Overheating problems; new fans? foam filters? other general questions

[willdaniels_97]

My pc overheats something fierce. I have a cyberpower armour elite 2 pc which overheats to up to 95 degrees celsius even on low settings. Im going to dissasemble it and thoroughly clean it, but i also want to buy at least 2 new fans (since i can see spots for 2 more on the case) and make a custom pc stand of the ground. My main questions are: how do I know if my power supply can handle extra fans, how do I know what fans are compatible and can fit on my rig (and i dont mean the size i get all that), do foam filters reduce air flow significantly enough to make a monthly clean of my rig better in terms of keeping it cool than buying filters, are there are tricks you guys know to cool down your pc a few degrees?

First post so don't slaughter the noob pls i beg

 

[Robert17]

Welcome to OCF willdaniels_97 !!

You may be on the right path already. Clean out any dust from the case's innards first; think compressed air here. You also will find adding fans, increasing airflow, is a good move as well. You may need to remove your CPU's heat sink and reapply TIM (thermal interface material or thermal grease) and reseat the CPU afterwards. This isn't overly complex, just takes a little time and patience. Afterwards check the temps, go from there.

Enjoy the forums!

 

[t1nm4n]

As for the foam filters, I wouldn't bother personally. I also don't see a lot of dust build up in my PC over a months time, over the course of a year.. yes, but I'll be doing my annual-ish cleaning of the PC so it works out in the end. If you live out in the desert and leave your windows open with lots of people driving by kicking up dust then filters would be advisable. Or have pets and other things that like to shed hair and dander in the room you keep your PC then filters might be a good choice also.

A trick to keeping PCs cool, open the side panel and let the air flow, I mean I used to have to stick a box fan next to my PC and have it blow air directly into the case cause it was so bad, but those days or long gone for me. There are a lot of things you can do, but most of them are a pain and leave your PC in a condition you didn't buy it in, I mean I buy a pre-built PC I shouldn't have to do anything for it to run within operating temps.

Edit: The most important question is what is getting up to 95 degrees, and is that ºF or ºC? If it's ºF then your sitting pretty and nothing is overheating, but if it's ºC and it's your CPU then you have temperature issues.

 

[JrClocker]

I use foam filters on my intake fans only. Keeps dust out of the PC. I have to clean them every 3 months...and they get disgusting with my PC running 24/7.

As far as fans, the common sizes are 120 mm and 140 mm. If you look at your fan mounting points and see 4 diagonal slots for a fan mount, it will take both 120 and 140 mm.

As far as fans go, Noctua fans are great. Also, the Corsair Maglev fans are really nice (I run 11 of these in my case.). Either of these are pricey ($25 to $30 per fan), but they are great fans.

You can go for less expensive ones, but you do get what you pay for. Other members here will be able to tell you good lower cost fans.

Welcome to OCF!

 

[willdaniels_97]

Thanks a lot guys. And it's 95 degrees celsius but its the GPU that is the major player in my overheating problem, the CPU hasn't gone over 60 degrees when I've checked.

The only remaining questions I have are how do I tell if my power supply can handle extra fans (Its a 500W power supply) and what am I looking for in terms of ports on my motherboard so I can make sure I can actually add 3 so I don't end up buying 3 fans and only being able to fit two of them?

At the minute I'm building a custom pc stand so it will take in clean air from below and the front, and like I said the plan is also EXTRA FANS .

- - - Updated - - -

Oh I also forgot to mention I will be reseating the CPU anyway when I disassemble the whole thing tomorrow to do a mad anti-dusting session.

 

[Tír na nÓg]

I use foam filters on my intake fans only. Keeps dust out of the PC. I have to clean them every 3 months...and they get disgusting with my PC running 24/7.

As far as fans, the common sizes are 120 mm and 140 mm. If you look at your fan mounting points and see 4 diagonal slots for a fan mount, it will take both 120 and 140 mm.

As far as fans go, Noctua fans are great. Also, the Corsair Maglev fans are really nice (I run 11 of these in my case.). Either of these are pricey ($25 to $30 per fan), but they are great fans.

You can go for less expensive ones, but you do get what you pay for. Other members here will be able to tell you good lower cost fans.

Welcome to OCF!

Agreed.

Regarding fans, I like the NoiseBlockers.

 

[Robert17]

Fans pull only small wattages for the most part. You may have enough headers on your MB to power and control them with no need to use any molex connections from your PSU. There are many different fans to choose from in the marketplace so you may want to read some reviews of fans that have been posted here at OCF. Your personal needs/desires for air movement should include thoughts of speed control (PWM fans), or perhaps you prefer noise abatement (there are fans that are quieter than others). And there are fans that have LED lights built in (aesthetics). Your PSU appears to be ample to the task for the time being (you should list your system's specs in your signature; it would help us understand how to advise).

 

[t1nm4n]

95c is on the high side for most GPUs, how old is the computer and which GPU is it? Some GPUs are designed to run at near those temps, I know my AMD R9-290Xs can run pretty toasty if they were still on air, but I also didn't like running them that hot so I always had the fans cranked up on them, which also made it annoying noise-wise.

As for if you PSU would handle more fans, most likely, but depending on what PSU it is will determine it's quality, not all components are made equally, some 500 watters are better than others and visa versa, the components of your system will help determine how much head room you have in your system. I say that because if you have an OC'd CPU and a power hungry GPU several HDDs a couple of fans you might be pushing your PSU close to it's max, I'm guessing your not OC'ing your CPU or GPU so this is probably a moot point, but you get the idea, the more info you give us the better we are equipped to answer any of your questions.

 

[willdaniels_97]

Not sure how to make a signature or whatever, but these are my system specs that I know of: i7-4790k CPU
GTX 760 GPU
SATA III 2TB HDD (6GBps)
8GB RAM
Windows 10 64-bit OS
Coolermaster 500W ATX PSU
Asus B85M-G motherboard

Anything else that might help I can try and find out but those are the only ones I know.
I've fully cleaned my rig now so all I need to do is find out if it can handle extra fans and if it can fit them in the first place. Thanks a lot guys for helping the local pc scrub

- - - Updated - - -

once again forgot to say something. My PC is 3 years old now, and when I first had it it never went over 85 degrees celsius (and that was on arma 3 with high-ultra settings). Im also sure it shouldnt go over 90 degrees celsius, as I play BF1 on low settings and get a clean 60fps until I get over 90 degrees (which takes 10 minutes) and then it drops to 30fps.

 

[willdaniels_97]

New update, I've found 2 possible ports for fans, both 4pin. One is on the mb the other links to the power supply. One will be an intake at the bottom and the other will be an outtake above the gpu and beside the cpu. Whats the difference between 4 pin and 3 pin fans? Also, noise isn't much of an issue for me, all I care about is the quality of air flow, this being said do any of you guys recommend fans for this purpose (I have up to £50 for both but ideally dont want to exceed £30 unless there is significant quality difference)? Also, should I consider replacing the intake fan at the front of my PC as I'm not convinced it provides much air flow.

 

[willdaniels_97]

Thanks for all your help guys. I've ordered 3 Noctua fans (compared to all the rest I saw in terms of CFM, pressure, sound and cost they were by far superior to Corsairs, coolermasters etc) and with some of your recommendations and a full clean of my pc including re-seating the CPU and disassembling the rig to clean it thoroughly, my idle temp has already fallen by 9 degrees to 28 degrees celsius! I am a very happy noob

 

[t1nm4n]

My PC is 3 years old now, and when I first had it it never went over 85 degrees celsius (and that was on arma 3 with high-ultra settings). Im also sure it shouldnt go over 90 degrees celsius, as I play BF1 on low settings and get a clean 60fps until I get over 90 degrees (which takes 10 minutes) and then it drops to 30fps.

That's a good indication the thermal paste on your GPU is starting to be less effective than it was new, I would change it out, there are countless videos on YouTube in the procedures of taking your GPU apart if that might be a concern, this will also help with temps. If you do this be very careful, and watch several videos.

Anything else that might help I can try and find out but those are the only ones I know.
I've fully cleaned my rig now so all I need to do is find out if it can handle extra fans and if it can fit them in the first place. Thanks a lot guys for helping the local pc scrub

That PSU should be more than enough for a few extra fans, and we all start of as less knowledgeable than we are now, of course I hope people don't make the same mistake I did to get to my level of knowledge, it's not cheap correcting said mistakes

New update, I've found 2 possible ports for fans, both 4pin. One is on the mb the other links to the power supply. One will be an intake at the bottom and the other will be an outtake above the gpu and beside the cpu. Whats the difference between 4 pin and 3 pin fans?

Your MB only has 2 fan headers, what do you plug your CPU cooler into? Now to answer the 3 vs4 pin question in as few words as possible. 3pin relies on changing voltage to control fan speed, very simple only take a variable resistor to work, low speed is limited by the minimum amount of voltage it takes to turn the fan motor, normally around 7v they won't turn. 4 pin is PWM controlled, basically its like an on/off switch, the faster you flip the switch the faster it goes and the slower you flip the switch the slower it goes, you can get much slower speed from fans with this method. I think that should do it for today.

 

[inVain]

Not sure how to make a signature or whatever, but these are my system specs that I know of: i7-4790k CPU
GTX 760 GPU
SATA III 2TB HDD (6GBps)
8GB RAM
Windows 10 64-bit OS
Coolermaster 500W ATX PSU
Asus B85M-G motherboard

Anything else that might help I can try and find out but those are the only ones I know.
I've fully cleaned my rig now so all I need to do is find out if it can handle extra fans and if it can fit them in the first place. Thanks a lot guys for helping the local pc scrub

- - - Updated - - -

once again forgot to say something. My PC is 3 years old now, and when I first had it it never went over 85 degrees celsius (and that was on arma 3 with high-ultra settings). Im also sure it shouldnt go over 90 degrees celsius, as I play BF1 on low settings and get a clean 60fps until I get over 90 degrees (which takes 10 minutes) and then it drops to 30fps.

any fan should came with a pre applied label on its exhaust side.
it should contain the amperage rating of the fan.
multiply this by 12, you'll get a rough estimation for its power draw.

the power draw should be negligible for most PSU, but if you plan to connect some fans to a mainboard or a fan controller you should pay more attention to their power rating.


any fan filter on the intake side of a fan should be kept clean.
otherwise, it'll be a solid wall to the fan.
I just happen to found out that a fan which intake had no clearance tends to back draft it's airflow.

 

[willdaniels_97]

What should I look out for in terms of power, voltage, and amps when plugging fans into my motherboard? I bought 3 Noctua NF-F12 fans and I can either use fan splitters (my original plan) to plug all 3 into the chassis fan on my motherboard, or I can plug on of them in that slot, and then plug the remaining 2 into the psu after i buy some molex to pmw adapters. To save anyone who knows about this stuff some time, each fan uses 12V, 0.05A, and 0.6W.

 

[Robert17]

You don't seem to be on a too-tight power budget. Let 'er rip. Unit 2 has a 550W PSU, running three of it's fans on MB headers, the 4th on an Aerocool fan controller, Unit 1 (650W PSU) has 7 fans running on a combination of MB headers and the case's built in fan control unit. It's a singular ambition, to keep lots of air moving.

 

[t1nm4n]

I wouldn't worry about running those 3 fans from your MB header, I've run 4 off one header with no issues, I didn't run them at 100% either. I think most MB header are supposed to be good for like 1amp at 12v which is close to 12watts. but my numbers might be a bit off, but you should be fine.

 

[inVain]

What should I look out for in terms of power, voltage, and amps when plugging fans into my motherboard? I bought 3 Noctua NF-F12 fans and I can either use fan splitters (my original plan) to plug all 3 into the chassis fan on my motherboard, or I can plug on of them in that slot, and then plug the remaining 2 into the psu after i buy some molex to pmw adapters. To save anyone who knows about this stuff some time, each fan uses 12V, 0.05A, and 0.6W.

power!
problem is, today's motherboards tends to be shy about the power rating for their fan headers.
back in the day, this information can be conveniently found on its manual.

0.6W can be considered low for a power draw.
I wouldn't worry for plugging 3 of those to a single motherboard's fan header.