[Scippi]

I was wondering, some PSU have more than 1 fan, would this affect the system's temperature dramatically? Does my PSU's cooling system have any impact on my system's overall temperature, if it does i'm getting a new PSU, been playing COD 5 on my new 4850 with all settings maxed out and it was running flawlessly, until my gay motherboard overheated, according to abit EQ, it was 60 centigrade so i had to turn the game off, we were on level 15 on nazi zombies as well !!! it was quite annoying but anyway back to the topic lol soo yeahh any responses would be appreciated

[Daveskater]

There is more to PC cooling than just the PSU fans. You need to get a good amount of air flowing in the right places to keep it cool. Most new PSU's have a 120mm fan in the bottom, if yours has this then there's not really any point adding another one, for one thing it's designed to work with one fan, and for another there probably isn't any room for another one.

The cooling in my case consists of 2x80mm fans in the front, positioned so that they also cool my hard drive, an 80mm fan on the side panel drawing air in almost straight on top of the CPU, one 80mm fan on the top drawing air out, and a 120mm fan in the back, along with the 120mm CPU fan. It never gets hot enough to shut itself down, no matter what I do. If your case doesn't have holes in the panels for fans and don't fancy cutting it up, then don't worry about it, just have a fan in the front and one in the back.

The reason I have 2x80mm's in the front instead of a single 120mm is that I already had the 80mm ones.

An ideal setup is a 120mm fan at the front and a 120mm fan at the back below the PSU, providing your case has the right size space for it.

What you don't want is more air coming in than there is coming out, you want it to be roughly the same. Otherwise you get pockets of hot air and because not enough air is being pulled out, the heat will build up and just sit in your case getting hotter and hotter.

[Scippi]

I'm not really that bothered about my CPU and GPU when on full load my GPU is only about 72 centigrade maximum and the fan speed is about 80% but i can always resolve this by putting fan speed on 100%.My CPU only goes up to 60 at most these days but i want to keep my motherboard cool. BTW i've taken the side of the case off cos it seems to make my comp cooler (bit dustier i spose but it's not THAT dirty). I'm getting a can of compressed air soon but i doubt this will make a big impact. The last time i applied thermal grease to my cpu was like half a year ago when i was fiddling with it cos i had ram problems and faulty cpu and all sort of stuff back then , should i try reapplying thermal grease to my cpu then?

[Daveskater]

It wouldn't hurt to re-apply some paste, just make sure it's some good Arctic Silver and not the white horrid stuff that you get supplied with fans etc.

60C is VERY hot for a CPU, ideally you don't want it going over 50C really.

[Scippi]

Sorry about the quote thing, hehe
And yes took my cpu and heatsink apart to apply some paste but didn't have enough time to get round to it, gonna do it when i get home, what should i apply it with? i usually use a tiny bit from a plastic bag but loads of paste get stuck on it which is a bit of a waste lol
About the CPU 60 is the absolute highest it has ever gotten to these days, and it only went up to that once or twice the past 6 months, it's 50-56 centigrade at full load and i dont think its that bad lol the AMD 5600's limit is 70

[Albert Lionheart]

Hi Scippi
you need only a very little paste - about the amount like the head of a matchstick is all. Make sure you clean all the old stuff off - if you have no proper cleaner you can use Gin or Vodka but it is important to make sure the metal surfaces are clean.

[Daveskater]

I've used nail polish remover in the past, that got it all off a treat. I also usually apply it with the edge of a business card

The instructions that came with my paste said that you should rub some in with a plastic bag and then spread it out with something, e.g. the edge of a blade would also work.

[samjohnson]

Like the guys have been saying its very important to have proper cooling. Most cases usually have a fan in the front bringing air in and a fan in the back taking it out. And allot of them will have one on the side to push it in.
As Dave has said 60C for a CPU is a bit on the high side. I can see 72C for the GPU though. My 8800GT gets about that when playing high spec games.

[Albert Lionheart]

Back on the heat transfer paste (HTP) - if you squish it in a blob in the middle the pressure of the heat exchanger on the chip will spread it out evenly and will fill in any dips - not that there should be any, but you never know.

[Gunner]

This sounds a little basic for some but I'm surprised at some of the things I see.....

Air flow is the key to a cool case. You want air to easily go in, and go out, and you
want the air to travel a wide area of the case to avoid having sections that never
get an air change. With the law that says heat rises, this is usually done without
too much thinking, simply by having a low intake (cooler air is going in) and a high
exhaust (hot air is going out). Arraignment of cables is also involved in air flow.

If a case runs cooler with sides off it usually means improper cooling methods
are being used.
Good luck.