WTF! After 5 fans, My 1.4 Tbird is still at 52 C!

[WeaponX]

My currently new case has 3 out take fans, 1 air circulation fan made by 2CoolPC, and one Intake fan. But I can't seem to get the CPU to get cooler than 52 C! It's an improvement over my previous 59 C Idle temps, but I'm sure I can get better! What should I do? I'm not experinced at all with taking off the CPU fan or the heatsinks so I don't have much confidence in doing that. But I may as well try some day. The fan that sits on my CPU blows air at 5400 RPM, should I get a 7500 RPM? Should I get a better heat sink? How about new thermal paste? What???? The whole system is fairly new! Why is it running so hot? I know people who get it in the 40s with ease!

[earthdick]

If you post more info on what type of hsf you are using then someone will be able to diagnose the problem. Do you know what kind of paste was used between the hsf and the cpu? Or did it come preassembled with thermal gum?

[Thelemac]

*Moved to "Cooling"*

[WeaponX]

I belive there is a Volcano 5 sitting on there and I'm not sure what type of past was used.

[VashTheStampede]

Dust anywhere on any of the fans? If there is, get rid of it, dust kills CFMs.

~RT~

[earthdick]

I checked the specs for your hsf Volcano 5 (http://www.thermaltake.com/v5.htm) and it is rated up to an AMD Athlon 1.5GHz+. I don't have this hsf so I don't know how well it does in cooling. There is a recommended list of Socket A/370 heatsinks on the main page of overclockers.com that you might want to check. I couldn't find your Volcano 5 on the list.

p.s. I have a Glaciator on a 1.2GHz and my load temp is about 46 degrees C. I only have one 120mm fan blowing in and an 80mm fan blowing out the back.

[Tobes]

The 'volcano 5' is similar to my '6Cu', except it doesn't have the copper slug in the bottom.
I'm very dubious about the benifits of the Cu slug since my previous Volcano II (which had a smaller HS, no Cu and the same fan) was almost as good.
I'd be prepared to bet that your '5' is as good (or better) than my 6Cu.
My temps are 41C idle and 49C maxed (ambient about 20C).
My PS has 2 fans and I have an additional 80mm rear fan.

The '5' should be Ok IMO, so long as case ventilation is working - ie not just recirculating the air inside the case.

BTW I've tried a front fan and found no additional cooling just increased noise. (This was even after drilling out additional holes in the bottom front of the case. Initially front ventilation holes were so small, it choked the fan and produced little output and was very noisy.)

[Intraveinous]

You might try turning one of those output fans into an input. Too much negative case pressure can make it so there's not enough cool air in the case to blow onto the heatsink. People will tell you both ways, but in my experience, its best to have slightly positive case pressure (5-20CFM more going in than coming out).
Good luck.
peace
John

[WeaponX]

Cool, I just installed another intake fan making it 2 intake fans, one circulation and 3 outtake fans. It brought the idle temp down to 46 C!

[Warlord2]

try turning a outtake fan around

you should have positive preasure

[CrackedSKull]

Do you know what the cfm on your fans are? Where are the fans placed? The wrong placement of fans can make them useless.

I have a 120mm 130cfm intake fan in my front bottom, 92mm 58cfm exhuast blowhole on the center of the top of my case, and 80mm unknow cfm exhuast fan on the back of my case next to my cpu. Also a slow 80mm fan in my psu exhaust.
I also left one pci slot open next to my video card to get more air movement over(under actually) my agp card(no fan, just stock heatsink) and to balance intake/exhaust movement.
Using a volcano 6cu+ on my cpu(1.2ghz) @1.91v which puts out as much heat as a 1.4ghz at 1.75v with load temp of 43c.

Did I mention artic silver II?

[Frodo Baggins]

BTW, I think the Volcano 5 and 6CU are about the same. Volcano II is a bit better then both of them. And the Volcano 6CU+ kicks both of them :D (7000 rpm fan helps)

Anyways, about your system, like the other ppl said, check to see if your system is being properly cooled:

Intake fans should be in the bottom, Exaust near the top
Make sure the heatsink is seated properly on the chip. If you have to remove the mobo, and check to see if you can see any light between the core and the heatsink.

Hmm....if you are using the motherboard probe and can see the rpms of the fan, check to see if it's spinning near it's specs (4500 rpm for a Volcano5?)

Also, try to use thermal paste

that's all I can think of

[WeaponX]

If I were to switch one of my exaust fans around, wouldn't I pull the hot that the other two fans are pusing out back in?

[Frodo Baggins]

Yes....

try to keep a balance from intake and exhaust though. Intake at the bottom, exhaust at the top

[ve6jhc]

Sounds like your HSF could use a good lapping. I had a Tbird 1g with the Volcano II...53 after gaming with thermal paste. I lapped the HS starting with 600, 800, 1200, 1500 grit paper. Took me about 1.5 hours but it is mirror smooth. I used Artic Silver Paste and now my temps at 10 C cooler!!!! I run about 40 just for web surfing and hit 43-45 when gaming. I had tried the fan route but didn't see any real improvement except noise.

[xCarne_Asada]

with me i added an outtake fan and that lowered my temps, with you, you should have another intake fan