Hi everyone, I'm starting this thread because I built my first computer a few months ago, and I'm wondering if I should've gone with a better PSU. I built the rig with gaming in mind, and it's been serving its purpose well. Everything seems to keep fairly cool and quiet enough, EXCEPT the PSU.
The computer is easily within an acceptable noise and temperature range when I'm only doing things like browsing the web, but when I start to play some more demanding games like Metro 2033/Last Light and Far Cry 3, it gets noticeably hotter and noisier. Of course, I expect this, and the noise could very well have nothing/little to do with the PSU, but while the rest of my case merely feels warm, the area on the side where my PSU is located gets hotter than I feel comfortable with, almost feeling like it burns when I touch it.
Before I go on, this is my build:
Case: LIAN LI PC-TU200B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case
Motherboard: ASRock H77M-ITX LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
Storage: Seagate ST310005N1A1AS-RK 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Graphics Card: MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Processor: Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
Disc Drive: LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK III 400W Modular 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
The PSU is a mere 400W, and according to PCPartPicker, the system needs 388W. I realize now that this probably isn't enough leeway and I really should've gone with a better PSU, and I'm wondering if the lack of wattage may be the cause of my heating problem?
The only other cause I can think of would be related to my case; it's really quite small, and I only had JUST enough room to even fit the PSU in there. It's pretty close to the side panel of the case, which is aluminum, so could it just be that I notice the heat due to it being transferred through the side panel easily?
If I am going to upgrade, then I would need to make sure the PSU will fit in the case, meaning it would need to be modular and AT LEAST as small as my current PSU(5.9" x 3.4" x 6.3"), although I'd definitely prefer something smaller if at all possible.
In summary:
-What is a safe difference in the wattage of the PSU vs the wattage needed by the system?
-Can not having enough leeway in your wattage lead to the power supply heating up more than normal?
-What do I need to know about upgrading my PSU?
-What else could be causing this heating?
-Is the PSU getting this hot reasonable?
Thank you all very much for your time.
The computer is easily within an acceptable noise and temperature range when I'm only doing things like browsing the web, but when I start to play some more demanding games like Metro 2033/Last Light and Far Cry 3, it gets noticeably hotter and noisier. Of course, I expect this, and the noise could very well have nothing/little to do with the PSU, but while the rest of my case merely feels warm, the area on the side where my PSU is located gets hotter than I feel comfortable with, almost feeling like it burns when I touch it.
Before I go on, this is my build:
Case: LIAN LI PC-TU200B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case
Motherboard: ASRock H77M-ITX LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
Storage: Seagate ST310005N1A1AS-RK 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Graphics Card: MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Processor: Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
Disc Drive: LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK III 400W Modular 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
The PSU is a mere 400W, and according to PCPartPicker, the system needs 388W. I realize now that this probably isn't enough leeway and I really should've gone with a better PSU, and I'm wondering if the lack of wattage may be the cause of my heating problem?
The only other cause I can think of would be related to my case; it's really quite small, and I only had JUST enough room to even fit the PSU in there. It's pretty close to the side panel of the case, which is aluminum, so could it just be that I notice the heat due to it being transferred through the side panel easily?
If I am going to upgrade, then I would need to make sure the PSU will fit in the case, meaning it would need to be modular and AT LEAST as small as my current PSU(5.9" x 3.4" x 6.3"), although I'd definitely prefer something smaller if at all possible.
In summary:
-What is a safe difference in the wattage of the PSU vs the wattage needed by the system?
-Can not having enough leeway in your wattage lead to the power supply heating up more than normal?
-What do I need to know about upgrading my PSU?
-What else could be causing this heating?
-Is the PSU getting this hot reasonable?
Thank you all very much for your time.
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