So I bought a Dell Vostro 200 back in 2008. It was a budget machine at the time, 1.8G dual core (1/2 the cache of original core 2 duo) 2g of memory. I was going through a breakup and needed a computer. It fit the bill. 250G hd - 2g ram. Since then it's had a number of upgrades.
First upgrade (almost immediately) was a 1.5TB data drive. Lots of ripped dvd's - tens of thousands of pics - many tv shows etc. A couple years later the ram got maxed out to 4GB. A year or so later an ati 4770 was added with a new psu to fit the bill.
Forward to today - recently the os HD was cloned to a samsung SSD (major upgrade). I recently bought a gtx 470 to replace the ati card. CPU upgrade is in the mail (E4700 - 2.8G and double the cache - $22 - how could I not?). Hopefully pad modding to get 266fsb on the cpu if it will run that way.
I got the new vid card installed yesterday and when testing it with folding things got hot. Vid card temps were at 80c and rising, system was going higher than previously noticed. Started smelling that 'electonics' smell. Couldn't tell if it was plastics from getting warm or capacitor venting or both but I shut the folding down. I need to cool off.
Being a dell there isn't a lot of space. I had to move the hd to a higher bay and zip tie the ssd to make room (chipped an led off the card on a ram slot - oops - guess it wasn't important). Sata ports were obstructed. Airflow is not great. The psu is probably insufficient for long term use at full blast (plus one of its fans is failing). I plan on replacing the rear case fan with a higher flow model (suggestions for 4 pin compatible high flow fans wanted) and hacking bigger side vents (*excuse to use the angle grinder) near the video card. Possibly another fan in the front (none now) to move things along.
I need a new psu that can handle 550-600w well, is cheap, and has great airflow through it as the psu plays a decent role in overall system cooling in a box this small. Any all all help appreciated.
First upgrade (almost immediately) was a 1.5TB data drive. Lots of ripped dvd's - tens of thousands of pics - many tv shows etc. A couple years later the ram got maxed out to 4GB. A year or so later an ati 4770 was added with a new psu to fit the bill.
Forward to today - recently the os HD was cloned to a samsung SSD (major upgrade). I recently bought a gtx 470 to replace the ati card. CPU upgrade is in the mail (E4700 - 2.8G and double the cache - $22 - how could I not?). Hopefully pad modding to get 266fsb on the cpu if it will run that way.
I got the new vid card installed yesterday and when testing it with folding things got hot. Vid card temps were at 80c and rising, system was going higher than previously noticed. Started smelling that 'electonics' smell. Couldn't tell if it was plastics from getting warm or capacitor venting or both but I shut the folding down. I need to cool off.
Being a dell there isn't a lot of space. I had to move the hd to a higher bay and zip tie the ssd to make room (chipped an led off the card on a ram slot - oops - guess it wasn't important). Sata ports were obstructed. Airflow is not great. The psu is probably insufficient for long term use at full blast (plus one of its fans is failing). I plan on replacing the rear case fan with a higher flow model (suggestions for 4 pin compatible high flow fans wanted) and hacking bigger side vents (*excuse to use the angle grinder) near the video card. Possibly another fan in the front (none now) to move things along.
I need a new psu that can handle 550-600w well, is cheap, and has great airflow through it as the psu plays a decent role in overall system cooling in a box this small. Any all all help appreciated.