I've been running the system in my signature for the past few weeks, and I've noticed that my 8800GTX idles at around 75 and maxes at near 100 C. I talked to evga about this and it seems to be a problem with the cooling in my case, as removing the side panel drops temps back to normal.
I have an Antec P182, and I was wondering what I could to do improve airflow. I installed an additional 120mm Antec Tricool fan in the middle bay, and I have a Scythe fan on my Thermaltake heatsink. Any suggestions?
What's your fan setting for the video card? Download nTunes from nVidia's site, install it, go to the nVidia Control Panel, click Adjust GPU settings. My 8800GTX is overclocked, set to automatic fan control, and it idles at 77 Celsius with the fan at 59%. Under load it gets to 80 Celsius with the fan at 64%. Or maybe you can set it to Direct fan control and let the fan work at 60% or whatever all the time.
I usually have to keep the fan at 80% direct control in order to get the idle temps down to 67-68. If I take the side panel off then I can get that down to low 60s, so it seems to be a problem with my air flow inside the case.
I guess... I was just wondering if there are any recommendations on the directions of the fans in my case... I have the top and rear fans that came with the case running, and the others I mentioned above. I'm not exactly sure which direction they should all be blowing for best airflow.
I build a duct out of sheet plastic from a hobby shop that isolated the card from the rest of the case. It took 1 1/2 slots but provided cool air the card. Lowered temp by about 10c in my old case.
If you decide to try it make a mock up in cardboard and tape. That way you test the design with little to know cost plus you create a template along the way.
The 8800GTS/GTX are great cards, but they will be the biggest heat generators in your computer.
It is good that the stock cooler expels most of the heat out back through the extra slot. The stock coolers are quiet too.
OEM replacement coolers are good at extracting heat from the GPU chips, but without rear exhausts they don't help the whole system because the recirculated hot air puts added load on the cpu and case coolers. The 8800 has four slits which let hot air back into the system which increases the case heat, and ultimately puts extra load on the cpu cooler. I have found it very effective to add a slot cooler like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811999704 Mount it just below the 8800. It has a speed knob so you can adjust the cooling vs. noise equation. This will help both vga and cpu temperatures.
Verify that the front fan is an intake, and the back and top are outputs. Dangle a piece of tissue near and see which way it blows.
The P182 has front intake filters. Verify that they are clean. You might also remove the grill covers.
Lastly, the 8800GTX is built to stand hot temperatures. If you are not getting artifacts, then don't worry too much.
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E8400-stock, GA-P35-DS3R(rev2.1), Corsair 4x2gb 6400C5, EVGA 8800GTS-512-G92, Vista home premium-64-bit, WD velociraptor-300gb, PC P&C silencer-610, Antec SOLO, 2 x Samsung 275T, Samsung-203b-dvd
I recently purchased the P182 and saw my temps go up a little, but not like yours. To improve the airflow I took the 3 speed antec fan from the PSU "tunnel" and moved it to the middle position just in front of the air filter. This would ensure that you are getting only outside air as your intake. Replace the bottom fan with a 120mm fan of your choice (to prevent the heat from radiating up) and have your HD in the bottom bay. Set the middle fan to medium, which will not increase noise too much unless you have the front door to the case open. I also moved my case away from any heat vents. This all combined my temps were much closer to that of my old case, but since the P182 is a quiet case, you will sacrifice some temps for a quieter system which is worth it to me. You should also increase your GPU fan speed to match the case noise so that you have better cooling with no increase in noise
