One of my friends is running his new gaming rig, but getting really hot temperatures from his CPU.

His setup:
C2D E6700 2.66Ghz 1066Mhz FSB
MSI P6N 680i Mobo
2GB Sli ready OCZ RAM
Coolermaster Stacker 832
2 x E-VGA 8800GTS "superclocked"
Hiper 580W Type-M PSU


He's got one 120mm fan bringing air in past the hard disks, one 120mm exhausting on the back. Then on the side panel, 2 120mm fans taking air in at the top, and 2 taking it out on the bottom. Using the stock CPU cooler.

It runs perfectly stable, but Idles at around 52º-55º! I would have thought with the case being as MASSIVE as it is, and the amount of cooling he's got it would be running at much less than that! A lot of people overlock it and get lower temperatures!

Anyone got any ideas on what the problem might be?

Thanks, Joe

Joe,

First thing I'd look at is if the cooler is attached correctly.

Did you put on any thermal paste to help the cooler / cpu transfer the heat?

After looking at that case I can't figure out what I think the best option for the air flow would be... I might be very inclined to take the exaust fan and make it an input fan and have the two fans at the bottom be exhaust fans.

Like the previous poster said, make sure there's good contact between the HSF and the CPU with good thermal paste.

And secondly, you have too many fans man. You only really need 1 front intake and one back exhaust, it's bad if you have too much intake and not enough exhaust. Try to play with the fan setup and see which one is best. Also check out the temperature inside the case, if it's high, then it's from the airflow, if it's not, then it's probably from the hsf/cpu contact.

Right, since last post we replaced the stock CPU heatsink and fan with a zalman 9200. It now idles around 38 and under load is about 53-55. Although its a massive improvement, I still think its running a little hot.

This makes me think its the airflow in the case. If you've seen the Zalman heatsink and fan, its designed to take air from the case and exaust it out the back with help from a rear fan he has set up already. This I dont believe to be the problem.

If you've had a look, the Coolermaster stacker case he is using has a fan tray which clips onto the side and vents through the mesh grid on the side. He has four 120mm fans fitted in this and I think this is where the problem may lie.

Has anyone got any ideas on what the best configuration of this may be? He has the two 8800's (with rear exhaust fans) directly beneith one fan, which I assume should be an intake fan to allow there to be enough airflow to cool the cards (which incedentally seem to be running rather hot too). The CPU cooler is directly beneith another fan, but Im not sure what that should be seeing as its putting the air out the back of the case not the side.

The others Im not sure about...any ideas?

Much appriciated

Joe

I think (just what i have)
front - intake
sides - intake
back - exhaust
top - exhaust

Try that and see if it helps.