intake fan question

[mocash]

I recently bought a computer with a barton 2500+. I overclocked it to 2 Ghz at 200 FSB. Anways I noticed my cpu temp and case temp were quite high. around 38 C (case) & 48 C (cpu) at idle and about 5-10 C higher at full load. Right now, my case does not have any fans except for the PSU. I'm planning to get an exhaust fan but I'm not sure if I should get an intake fan. It turns out that my case does have mounting holes for a front fan, but there aren't any open areas in the front of the case for the intake fan to get fresh air from (ie. no holes or open areas in the front of the case). My question is: should I install a front intake fan? Would it still help cool my case?

 

[Corporate Thug]

yes, there should be intake and exhaust fan if possible

 

[high]

yeah you wanna move some of that air

 

[TRUMPHENT]

Before you start butchering your case and possibly your own flesh, do this. Get an accurate reading of the room temperature. That requires a seperate thermometer. Start up the computer from a room temperature cold temp. Get to the BIOS temp monitoring screen as quickly as you can. The pc will have just begun to rise above room temperature and you may find yourself surprised at what is reported by the outside thermometer and the BIOS temps.

Your temperatures do not sound all that scarey to me. I had one mainboard that reported the cpu temperature at start up below the case temperature. They were both ridiculously high at start up.

In other words, the temperatures reported by your pc are not ahem, calibrated readings. The fudge factor designed into your readings can be completely different from those of a different make and model and probably are.

I would consider adding a fan if the air coming out of the powersupply exhaust was unusually warm. Or if you get a big drop in temperatures by simply removing the front bezel or the side of the case.

 

[0roo0roo]

sounds ok. if u want to spend thetime and money to cool even more, thats ok. but its probably stable right now