How do I reduce system temperatures?

[g-unit1111]

My case is a Corsair Graphite 600T which has 2 x 200mm fans and I'm pairing my CPU (AMD Phenom II X6 1055) with a Thermalright Silver Arrow. Now since installing my new motherboard (Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3) my system temps have gone way upward, and if I'm going to attempt OC'ing the CPU I don't want to take a chance on frying my build. The UEFI BIOS reports that I'm running temps right now at 40'C - 43'C idle, and nearly 53'C - 55'C when in full use. How do I reduce this down to a safe level like 25'C - 30'C? Is it possible? Should I try buying new case fans? Is there something else I can do?

 

[scout_03]

the case have a front 200 then a top 200 that you could control the speed what have you got as back fan the case could take a 120 mm

 

[nukemaster]

If it is after installing a new board, i recommend checking your temps in windows @ idle. Many systems in the bios or UEFI bios are not running with there power management on, so they will run hotter.

Once you get an idle(let the system sit for about 10-15 min since it needs to settle). you can then try Prime95( http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/ ) to get high stress test numbers.

either of these software options will work.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

It is important to know, not all boards read temps the same(most use a sensor that may or may not be well calibrated), this is said because many users report temperatures below ambient at idle, this just does not happen with air or normal liquid cooling.

Here is a good example(and room temp is always about 20 +-2c). The top numbers are what the bios shows and the bottom are what the cpu says it is. This also works in reverse on some boards so they show higher then actual temps. They generally are more accurate at higher temps

 

[geofelt]

My case is a Corsair Graphite 600T which has 2 x 200mm fans and I'm pairing my CPU (AMD Phenom II X6 1055) with a Thermalright Silver Arrow. Now since installing my new motherboard (Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3) my system temps have gone way upward, and if I'm going to attempt OC'ing the CPU I don't want to take a chance on frying my build. The UEFI BIOS reports that I'm running temps right now at 40'C - 43'C idle, and nearly 53'C - 55'C when in full use. How do I reduce this down to a safe level like 25'C - 30'C? Is it possible? Should I try buying new case fans? Is there something else I can do?

1) Your temps are not all that bad, depending on how warm the ambient room temperature is. You start at room temperature, about 23c. and add 10c or so, depending.
25-30c is not very realistic. At full load, 55c. seems ok to me.

2) Do not worry too much about dapaging your cpu. If it gets dangerously hot, it will throttle itself to prevent damage.

3) The silver arrow is an excellent cooler. Have you applied the grease properly and installed it well? One common mistake is to apply too much grease which then acts as an insulator, . Only a small drop is really needed.

 

[g-unit1111]

3) The silver arrow is an excellent cooler. Have you applied the grease properly and installed it well? One common mistake is to apply too much grease which then acts as an insulator, . Only a small drop is really needed.

The first time I didn't - and I applied way too much to both the fan and the board, and I think that's why my former build wasn't reporting temperatures correctly.

But this time I did - and I had someone to help me install the heat sink and route the fans correctly, but I'm still not getting it to produce decent temperatures.

1) Your temps are not all that bad, depending on how warm the ambient room temperature is. You start at room temperature, about 23c. and add 10c or so, depending.
25-30c is not very realistic. At full load, 55c. seems ok to me.

I live in California - it can get really hot during the summer but right now the temps are about 20'C - 25'C.

If it is after installing a new board, i recommend checking your temps in windows @ idle. Many systems in the bios or UEFI bios are not running with there power management on, so they will run hotter.

Yeah I installed a new board a couple of weeks ago, if I turn on power management would that reduce the temperatures at all?

 

[nukemaster]

The Idle temperatures in windows will reduce quite a bit since the cpu will reduce its frequency and voltage.

It will not affect the bios readings.

 

[g-unit1111]

The Idle temperatures in windows will reduce quite a bit since the cpu will reduce its frequency and voltage.

It will not affect the bios readings.

One thing I was thinking though is yesterday I was playing a game of Civilization and my computer was getting really hot during the game play. One thing I attributed to the high temps is that my PSU is mounted upside down, but if I try to re-mount it the other way, the screws don't match up with the screw holes. Could that be something that would dramatically affect the temps?

 

[truegenius]

My case is a Corsair Graphite 600T which has 2 x 200mm fans and I'm pairing my CPU (AMD Phenom II X6 1055) with a Thermalright Silver Arrow. Now since installing my new motherboard (Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3) my system temps have gone way upward, and if I'm going to attempt OC'ing the CPU I don't want to take a chance on frying my build. The UEFI BIOS reports that I'm running temps right now at 40'C - 43'C idle, and nearly 53'C - 55'C when in full use. How do I reduce this down to a safe level like 25'C - 30'C? Is it possible? Should I try buying new case fans? Is there something else I can do?

use a aftermarket heat sink like noctua nh-d14

 

[nukemaster]

You power supply is on the floor of the case right(600T case)?

If so, it should have very little impact on overall system temperatures to begin with.

Did you set your fans to high speed.

What kind of temperatures are you getting?

 

[g-unit1111]

use a aftermarket heat sink like noctua nh-d14

I have the Thermalright Silver Arrow - it's about equivalent to a Noctua D-14.

You power supply is on the floor of the case right(600T case)?

If so, it should have very little impact on overall system temperatures to begin with.

Yes - it's a bottom mounted PSU, but it's mounting is upside down.

Did you set your fans to high speed.

What kind of temperatures are you getting?

I don't use the fan controller because it was a pain to hook up, but right now I'm getting about 39'C - 42'C on idle, 54'C - 57'C when on full use (gaming and elsewhere). My case gave me the option to use the side window or a ventilated one, and I'm thinking of switching that over - would that help?

 

[nukemaster]

It may help(more air to be pulled in). but i do not think those are bad temperatures to be honest.

Are the fans connected to the motherboard? if they are, it may be lowering the speeds to make the system quieter. You can always check that in the bios to see how fast the fans spin.

For instance, my i7 920 fan used to spin at about 500-600 idle. so it was not extra cool, but very quiet and load was about 1200rpms.

 

[truegenius]

have you tried reappling paste and remounting of heat sink

 

[g-unit1111]

have you tried reappling paste and remounting of heat sink

I installed a whole new motherboard so I had to do that anyways. What I'm concerned about is the routing of my fans and the placement of them.

Are the fans connected to the motherboard? if they are, it may be lowering the speeds to make the system quieter. You can always check that in the bios to see how fast the fans spin.

For the CPU fan I actually have a Y splitter cable and have both fans connected to the CPU-1 input.

I have one case fan connected to the motherboard and the other is connected to the PSU via a 4-pin adapter.

I'm thinking of possibly replacing the Silver Arrow with a Noctua NH-U9B (the Corsair H100 is another possibility but I hear that causes problems in other areas) since the way that my motherboard and case are designed, the fan of the Silver Arrow actually clips the top of the case fan (I actually had to reroute cables in order to do so), could that potentially be a problem?

 

[scout_03]

look on the case page under learn they put a fan to the upper drive bay

 

[g-unit1111]

look on the case page under learn they put a fan to the upper drive bay

This is the page from Corsair:

http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/graphite-series-pc-case/special-edition-white-graphite-series-600t-mid-tower-case.html

But I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. There's a 200mm fan that spans both drive cages and it is spinning (it's the one I have hooked up to PSU) but it's not what I'm really concerned about.