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+--- Thread: Heat Woes (/thread-10893.html)
Heat Woes - Zarathustra - 07-06-2003
Hm... I'm running into an odd problem.
I've got Intel's Active Monitor running to keep tabs on the heat in my system, and since I recently reinstalled D2 I've noticed some heat problems. Basically, my system is usually running nice and cool, but when I have D2 running, or the chat interface for NWN (not sure about other games yet), it spikes up to around 50 degrees Celsius. This does NOT happen in the actual game of Neverwinter Nights, which I would assume would be more work-intensive for the system. Only during the chat. And Diablo II isn't really the most taxing game around, yet things start heating up in no time.
I've got a spot for another fan on my case and will indeed be installing one in the near future. But regardless I'm curious why some applications would get the system heating up that much while others wouldn't. Any thoughts?
System:
2.67gHz P4
512MB DDR 266 RAM
Radeon9700Pro
A system fan spinning its little heart out at a bit over 2500rpm
Heat Woes - channel1 - 07-06-2003
I had something similar going on here.
I was actually getting system shutdown due to heat. I turned on the software cooling in the monitor, and that cooled off the CPU nicely, except when in D2. They seem to feel the need to pump Kernel processor usage to 100% when the game is running, which prevents sofware cooling from doing anything.
So, I started digging in. My fans were already pretty clean, but I hadn't taken the CPU fan right off for a while, since the 'puter I use for D2 has a Slot 1 type processor which is a bit of a pain to take apart. When I did, however, there was a lovely blanket of lint on the heatsink.
After cleaning it up, I have no more heat issues. CPU temp runs 60ºC while running D2, (software cooling still doesn't help there), and around 40ºC while doing "normal" things.
By the way, you mention taht your CPU "spikes up to around 50 degrees Celsius". It is possible that your system is under-reporting the CPU temperature, there are a number of boards that had that problem recently, and there may be a BIOS update to correct that.
-rcv-
Heat Woes - Zarathustra - 07-06-2003
Hm... interesting. It's reporting 40°C normally and 50° when it it's getting a bit hot. I might have to look into this a bit more.
Heat Woes - Quark - 07-06-2003
Which operating system are you running?
If 2000/XP, check the task manager when the temperature is spiking and see what your CPU Usage is. You could also run something like SETI@Home to see what temperature your CPU goes up to at a constant 100% rate.
In any case, a case fan probably won't be the best solution for the heat (though I do recommend having at least two - one flowing in, one flowing out). I'd look into getting a high-quality Heatsink/Fan combo for your CPU. I currently have an Evercool CUD-725 Heatsink, rigged with a 70mm-92mm adaptor and a 92mm Vantec Stealth fan - cool and quiet ;)
Other than that I'd definately look around the internet for cool and quiet heatsink/fan combos. Always look at two things for fans - the CFM (how much air it pulls around) and the dB (its noise level). Tom's Hardware site has some archived.
One more thing: For heatsinks, you should use Thermal Compound to help the heat flow better (the most popular, and what I have, is Arctic Silver 3).
Of course, just by the simple fact that you have an Intel chip, you don't need nearly the cooling my system does :P But I've turned quite obsessed about having a cool and quiet system. After finally replacing the northbridge's fan with a heatsink, my system is very quiet!
Funny thing is, I read this post after coming home from work in about 93 degree heat, on blacktop, and next to a bunch of cars :P Getting so hot that you puke is a real heat woe :P
Heat Woes - Zarathustra - 07-06-2003
Update:
With D2 or the Gamespy Chat for NWN all sensors get over 50 degrees C.
With NWN running for a few hours, ingame, things aren't showing as over 45.
With Seti@Home running (thanks for that idea) and CPU usage at 100%, processor is around 55 and the two system zones are still around 45. NO warnings.
Grr... just want to know why D2 is doing it....
Heat Woes - Den - 07-06-2003
Hi Guys! I am running an extra fan to control the heat. It screws into one of the empty bays (over a PCI slot) and blows the air out. The power supply fan draws air in so it really helps the air circulate, and it was only $9 bucks.
Heat Woes - --Pete - 07-06-2003
Hi,
The power supply fan draws air in
That's unusual. PS fans normally blow air out.
Also, it doesn't much matter what combination of intake and outtake fans one uses. It actually works a bit better for all the fans to go the same way, but ultimately the back-pressure determines the flow. Where most cases fail is in having too little aperture for the incoming air. However, trying to solve that with intake fans and outtake fans can lead to a situation where there is a closed circuit of air that is not getting to some of the places it needs to be.
One thing that has worked fairly well for me is to drill a whole bunch of holes at the front bottom of the case and back those with a bit of filter material like the stuff used in home heating systems. Then with the PS fan and an additional fan at the top rear of the case, I get a fairly decent airflow over all the circuit cards. Except when fans die, I've never had any problem with cooling. Well, actually I had a Seagate Barracuda hard drive that always ran hot (finally mounted it in the back of the case with a separate fan just for it), but that is not the usual heat problem.
--Pete
Heat Woes - Den - 07-06-2003
You're right about the PS fan Pete, as usual. ;)
Heat Woes - channel1 - 07-07-2003
Den,Jul 6 2003, 05:15 PM Wrote:You're right about the PS fan Pete, as usual. ;)Actually, there are a few power supplies that come with intake fans instead of exhaust fans. I have also had occasion to turn the fans around in power supplies to make then intake.
Having the PS fan exhaust means that the air enters the case through any place available. Floppy drives are really bad for this, since they tend to have some areas that are lubricated, and dust gets stuck there. Since most people don't use floppy disks much anymore, when they do have occasion to use a disk the head may be badly covered with crud. That can ruin the disk, or even the disk head by scratching. Cleaning disks aren't much use in this case, since the grit can still scratch the heads. The only options are to disassemble the drive for cleaning, or replace the drive.
With the power supply fan acting as intake, you can control where the air gets in to the case. Then you only have one place where you need to put a dust filter, and it can go outside the power supply making it easy to remove and clean.
The downside to having the power supply fans as intake are that the air picks up heat from the power supply before it gets in to the rest of the 'puter, making it less effective at cooling. Also, in a conventional tower style case, where the power supply is at the top, an intake fan is fighting against the natural convection airflow. So, this is not the best option if your number one concern is cooling. It is a viable option if dirt is a problem.
-rcv-
Heat Woes - Nystul - 07-07-2003
Having the PS fan exhaust means that the air enters the case through any place available.
This assumes that the PS fan is the only case fan. Anyone bothering to read about cases and cooling probably should have more than this. To me it's more preferable to have at least one intake fan and let the PS fan exhaust. I'd consider dust control a very distant second to heat control/air flow, but it's certainly a good idea to control where the air is going in and have some sort of filtration there.