Tips For Better Cooling In My PC...

[SpikeStud88]

All right. This is my vest first thread on here, and I am very excited to get started. Well here are my specs:

AMD Athlon XP 1800+ OC @ 2 Ghz
GeForce4 ti4200 Gainward PowerPack! 8x
2x 256 Kingston PC2100 DDR RAM
The rest doesn't really matter for cooling, :p

Um, I am running a Thermalright SLK-947u w/ an 80mm ThermalTake Smart Fan II. My temp. is around 97 usually.

I have 2 Antec stock case fans, 1 Antec Smart Fan, and a generic old poopy fan :D

I have kind of modded my IDE cables so that they're round (lol, i slit between the wires and tied them up). I will put tape around them sometime, maybe tonight.

I have an Antec SOHO File Server, the one with the front swinging door thing. Large, nice case when it comes to airflow.

So, here's the deal: I have been looking at things to maximize my airflow. I have looked at many things. I've been interested in maybe getting a 120mm fan for my SLKu, one of those exhaust thingies that goes in a PCI slot, and/or a ducting mod that takes fresh, cool air from my fan straight to my CPU through the dryer hose stuff. Any of these help a lot?

Any other ideas for you'll? I really like the easy homemade stuff, so give me all suggestions you have on that!

Thanks a lot guys!

[emericanchaos]

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!

a smart fan should be plenty for what you have going. you said temps are around 97. i'm guessing that's farenheit which equates to 36C. that's not really a bad temperature.

the usual suspects are to make sure your heatsink is on properly. for a temp of 36C i highly doubt your sink is on wrong. second would be what thermal paste you use. arctic silver 3 and arctic alumina are the most commonly used. AS3 is arguably better. i prefer it to any thing else.

fans. sounds like the case fans you're using are 80mm. if you want to improve airflow you could mod a 120 or a few 92's into the front and 92's in place of the rear 80's. on top of that you could cut a blowhole into the top of the case. i would use any fan you desire there. i prefer quiet fans so i would be using something like a panaflow, papst or something adjustable.

if your current fans are 80mm's then putting a 120 on your heatsink wouldn't do much good because you're not feeding enough airflow into your case. i beleive that increasing your case flow would improve temps more so than a 120mm fan on your CPU. specially since your CPU fan can be adjusted to output up to 70CFM.

[Deathknight]

Welcome to the forums!!!

First tip I can give is that you should give temps in celsius. Its pretty much an accepted thing that temps are discussed in celsius and it just makes it easier on everyone you are asking questions of if they do not have to do the conversions themselves ;)

Sounds like your temps are already pretty good. You probably would see some improvement with a 120mm fan, although you do get a larger deadspot with a larger fan so the benefit may not be huge. Improving case airflow would probably help. Lapping your heatsink is a surefire way to get more out of the components you already have. Also cutting the restrictive fan grills built into your case out also helps improve airflow (and it also tens to quiet the machine a bit because there is less turbulence).

I don't think you will see a tremendous benefit from the slot cooler but ducting cool outside air is a good strategy to drop temps. With your nice low temps you could probably push your OC some more so get to it! :D Btw what motherboard do you have? Some motherboards read the on-die diode and some use an in socket thermister. No 2 models of motherboard really read temps the same way so which board you have can help shed some light on your temps.