Best temperature ranges?

[M R]

Hello,


I have a question regarding temperature:


What are the appropriate temperature ranges for the following machine:


CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad
RAM: 4GB
Motherboard: Intel DG31PR
HD: 500GB

According to Speccy, the motherboard is at 72ºC. That is worrying me a bit.

Also, I notice that it has only 1 extra fan (aside from the one inside the power source and the processor's cooler). Besides, all the fans are placed so that they take air out, none of them is taking air in. Is it OK? Could that be the reason why it's so hot in there?


Thanks in advance.

 

[zigzag3143]

Hello,


I have a question regarding temperature:


What are the appropriate temperature ranges for the following machine:


CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad
RAM: 4GB
Motherboard: Intel DG31PR
HD: 500GB

According to Speccy, the motherboard is at 72ºC. That is worrying me a bit.

Also, I notice that it has only 1 extra fan (aside from the one inside the power source and the processor's cooler). Besides, all the fans are placed so that they take air out, none of them is taking air in. Is it OK? Could that be the reason why it's so hot in there?


Thanks in advance.

Motherboard or CPU is at 72? In the final analysis go to the mfr and find out what the design temp range is.

Also need to know what load the CPU was under at the time and what the ambient temp was.

Ken J

 

[Kipper]

Yep, need a lot more info to answer

stock OEM cooler??

Case model, number and size of fans, intake and exhaust??

72 at Idle or running heavy processes such as Video Editing etc....?

You could start by filling in your system specs the rest of the way.

 

[M R]

Umm I'm a little lost here. Here goes:


I'm using a program called speccy to monitor hardaware temperature.

It goes like this:


CPU 39ºC (I'm only running firefox and downloading files from the internet. It ranges from 2% to 8%. ALso it stay at 72 most of the time, even if I'm running many programs)


HD 41ºC


Motherboard 72ºC


Please explain a little these terms as I'm not very familiar with that kind of hardware:

What is intake? The fans sucking in air (so to speak)?
Exhaust? The fans blowing air out?


What is stock OEM cooler?


I have only one fan which is connected directly to the power source, unlike the CPU fan, which is connected to the motherboard. The computer is custom made so the case is from a local company tat manufactures them. I can describe it: the most interesting thing I find is that the power source is located at the botton, when most models have it at the top. Also there is space only for one fan at the back, and perhaps another one at the bottom, next to the power source.


The temperature here is 23ºC.


Also, if I open the case and place it on the floor, the temp goes down to 60ºC.

 

[Golden]

PSU (power supply unit) on the bottom of the case are quite common. How many fans are at the front of the case? Are they drawing air into the case, or blowing air out of the case?

 

[ickymay]

60deg C is still very hot for a motherboard chipset temp

please can you download and run the 32 bit version of blackbox just to verify the reading from speccy is correct ?

If your temperature is true as everyone has already advised your fans blowing into and out of the box are likely not doing the job and its also likely the heatsink on the motherboard chip has slipped and or needs re-seating ?

looking at your motherboard the northbridge chipset is the one just to the left of the CPU with a huge aluminum heatsink with fins and this may need re-seating ?

 

[smarteyeball]

Umm I'm a little lost here. Here goes:


I'm using a program called speccy to monitor hardaware temperature.

It goes like this:


CPU 39ºC

A tad warm, but still within the safe zone.

ALso it stay at 72 most of the time, even if I'm running many programs)

If that's the CPU - then that is far from good. Far too hot. It sounds like the HSF is not properly seated.

HD 41ºC

That's fine. Some hard drives simply run hotter than others. In my experience, Western Digitals tend to run warmer than others.

Motherboard 72ºC

For an ambient 'in case temp' - that is very hot indeed.

What is intake? The fans sucking in air (so to speak)?

Correct. Most common placements are in the front (in front of the HDD cage) or side intakes (side of the case in line with CPU area)

Exhaust? The fans blowing air out?

Correct again.

The general rule of thumb is, cool air in (intake) - hot air out (exhaust)

What is stock OEM cooler?

The stock OEM cooler is the particular CPU manufacturers cooler. Also commonly refereed to as a heat sink fan.

I have only one fan which is connected directly to the power source,

The PSU fan? ie, it's part of the PSU? That's normal.

the most interesting thing I find is that the power source is located at the botton, when most models have it at the top.

Bottom mounted PSU's are also normal.

Also there is space only for one fan at the back, and perhaps another one at the bottom, next to the power source.

On the bottom of the case, near the middle? Best used as an intake fan.



The temperature here is 23ºC.

Also, if I open the case and place it on the floor, the temp goes down to 60ºC.

Without knowing the proper case etc - it's hard to say. But at any rate, that PC of yours is running far hotter than it should be.

Especially with those ambient temps.



Another thing to consider is that the BIOS is reporting inaccurate temps to Speccy.

 

[M R]

I'm going to take some pictures of the open case so you can take a better look. Batteries are dead so it'll take a while.


With my scarce knowledge in this matter I presume that fan placement might be wrong as there is no intake at all. All the fans I have are taking air out.



I'm going to try changing their position to have some intake. Now, what is the rule for that? I have the following fans:


The PSU fan (exhaust)
The stock OEM cooler (for Intel core 2 Quad processors) (exhaust)
One fan placed in the front of the case (what I call the back, it's where you connect other cables) (exhaust)

That is all. There is only one remaining place where I could place a fan, it would be a the bottom, near the center as you said.

Another question: what about dust? Is it not a problem to have intake fans taking dust inside the machine? I onserve that all coputers sold in this region have no intake, could thi be the reason or is it just mistake on themanufacturers' part?

 

[Golden]

Most intake fans have a little grill lined with foam in-front of them to trap most of the larger dust particles - unfortunately some always gets through which is why its a good idea to clean-out the PC once in a while.

I think we definately need some pictures of this case - I find it suprising that there isn't a fan drawing air into the case.

Don't muck around with the fans yet : lets first see the pictures of your case.

 

[M R]

Ok Here are the pictures.

The camera is right here next to me, so tell me if you need something specific.


I also attached the infor provided by another program. It's more detailed but I don't understand it very well (Aux?)

 

[Golden]

Mmmm....in the picture with the two fans, the CPU fan and the one you turned around are blowing air against each other, and now you don't have a fan exhausting air from inside the case to outside the case. Are your temperatures higher now?

In the 3rd picture I dont think you can put a fan there, isnce you need to turn the PC back up onto its side and the fan wont be able to draw enough air between the table and the bottom of the case? Do you only have 2 fans on this computer - one on the CPU, and then the one near it as per your photo?

A typical PC case has a minimum of 3 fans :
1 on the CPU
1 drawing fresh air into the PC
1 exhausting warm air from inside the PC, to the outside

Please take another picture of the FRONT of the PC, when it is standing upright.

 

[M R]

Mmmm....in the picture with the two fans, the CPU fan and the one you turned around are blowing air against each other, and now you don't have a fan exhausting air from inside the case to outside the case. Are your temperatures higher now?

In the 3rd picture I dont think you can put a fan there, isnce you need to turn the PC back up onto its side and the fan wont be able to draw enough air between the table and the bottom of the case? Do you only have 2 fans on this computer - one on the CPU, and then the one near it as per your photo?

Please take another picture of the FRONT of the PC, when it is standing upright.

Yes I realized that those two would blow air against each other so I turned the fan around. I placed another one down there and it's like you say, temperature went down like 2 degrees. I lifted it up and it went further doen, but just a little.

I'm afraid there is no more room for extra coolers.


I'll take the other picture.

 

[Golden]

Yes I realized that those two would blow air against each other so I turned the fan around.[/QUOTE]

Ok, so just to clarify, the fan is no longer turned around....its exhausting warm air from inside the case???

 

[M R]

Yes. You can see it in this new picture.The sticker is facing out now.


Also, as you can see there is no space between the wooden table and the fan that wsa place at the bottom.

 

[sygnus21]

In addition to a little cable/wire management, you might want to make sure your CPU's cooler is properly fitted to the board. Those stock coolers with those plastic clips can be funky at times and will come loose if not properly seated to the motherboard.

My two cents.

 

[M R]

In addition to a little cable/wire management, you might want to make sure your CPU's cooler is properly fitted to the board. Those stock coolers with those plastic clips can be funky at times and will come loose if not properly seated to the motherboard.

My two cents.

Thank you. Yes, I don't like the way the technician placed those wires, perhaps it is influencing temperature a little.

 

[Golden]

Yes. You can see it in this new picture.The sticker is facing out now.


Also, as you can see there is no space between the wooden table and the fan that wsa place at the bottom.

OK. Can you loadup a photo of the front now please?

 

[M R]

Yes. You can see it in this new picture.The sticker is facing out now.


Also, as you can see there is no space between the wooden table and the fan that wsa place at the bottom.

OK. Can you loadup a photo of the front now please?

Here it is:

Front and left side. This time the pic came out horribly.

 

[Golden]

OK. See the area circled in red? This is the grill through which fresh air should be drawn....can you check to see thats its open/not blocked by anything? Can you feel air being drawn into the case from this grill?

Also, did you check to see that the CPU cooler is properly fixed to the motherboard with those black clips that sygnus21 mentioned?

 

[M R]

That's not a grill, there are no openings there. However, right under the area you marked is an opening. In this picture you can see that the opening is below what seems to be a grill (but is not).

The hardrive, along with some wires, can be seen in the picture.


I tried to pull out the cooler to see if it was not properly fixed and I ended up lifting up the entire computer, so it's properly seated.


Picture 7 shows that the area you marked is not a grill.


Picture 8 shows the position of the extra fan I added.