Cooling issue

[mmshrink2]

I'm using a P4 3.2ghz on an Intel 865gbf mobo. I have 3 80mm case fans (one on the side panel blowing in, one on the front panel blowing in, and one on the back blowing out). Using Intel's Active Monitor, the Processor Zone idles in the low 40's Celsius, going up to high 50's under load (the threshold is 69 according to Active Monitor). System Zone 1 stays below 35 idling and doesn't go up much more under load. But Zone 2 idles at about 40 and goes up to around 57/58 under load, issuing warnings once it exceeds 55. Also, after running a CD-ROM for an hour or so, the CD/DVD drive gets pretty damn hot (it's a Samsung Combo CD/RW/DVD drive).
Any idea what is wrong here?

 

[micker377]

Never even looked at the brand name. It's just a PCI card with a fan and standard power (4 pin molex) plug. The usual "back plate" instead of a socket has the cooling slots.

 

[franklin97355]

http://www.thinktechie.com/reviews.php?id=33

 

[jaymaechtlen]

The "baycooler" type units can be good- I mounted a hdd with a baycooler between a CD burner and another unit, and it did 3 things for me!
1. cooled the hdd
2. cooled the CD burner above (cool air across bottom of burner)
3. cooled the unit below (cool air across the top of the lower unit)

Another approach- not pretty, but you can suspend a fan so that it blows on the warmest part of the mobo (maybe support chips and/or ram) using wires. It can be ugly, but you get good heat transfer from the hottest regions. The you still need to get cool air into the box and hot air back out.

cheers
Jay

 

[mmshrink2]

Well, I installed the Coolermaster Aero 4 and it's dropped my temps by between 3 and 4 degrees on full speed (which is not as loud as i anticipated), so the idle temps are now: Processor Zone: 45-46; System Zone 1: 31-33; and System Zone 2: 37-38.
So far I'm happy with these temps; my next step is to look into the bay cooler and perhaps the PCI fan, though with less urgency now.
Thanks for all your help.