Case cooling.

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@whabang

I have a similar problem, I am running a 1.4GHz Athlon (not the XP variaty) and just sitting here typing this out it is running at 55°C! And if I run WinUAE it goes up to 66+°C once it reaches 70°C the system shuts down to prevent damage to the CPU. I have added in two extra fans to try and get more air in and out but it doesn't seem to want to work. Plus it now sounds like I have a Harrier Jumpjet taking off every time I switch the thing on!

I am going to try adding some thermal heat compounnd to the CPU, try to get the heat conducting better, if not maybe I'll try a copper heat sink, and failing that, water cooling!

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I think I have found out why my system was over heating. I removed the heatsink from the CPU and found that it was clogged with dust! As my house mate pointed out, that meant that there was a restricted air flow (doh!).

Second, the thermal compound that was on the bottom of the heatsink had been placed on wrong, so that meant that it was only covering half of the contact part of the CPU.

So after hoovering out the dust from the heatsink (and the case while I was there) and re applying the heat transfer compound, I have got my system from 55°c @ idle to 40°c @ idle. Even at 100% CPU load I only get to 48°c!

So basically check your heat sink is clear and make sure you have got good connection with the heat transfer compound.

You might also want to goto this website: http://www.hmonitor.com/. It will monitor your heat sensors and fan speeds (as well as so a few other things) and also does a log file so you can put that into a spreadsheet and check how you are doing.

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@whabang

I have tried temp controlled fans and they aren't all they have cracked upto be. I found the one I had soon ran at full speed oncee the system had got to its working temp (about 25°c or so) which kinda makes the whole point of them useless.

What size fan do you have on your CPU?

[jumpship]

Ahh

You can get convertors (sorry can't think where at the moment, will look into it tho) that will convert a 40mm to 60/80mm. So rather then having one (or in your case 2) fans running a 5000rpm and shifting 20CFM you could have an 80mm running at 2000rpm and still shift 20CFM. (please note these figures are only guestimates!!) But the main thing is you can maintain air flow, while cutting down on noise.

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This is the sort of thing I mean:
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/duc-08.html