Thoughts on keeping my system cool.

[kyosuke]

Alright, here's the deal.

I have a P5N-E SLI and C2D E6400 in a nice Thermaltake Case. 2 120mm fans, 1 90mm fans. Seems to work decently.

At this time i'm using stock cooling on everything. Haven't added extra cooling to the NB and SB yet, but am planning on that.

My problem is I have everything in my office here (of course) but this is the hottest room in my place. There isn't anywhere else I can have the system either. My old system did ok for the most part as it was older and didn't need as much cooling. ( Athlon 2900+ ).

The room stays pretty warm because inside one of the closets in here behind a panel is our furnace/AC. So when that thing runs, it makes it a bit warmer. Not to mention the 3 computers in here now... It's not necesarily a bad thing when we have the door open, but due to the fact we have a cat and birds.. This room has to stay closed during the day and at night when we can't be on alert all the time.

Now, I do have a good PSU that has a "turbo fan" that actually helps to cool the system a bit, BUT i don't like to/want to keep that running all the time.

So my question is, what can I do to get my system to keep cooler? I am going to buy a good aftermarket cooler for my CPU (Zalman 9700 probably) and then add extra cooling to my NB/SB. Do you think that will be enough in a warm room to keep it cool?

My temps now on my CPU cores stay around 37C - 40C when I'm not home and the room is closed during the day (sunshine adds to room heat as well). and at night around 38C. It's the same temps as when I do heavy gaming, but is that ok? and once I add the aftermarket things, do you think it will help alot? Normal Idle now is 30C - 34C when the room is open.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to explain the situation and gather some thoughts!!

Thanks in advance!

 

[skyguy]

Ok, a few thoughts and some info......

-A CPU HSF will help keep it cooler, true. But it can only do so much (ie-not too much) because it's just recirculating hot/warm air from inside the room. Even a stock HSF with fresh, cool air will beat a Zalman. I have my case close to the furnace as well (which limits my overclock due to heat), but when I open the balcony door, my temps drop 10C minimum because cool air circulates through the case. So a new HSF won't drop it too much due to the constraints to begin with.

-Northbridge cooling will help, but mostly with an overclock. I have a NB cooler and it helps, but it won't make a huge difference in an overall system temps that is at stock speeds. NB cooling is more important when you overclock due to increased voltages which in turn cause more heat. Stock volts don't cause too much heat.

-Your system temps you mention aren't that bad really. 40C when you're gaming is a very respectable temperature so I'm not sure where your concern is originating from.

-Lastly, the Zalman 9700 is a good cooler, but it is NOT quiet at higher speeds. If you care about noise, then get a Scythe Ninja or a Noctua UH-12 and put a quiet fan on it. If you don't care about noise, then get a Tuniq Tower. It'll spank the Zalman's temps back into the Stone Age, and costs alot less too. No contest there.

 

[r0x0r]

My temps now on my CPU cores stay around 37C - 40C when I'm not home and the room is closed during the day (sunshine adds to room heat as well). and at night around 38C. It's the same temps as when I do heavy gaming, but is that ok? and once I add the aftermarket things, do you think it will help alot? Normal Idle now is 30C - 34C when the room is open.

40C max? I hit nearly 60C (on a HOT [40C+] day) and have no problems. You'll be fine at those temps.

As skyguy wrote, 40C during gaming is very respectable.

 

[kyosuke]

My temps now on my CPU cores stay around 37C - 40C when I'm not home and the room is closed during the day (sunshine adds to room heat as well). and at night around 38C. It's the same temps as when I do heavy gaming, but is that ok? and once I add the aftermarket things, do you think it will help alot? Normal Idle now is 30C - 34C when the room is open.

40C max? I hit nearly 60C (on a HOT [40C+] day) and have no problems. You'll be fine at those temps.

As skyguy wrote, 40C during gaming is very respectable.


Well, the 40C is there when the room is closed off too. So that's my concern. Gaming I'd expect it to be up a bit too.

The other thing being, is I'm planning on OCing the processor to around 2.6 - 3.0 and am concerned about heat there too.

Just trying to be cautious

Noise isn't a factor when I'm gaming, but can be annoying when i'm doing other things

 

[skyguy]

Bud, my IDLE temp is way over 40

40 is fine. Truly. I wish mine were 40 when even idling.........

 

[Bobsama]

You'll hate me for this but...

A different case? XClio has cases with 25cm fans...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811103010
XCLIO A380BK Fully Black High Gloss Finish SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$106.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811103011
XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish 1.0 mm SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
$114.99

The second one would be cool...

Anyways... another thing is just upgrade the CPU cooling, but I don't know about that.

 

[skyguy]

Where would that 2nd one EXHAUST :?: Can't just keep pushing in air with minimal exhaust......creates high positive pressure and nowhere to go.....probably end up backwashing against the fans themselves and then so much for good airflow........

 

[SinisterMessiah]

I have 3 extra bays open on the front of my PC so I just ordered a 'Scythe Kama Bay' fan, which is basically a 120mm fan with brackets and grill facing that can fit on the front of your case (takes up 3 drive bays).

I had one of these in my other PC and it worked great for extra airflow. I have a 120mm fan at the bottom of the case as intake but it can't really get up to my heatsink because the GTS blocks half the case.

The Kama Bay will essentially create a direct intake to heatsink to exhaust.

<---[Exhaust] <---[Heatsink] <--- [Intake]

Pretty much directly in line with eachother in my case, and the heatsink blows towards the exhaust. Highly recommend it if you have the extra drive bay space