Cooling problem on Athlon XP2400+ system 2

[sedacca]

I built this system inside a mini tower case with a massive Qtec heatsink/fan assembly, which almost touches the power supply, so the fan may not be extracting the heated air very efficiently.

Is there anything I can do short of rebuilding the system inside a midi case, or using a cheaper, smaller heatsink/fan assembly? I have looked at water cooling but the cost seems exhorbitant, particularly as I do not overclock.

 

[rvnguy]

so the fan may not be extracting the heated air very efficiently

"may not"???? What indicators make you think this?

Please post with more definitive parameters.

You might not need to do anything.

Are we talking about a system that you 'think' is hot or one that is shutting down due to heat?

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[sedacca]

Well, as I said, the heatsink fan is right up against the power supply, so instead of the extracted air being free to escape, it is blocked by the power supply. I don't know how else I can explain this.

The top of the case above the area where the power supply and heatsink are located feels hot to the touch, but this does not (yet) cause the system to shut down.

 

[rvnguy]

Unless you can dtermine that the cpu temp(many show temp on boot) is reaching too high a temp, you may not have a problem.

the heat sink is working if it is warm/hot as it is drawing heat away from the die core.

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[sedacca]

OK, thanks. I'll check and find out.

 

[micker377]

Does the power supply have one, or two fans? AMD recommends a P.S. with two fans - one to draw air in from the interior of the case, and one to exaust both chassis heat and power supply heat. Does the CPU fan blow down on the CPU, or up? If possible, a side fan should be used to match the direction of the CPU fan.

 

[sedacca]

Thanks Micker, this makes more sense.

 

[paparazi]

I've seen similar arrangements where the PSU had either one large 120mm (internally) or dual fans.
This type of setup means the PSU fan is often positioned very closely to the CPU fan, when it's like this, reversing the fan to draw air off the processor heatsink often works better than having both fans fighting against eachother (back to back so to speak) infact it works very well! the PSU fan aiding the CPU fan by removing this warm air, in one direction, straight out the box.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[sedacca]

Thanks Paparazi. After Micker's post I have decided to order a dual-fan PSU. The only problem is I don't know which way the heatsink fan is drawing the air. Also, how do I reverse the fan? Do I cut the wires and switch them around?

 

[paparazi]

Hopefully you can just undue the retaining screws and turn the fan the other way up.
Which Qtek fan do you have and I'll have a look.
Dual fan PSU's definately do help cool things down especially when the internal fan hovers above the CPU fan like this.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[sedacca]

This is great stuff. Thanks Paparazi.