more case cooling?

[MC24]

Hello, I just built my first computer and I'm a little concerned with my temps.

I have a Thermaltake BachXV case, Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R Mobo, Intel E6600 processor w/stock HSF, EVGA 8800GTS 640MB superclocked video card, Corsair HX520W PSU, 2GB ram, hard drive, dvd, etc

I've read through these forums some and have SpeedFan, TAT, CoreTemp95 and CPUZ installed.

My core0 temp (speedfan) will jump 7-8 degrees with the cover on my case. The case has a 140mm intake fan in the lower front and a 120MM exhaust fan upper rear. The fans have a 4-pin molex connector that I plugged into the PSU. There are connectors on the Mobo for fans; a 3-pin sys1, 3-pin pwr fan and a 4-pin sys2 fan.

I was wondering if I got an adapter (if available) and plugged the fans into the motherboard would that control the speed of these fans like it does the CPU? The fans run slow and "quiet" now. If I did, onto which connector? Would those cheap PCI slot fans help?

I'm not into overclocking "yet", But I might crank it up a little since I can. My temps running TAT as per cooling guide specs on this forum with cover on were; idle core0 speed fan 37, CoreTemp 42 TAT 43 load temps after 10 minutes were 66, 66 & 66.

If I try overclocking I would like to get my stock temps down a little and I figured the case needs to be cooler. I wouldn't think using hot air to cool your CPU is the best way, eh.

Sorry if I ran on too long. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[grieve]

***edit*** wrong post

 

[clue69less]

Any advice would be appreciated.

Replacing the stock HSF is a good place to start since you're focusing on CPU temps. You could go budget with a Arctic Freezer Pro or go for the gold with a Thermalright Ultra Extreme. I also saw the Zalman 9700 on sale recently and that's a great unit too.

Rather than using the mobo fan power, consider getting a front panel fan controller. Zalman sells a couple of excellent units. The Bach doesn't have a blowhole fan does it? I'd be tempted to mod the top of the case and add a 9cm blowhole fan. If your Bach has a door vent, consider putting a fan on it and try it both as inlet and exhaust to see which works best for your CPU and GPU temps. Good luck.

 

[MC24]

It does have a door vent. I might try that. I don't think I want to cut holes in my nice new case. I would like to get the case temps cooler first. That should cool everything down as opposed to an aftermarket cooler just for the CPU.

You mentioned GPU temps. Is there a program that monitors those temps?

 

[clue69less]

It does have a door vent. I might try that. I don't think I want to cut holes in my nice new case. I would like to get the case temps cooler first. That should cool everything down as opposed to an aftermarket cooler just for the CPU.

You mentioned GPU temps. Is there a program that monitors those temps?

My rigs all use ATI GPUs so I can monitor them with ATI Tray Tools. I've got another piece of software (Everest?) that also measures GPU temps but I haven't used it in a while since I'm tweaking around with ATI TT all the time and it's right there.

 

[Spanki]

Plugging fans into a fan controller (or motherboard) can let you turn them down to run slower, but will not make them run any faster than they already are. If they are quiet enough for you now, then no need to put them on a controller.

How is your 'cable management'? If you can, try to tuck wires and cables out of the way, so they are not blocking or dangling in the middle of the air-flow within your case. Similarly, if you have obstructions in front of your input/exhaust of your computer (sitting too close to wall?), that can keep it from working efficiently.

Ambient air - the hotter your room air is, the less it's going to cool your hardware.

Finally, as suggested, you might want to consider getting an aftermarket cpu heatsink. The stock Intel HSF is usually good enough for some mild overclocking, but it sounds like your particular setup is already pushing the upper limits of comfort... an inexpensive heatsink like the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro or the Cooler Master Hyper Tx can easily knock 10C off your load temps and give you some overclocking headroom.