My amd is overheating; need advice please

First of all, I'm new here so hi to everyone out there. Second, I don't know a lot about computers. I bought a barebones system a few months ago from accessmicro that came with an amd 1.3. People told me later that the case is not good for the cpu because it's designed so that the power supply is right next to the cpu and therefore it doesn't cool properly. It was running at about 52 degrees until yesterday when it auto shutdown upon reaching 60 while playing a game. I would appreciate some advice on a new case and heatsink. I think I got screwed on the case and possibly heatsink. Money is an issue as I would like to spend under 70 for the case. I have a poweman 300w in my old case I hope to transfer to my new one. Thanks.

First of all, welcome to the forums!

Second of all, I would advise that you get a better case. I'm not much one for cases, but the Antec server cases seem to be popular, same w/ Li-Lan (I think) cases.

As for cooling, if you want air, you could do worse than a Thermalright SK6. The new Alpha 8045's are also top-notch as well.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply. I've heard of antec and I'll look into it. I found this: http://componentauthority.com/enmidcascsa11.html

It's an enermax case, refurb but cheap. Crazypc.com has one w/ lots of pics of the inside. Anyone know about this?


I've also heard of alpha series for heatsink so I guess that's the way to go. Thanks again.

If your just looking to properly cool your athlon and keep it from overhating that case will do fine.. and at $24 thats a steel for a enermax. Go for it.

Thanks mekboy. Do you think I should get a different heatsink too? My case w/o cover is at around 50degrees w/o any games running. Does this mean airflow was the only problem.

Do you have case fans?
If so please Describe.

before you go tossing money around on a new case/HSF, why dont you check a few other things first. you may be able to save a lotta money by just using fans.

do you have any fans sucking/blowing into the case that AREN'T power supply fans?

if so, where are they positioned, and which direction are they blowing (into or out of case)?

what type of HSF do you currently have?

i think these things should probably be addressed first before you go spending lots of money on new cases/hsf etc. my reason being is that if you get a new case and still dont have airflow (fans sucking/blowing) thru the case, you'll end up with probably the same problems.

Rabid Bob Dole said:

before you go tossing money around on a new case/HSF, why dont you check a few other things first. you may be able to save a lotta money by just using fans.

do you have any fans sucking/blowing into the case that AREN'T power supply fans?

if so, where are they positioned, and which direction are they blowing (into or out of case)?

what type of HSF do you currently have?

i think these things should probably be addressed first before you go spending lots of money on new cases/hsf etc. my reason being is that if you get a new case and still dont have airflow (fans sucking/blowing) thru the case, you'll end up with probably the same problems.

Click to expand...

Also tie all your cables back to help the air move around the case. This will help to stop hot spots.

you will need a good heatsink and fans to give the heatsink air, go for a sk6 and a few ys-tech 80mm fans

On the assumption that you're using the stock AMD heatsink and fan, your first step should be to upgrade the pair of those. Whether you switch cases or do anything else, youve got to have a quality heatsink and fan. So I'd start there and see what happens.

Your second step should be to try adding one or two 80mm case fans. Two 80mm fans, one intake and one exhaust on opposite ends of the case will provide minimally decent flow. Again, you'll want these regardless of whether you change cases.

Looking at AccessMicro's site, it looks like you probably have the In-WIN A500 case. Now we can have a big debate about whether that's the ideal case for you (it probably isn't), but it's not likely to be the sole culprit. Still it has a vertiaclly mounted Power Supply which is likely to interfer with putting on a really good heat sink, so you may need to change cases just to be able to do step one. Can you verify that that's the case you have, and does anyone else have experience with this case?

Here's a link to the case.
http://www.in-win.com/framecode/ino_a500.html

nihili

Hi everyone,

Yes I have the inwina500 case and the location of the powersupply is one source of the problem. In addition to the cpu fan, I have a "system blower" but that's in a pci slot near the video card and is not even close to the cpu, especially w/ the powersupply blocking air flow between two. The case also has a cage in which I added a fan but that's in the front for intake not exhaust. I don't know what heatsink is on the cpu but I figured that since I got screwed on the case they probably stuck on a cheap heatsink as well.

BTW, sometimes my screen goes blank and i have to restart. I first thought it was my powersaving but I noticed the power on the monitor is still on and nothing happens when I move my mouse. Does this sound like my video card is overheating or a powersupply problem. I'm using a geforce2gts video card and a powerman 300 powersupply. Thanks to everyone for helping me.

so you're saying there's no opening on the back to put a fan at? ideally you'd want pairs of fans. you'd want one on front and one on back. they should be working together (ex. one drawing air into the case and one pushing air out) to create air circulation in your case.

my suggestion is to see if you can add another fan to the back. if you cant, then a new case would help, OR just cut a hole in the back of that one and add your own fan.

i personally dont have a problem doing that (dremmeling is fun!) but some people dont want to chop holes in their cases. so... by actually getting some air circulating in your case, you'll drop your ambient temps quite a bit.

once you drop the ambient temps, your heatsink will be able to be more effective, as the heatsink works off a ratio compared to the temperature of the ambient air that is being pushed thru the fins.

there is also the option of upgrading the HSF, but that only does you so much good when your ambient temp is high (even a good HSF with 40C ambient air temp will not cool effectively).

orb coolers 10/10

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i suggest getting an SK6 or a Millenium Glaciator for extreme ocing....but if youre just going mildly i saw an all copper CBG-38 at svcompucycle.com for 11bucks....i also saw a Gladiator for 15 bucks there....some sweet deals if youre not ocing....