 case fan 5400rpm
1 blower 2500rpm

I am thinking I need a new case that will keep it cooler, but I don't know what the ratings mean or what would be best for my system. Thanks for any help and I will answer any other questions promptly

 

[amdskip]

A new case would probably do wonders for your system. I would personally change the heatsink to a GC68 available from SVC. What kind of power supply are you using because they can also cause problems you are describing.

 

[krmarks]

No kidding on the powersupply thing? I have a CompUSA 300 watt atx powersupply. It looked like all the values in the bios for the power were pretty much on target...at least I thought. Would the heatsink make that much more of a difference? Or is it mainly the system temp that is causing this? I have been looking in here and most people have put sys temps in the 25-35C range. Mine is significantly higher when my case is shut.

 

[Live]

I belive your system temp are the problem here.
What kind of setup do you have on the fans? which are blowing out/in etc.

If you think its your Geforce card giving you trouble you could try not to restrict airflow around the card. Try to remove/move any pci cards next to the AGP slot to get better airflow to the 3Dcard. If you have a lot of free PCI slots you could try to open a vent hole under the 3D card by removing the PCI brackets to let cold air in for the chipset fan on the Geforce use.

 

[krmarks]

My fan setup is as follows. 2500rpm sys fan in front of case(intake I believe). 5400rpm fan rear of case blowing out. Blower in 3rd pci slot...blowing out. I have nothing in the slot next to the agp. I was looking at getting this ).Casemy bro has it and it works good for him(athlon 1333).

 

[SteveDeBeave]

57c shouldn't be shutting down your xp1800. I bet that 300w power supply is getting hot or something.

Get that new case and add a fan on the top or at least another in the back, the side fan is great!. The Enermax 350 power supply will help for sure, it's what I have in my case.

 

[SaveYourself]

I like my Enermax 350. Good power is important, and it feeds my computer well. Soon, when I get two hard drives, it will still be all good with my Enermax. The dual-fan thing actually does help isolate noise, but it's not as quiet as some Antecs I've heard. It's just that the Enermaxes make a better contribution to the case airflow than the Antecs. And I'm reassured that my Enermax is always running cool with the large 92mm fan always on.

 

[Live]

Originally posted by: SteveDeBeave
57c shouldn't be shutting down your xp1800. I bet that 300w power supply is getting hot or something.

Get that new case and add a fan on the top or at least another in the back, the side fan is great!. The Enermax 350 power supply will help for sure, it's what I have in my case.

Well it all depends on what kind of reading you get. Many motherboards misread the CPU temp. If this is a reading from the internal diode in the 1800 XP it should be fine. But if its not it looks high to me.

Check your power in bios or use a third party utility. I think mother board monitor or Sisoft sandra could give you some clue to whether your power supply is falling short.

Then there is always some simple tricks to try.

Run same resolution and colour depth in games as you have on your desktop.
Disband agp fast write in bios.
Lower agp to 2x instead of 4x.
Run Prime95 or cpuburn to check if it is your cpu crapping out or indeed a problem with your Geforce card.

 

[krmarks]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I knew I would find the help I needed in here I think the best thing for me to do is get that enermax case. I was going to buy a thermaltake xaser II case, but it is just a bit too pricey, and I still don't know what case will give me the best airflow. The enermax case has more fans and a window....not to mention it is half the price. I think I will stick with that one. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: krmarks
Thanks for all the suggestions. I knew I would find the help I needed in here I think the best thing for me to do is get that enermax case. I was going to buy a thermaltake xaser II case, but it is just a bit too pricey, and I still don't know what case will give me the best airflow. The enermax case has more fans and a window....not to mention it is half the price. I think I will stick with that one. Thanks for all the help.

Nah, just mod your current case.
Maybe cut a 120mm fanhole in the side (is it a paneled case? If not, then yeah, you'd like a new case) that would blow cool air over the videocard and expansion cards. It have that on my case, and it helps me get more MHz out of my GF4.

 

[krmarks]

I thought about modding my case, but it is kinda crappy. I bought on sale at CompUSA like a year ago, cuz it was only $29 and had a 300 watt powersupply. I had a durn 950 in my board at that point and just wanted to cobble together a system. I think I will be happier with a quieter and better case. Thanks though....I may consider doing that in the future.

 

[godmare]

this is a little unorthodox compared to everyone else's posts, but is your chipset fan on your video card cutting out at all?

 

[krmarks]

Good question, I had initially thought that my card might not have a fan...I couldn't remember if it did. So I bought a fan for a vga card and had to return it, cuz I do have one. Anyway, long story short...it works fine. I have had the side off for the last 3 days and I have played madden 2k3 5times without a reboot or shutdown over that course, so it has to be the system temp that was killing me. I plan on ordering the enermax case tomorrow or friday. Thanks. Happy Halloween!