Push or Pull????????????

[edgerat]

Hello,
I am new to the overclocking schene. I just purhcased a ASUS A7m266 board and a 1.3 TBIRD. I am using an Enlight 7237 case with 256mb of DDR ran and a GeForce 2 MX 32mb card. I bought all of this with the intentions of overclocking. I cut a 120mm exhaust in the side of the case for cooling purposes. Now, my problem is i also bought a Thermal Take Volcano 2 hsf. A friend of mine installed the hsf on the Tbird without removing the ID stickers from the chip and using the thermal pad that is on the bottom of the heatsink. I havent even unlocked my machine yet and I am already getting some pretty upsetting numbers out of the on-board ASUS temp probe. After playing UT for about an hour I quickly switched to the ASUS probe to check my processor temp and it was 55 degrees centrigrade!!!!!!!!! From what I have seen from all of the pros online that is about 20 degrees too high!!!!! I also think that the fan on top of the heatsink is blowing down onto the heatsink instead of sucking hot air away from it. I hold my hand up to the fan on the top of the heatsink and it isnt pushing any air. Please help, I havent even started to overclock yet and I am already way to high in the temp zone. Thank You
Isaac

[hooziewhatsit]

Welcome to the forum!

It should be fine having the fan on your heatsink blow into it. How many other fans do you have in your case? Do you a fan in the front bottom sucking air in, and another in the top rear pushing hot air out? Do have a fan in your 120mm exhaust hole?

Another thing you might need to do is spend a few more dollars and get a better heatsink or a louder fan to put on it (delta 38).

Good luck

[edgerat]

DUH........Sorry about forgetting the other items. I have a 80mm fan in the bottom front intaking air, an 80mm fan exhausting air out the top back, a fan intaking in the power supply, a 120mm fan on the side exhausting air, the HSF fan as well as the ASUS chipset fan on the board. I will try unhooking the 120 fan and see if that lowers my temp.
Isaac

[eobard]

55c under load is not hideous, especially if you're still caught in the Great North American heatwave of '01, but it isn't good either. First thing I'd do if I were you would be to use something other than probe to test your temps. Many people report having temps repoted exactly 10c above actual values using probe. Go to http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/sandra and download SiSoft Sandra 2001 if you haven't already got it. It has many benchmarking utilities as well as temperature reading software that will tell you your temps. Hopefully it will report 45c for you under similar circumstances, which isn't to bad.

Good luck.

[edgerat]

OKAY sisoft sandra says 47 degrees centigrade. This is better but how do I get it lower??????
Isaac

[edgerat]

would71,
fans blow towards the sticker correct?

[eobard]

I suggest you run a duct from the side of your case straight in to where the fan for the cpu is. I did this and it lowered my temps by 6c. It's a cheap enough mod and easy to do. The idea is to bring cooler air from outside the case directly onto the cpu instead of recirculating air from within the case. Here's a picture of the inside of the computer door with the duct:

[eobard]

... and now an outside photo. I used a tube used in making home made speaker boxes. Cost me $3 Canadian at a flea market. I liked it because it had a good finish around the edge on the outside but any smooth tubing will do, even cardboard, just make sure everything is secured well.

[M@€$†®Ö™]

As I understand it postive case pressure is best in Airflow in another words more blowing in and less sucking out.

Maestro

[edgerat]

well, after a brief bout with my Soundblaster. I was finally able to discern that, when unplugged, the cpu temp is much lower. Now mind you the ambient temp is about 20 degrees cooler as well. SO I dont think it did any good. let me refresh everyone so I can get a better run at this...........
One 80mm front intake
One 80mm rear exhaust
One HSF on chippy blowing down onto chip
One fan on chipset blowing down onto chip
One fan in PSU sucking in cold air.

anymore thoughts beside buying a Swiftech Mc462?????????

Isaac

p.s. does anyone know where to get a really in depth article on how to H2o cool?

[Blue Jester_2112]

Well, getting the swiftec i a good Idea if you really want to push that T-bird. If not that HS/f, at least a Golden Gate (Gladiator) or a glaciator with a Delta 38. Make sure you use some good thermal paste (ASII works best).
I think you said your using te thermal pad that came with your Volcano? If so, get rid of it. They don't do squat. Use some lighter fluid to clean the pad off of the heat sink and use rubbing alcohol to get it off of the core. Make sure you get it all, any residue will affect your temps negatively.
I agree you should put alot of time into planning your cases air flow. Replacing the 80mm intake/exhaust fans with 92mm fans would be a good start. Also, you might want to open up your psu and turn the fan around so it is exausting the warm air out instead of bringing air in. That just ends up putting more warm air into your case. Remember, you want the air in your case as cool as possible since that is the air that will be blowing over your HS to cool it.
You can try having the HS fan blow onto it or suck away, some people getter results one way, others get better results the other.
I'm not sure if you already did this so forgive me if I'm too late with this suggestion but, if you have air blowing on the HS and that 120mm blowhole is across from the cpu, then have it blow air into the case instead of out.
55*C isn't a bad load temp for a 1.3 t-bird, it can handle alot worse. It could be better though, especially if your gonna OC.
Good luck! =]

[edgerat]

Jester,
Thank you for the reply, I have tried to turn around the 120mm fan in the side so it blows into the case almost directly onto the HSF. But, for some reason whenever I plug that fan in my POWER FAN stops working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and then almost immediately my case temp goes 5 degrees.

So, lets do this. TWO 92mm fans, one in the front and one in the back. ONE 120mm blowhole in the top exhausting air. TURN the PSU fan around so it is exhausting the air out of the case. BUT, WHICH WAY SHOULD I HAVE THE MC-462's fan blowing????????onto the heatsink or pulling hot air off of the heatsink?????????I am going to put a window on the side of the box where the fan used to be. That way I wont have a huge eyesore there anymore.
YOU GUYS LET ME KNOW IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE A SOLUTION.

[edgerat]

WOUlD71,
So, that looks like a pretty reasonable flow setup????????
Isaac

[Blue Jester_2112]

Originally posted by edgerat
Jester,
Thank you for the reply, I have tried to turn around the 120mm fan in the side so it blows into the case almost directly onto the HSF. But, for some reason whenever I plug that fan in my POWER FAN stops working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and then almost immediately my case temp goes 5 degrees.

So, lets do this. TWO 92mm fans, one in the front and one in the back. ONE 120mm blowhole in the top exhausting air. TURN the PSU fan around so it is exhausting the air out of the case. BUT, WHICH WAY SHOULD I HAVE THE MC-462's fan blowing????????onto the heatsink or pulling hot air off of the heatsink?????????I am going to put a window on the side of the box where the fan used to be. That way I wont have a huge eyesore there anymore.
YOU GUYS LET ME KNOW IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE A SOLUTION.

What kind of power supply do you have? If the psu fan is turning off when you plug in the 120mm one then it might not be powerful enough for what you want to do. Even if your not using that extra 120 you still want a powerful and reliable psu for overclocking. If it can't produce enough juice to power the extra fans and it's own fan then it probably won't be able to give you the power you need to bush your bird.

Other than that it sounds like your off to a good start. Replacing the 80mm's with 92mm's sounds good. I'd try the swiftec's fan in both positions, pushing and pulling, check your temps and see which gives you better results. Pushing air onto the sunk will, more than likely, give better results though.

Also, not sure if you did this, but try rounding your cables to improve airflow.

[edgerat]

i am using the 300w enlight PSU that comes with the enlight case. I am thinking of buying the 450w enermax now because of the crap performance of this 300w PSU. I am also going to cut the stamped grills out of my case and istall a mesh filter in the front and a chrome grill on the exhaust one in the back. That should help out considerably. Which 92mm fan is the quitest? I am already GUNSHY because of the 120mm that I bought...It was so loud it was ridiculous. Then I pulled a 120mm out of my old Gateway machine and it was about 10 db quiter.. So noise is a factor.
Isaac