Out of Pod Experience

hey guys,

So, I have a nice little PC that I have had for a few years and it's been running just great, but over the last few months I have noticed that, according to the gauge on the front, the temperature inside is creeping upwards - from 45 or so (celsius) to 56-57 now. I am using an app called CoreTemp which is recording my temps at closer to 100 celsius, which I can't help but think is way too hot. I have disassembled/cleaned my PC but no good.

So, I have been looking at different cooling systems online but am a complete nub to building gaming systems and am not really sure what I should be looking for - my brother-in-law has one of these but is not exactly in love with it and I was hoping somewhere here might be able to recommend something to help?

i would check out dabs.com or ebuyer.com or overclockers.co.uk and buy a stand alone fan or an extra case fan providing your case has the space they "should" cool your rig down by a bit make sure all yoru fans are actually working inside your case and make sure your cables are not blocking any of the vents/fans alo a lot fo people dont know this but keep your case in one pece dont havethe sideof the case off for long the fans are built witht he case in mind to suck all the hot air out without letting too much dust/outside hot air in

atleast the good ones are

Do the above first, also run the PC with the sides/lid off to actually check the fans are working.

Check airflow direction in case - suck in the front, blow out the back (or vice versa) don't have them both blowing in else the hot air has nowhere to go.

A good aftermarket fan/heatsink combo can help too.

Leave the watercooling to the gaming rig guys.

wk42

you said you cleaned the computer, so I'd think that would include the heatsinks. if not, then clean those thoroughly with compressed air.

if that still doesn't do anything, try reapplying thermal paste. make sure you get some good paste. http://ncix.com/products/?sku=27174&vpn=NT%2DH1&manufacture=Noctua this is what I use and it works well. it's one of the fastest reacting thermal pastes, so you will get pretty much the best cooling you will get within about an hour of applying it, plus it will keep about 90-95% of it's heat transfer capability afterwords.
make sure you apply it properly, about a pea sized drop in the centre of the CPU should be good, then just lock down the heatsink and that should spread it out well enough.

as for new coolers, the all in one water coolers are getting better. corsair is pretty much the best out there right now for their quality and cooling capability. from experience, I would highly recommend the H70, from what I've read, the H80 does the best for single fan coolers, and the H100 is the best overall because it's a dual fan cooler. if you are going to get the H100 though, make sure you will be able to mount it. it will need 2 120MM fan bays, most likely only found on the top of your case.

the direction of cooling is very important. the generally accepted method is blowing in on the front and bottom, out on the back and top. however, you always want more air going in that you have coming out. by doing this, the extra air pushes out any gaps in the case preventing as much dust from getting into your case.

Friends dont let friends buy Thermaltake liquid cooling systems.

I recommend Swiftech for a package watercooling setups, much better.

What is wrong with you people... everyone says omg pc been running fine for years... hotter now I need new heatsink wtf?

Clean the damn thing... with compressed air, nothing else compressed air.

Reapply the thermal paste, TOOTHPASTE is better than no paste... so that should give you an idea how important that stuff is...

It's a fan and some metal... if the fan is spinning guess what, the metal did not go bad want to waste money buying a new heatsink... go ahead...

Google how to clean and apply thermal paste.

Dust and crap does make it into the case in many computers, thankfully electronic parts are dust-proof and once installed they're not supposed to move so it's really unlikely dust will ever compromise copper contacts unless the case is severly shaken... like a 2000CFM fan to cool it.