Cooling my PC

iamthestig

iamthestig

New member
I need some tips on cooling my PC
Right now it the CPU runs at around 50°C - 60°C when I'm playing a game, and the GPU at around the same, but I want to overclock my CPU so I'm going to need some cooling.

What is the best and cheapest way to cool the PC?

The CPU is an AMD Phenom II x4 Black Edition (4 x 3.4GHZ) and the Graphics card is a GeForce GT240 1024MB

Thanks guys!
 
Hi iamthestig

Your CPU temp is influenced by a few factors, namely ambient air temp and voltage as well as a good connection between the CPU and the HSF. Assuming you have some good airflow inside your chassis (especially at the top as this is where hot air builds up) a good HSF with good thermal grease should certainly help you drop your temps but when overclocking you're going to probably see that same temp return as the voltage will increase. Other than water cooling such as the Corsair H70 or extreme air cooling like the Thermalright Silver Arrow not much on the low-end will really make a dent in dropping your temps.

Your best bet on a budget would be something like the Zalman CNPS10X Performa. This offers a great price/performance ratio (ever cooler that the monstrous Coolermaster V8) and has a multitude of supported sockets to add longevity.

Good luck and let us know how far you managed to push it.

Andy
 
I bought a Coolermaster V8 a Coolermaster HAF case. Can't remember the exact model name, but it has a front intake fan and a exhaust fan on the top.

On air I overclocked my Phenom II 965 BE from 3.4 to 3.8 GHz. Idle temps in winter was about 28°C. Temps under load went to about 35°C - 40°C. In the summer that might go up a bit because of hotter room temperature.
 
What kind of cooling do you currently have? Does your case have any kind of adequate airflow? I would firstly buy an aftermarket cpu cooler - a TX3 or hyper 212 would be cheap and immediately drop your system temps. Then I would look at a different case with at least a handful of 12cm fans pushing/pulling airflow through the system.
 
That is the operating temperature for the 965BE on stock cooling, i have the same CPU, I fitted the Coolermaster V8 CPU Cooler, and it dropped the temp down to 35C in winter and 40C in summer. With load it doesnt exceed 50C on the lowest Fan speed setting for the cooler. I havent found the need to let the CPU fan spin any faster.
 
The basics for cooling are:

1) Decent CPU cooler (no idea how good the stock Phenom II unit is), properly mounted with correct thermal paste application
2) lower front intake fan + rear exhaust behind the CPU
3) tidy the cabling to allow free air-flow

I have the same CPU (965 Black Ed. rev C), using a Zalman CNPS10X Quiet for cooling, in a CM 690-II case. I have hidden all the cabling behind the motherboard and use a 140mm front intake fan, 140mm top exhaust and 120mm rear exhaust. With ambient case temps of about 35deg Celsius, my CPU (at 3.74GHz) idles at 41deg and ramps up to 59+ in gaming. Hence, I'll be replacing the cooler with an Archon and 2 fans in the hopes that the CPU will drop 5 degrees.

As Andy mentioned a 3rd party cooler may help you and there are a few good budget-class suggestions. The Zalman CNPS10X is ok, although you will need to mount a second fan (the ZM-F3 is decent) in a push-pull setup. Also look at the Coolermaster Hyper 212+ (with a 2nd fan) for an inexpensive performance cooler.
 
Also have a V8 and my i7 870 is running smoothly on a OC to 3.6Ghz. Idle at about 40 and ingame up to about 50 in summer. Haven't had it for a winter yet, but can only be cooler.
 
You also get some after market cooling for some graphics cards. (I have a awsome cooler for my HD4870x2 from ProphercyShop)
Lose the side panel and see what happens to your ambient temperature.
If it drops , cut a hole into the side panel and get a fan to suck air from outside and blow it directly into the cpu cooler.
If all else fails , theres always watercooling ?
Depends how hardcore of a mod you want and how much money you are willing to splurge into this.

Download speedfan and see what your temps are:
http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php
 
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If you have a bit of cash to spare, get yourself a HAF 933 and a new CPU fan, got myself a arctic cooler for about R400 and its the business.
 
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