This is my first post to the Tom's Hardware Guide Community. I just built my first shuttle computer. I am having two issues with it:
<b> Issue #1 </b>... The fan on the power supply goes at irregular speeds while I am playing a game (so basically, while the graphics card is being utilized). It will start going really fast and then go at a slower speed, frequently changing speeds every few seconds. This behavior only kicks in after about 90 seconds of playing a game.
<b> Details </b> ... The machine in question is a small form factor computer using the <A HREF="http://us.shuttle.com/specs2.asp?pro_id=467" target="_new">Shuttle SB75S case</A> which has a '250 Watt SilenX' power supply. I have the following components in it:
- P4 3.2 GHz CPU
- Western Digital 74gb 10k RPM Raptor
- 1GB Kingston PC-3200 Ram
- Asus 8x DVD-RW
- Asus Radeon x800 Pro
Is the fan supposed to move at this irregular speed? Is the power consumption in this machine too high? Is the x800 too much for this computer? It shouldn't be according to <A HREF="http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040504/ati-x800-09.html" target="_new">Tom's Hardware Guide Radeon x800 Review</A>. Is it possible that the random second-to-second fan '<i>whirring</i>' change is normal? Maybe the 'high-speed' whirring sound only kicks in when necessary (like when the graphics card is being utilized). But why would it surge in speed and drop in speed every two seconds?
<b>Issue #2 </b>... Also, I am totally insecure about the components in my small form not getting enough power. Everyone seems to be building comparable systems using much greater power supply units. When Shuttle sells this case they use a Radeon 9800 Pro (but that seems to take just as much power!). Am I getting the most from my system with only 250 Watts? Is 250 watts the maximum output and maybe the average output is much less? If I am not getting the most from the power supply, is there a way to 'tone-down' the power consumption of components in my machine, or manage it better? Is this all a cooling problem? Is there a way I can cool my tiny little case better?
Am I actually having *no issue* here? Am I just paranoid?
Ok, my power supply insecurity has reached an insane level. I think about my 'wimpy' power supply all day, and I am afraid to play games because of that fan-surging thing. Any help, advice, words of calming, or things to feed and justify my fears would all be welcome.
It appears to be the CPU Fan which might be causing the strange whirring when I start up games. Motherboard Monitor is telling me that my CPU is hitting 165 degrees farenheit (~74 C). Is this a power supply problem? Or is there some other solution to this issue?
The problem I believe is caused by the 3.2C being in a poorly designed case. It's OK, all SFF boxes are junk.
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Check the settings in BIOs under "PC Health status" (or something simmilar). What it sounds like is the smart fan setting. Usually the sff fan for the heat pipe is very quiet, what you could be hearing is the fan revving up once the temp of the cpu has reached a certain temp (say 48oC) once the cpu has dropped below that temp the fan revs down. As for the 70+oC temp, check that you have got good contact between the CPU and the heat sink. Contrary to what crash has said I have never had any trouble with my shuttle running an AXP 2800+, its temp usually tops out at about 42oC
