Completed build - cooling advice/thoughts?

A

Astaroth

n00b
Joined
Oct 17, 2005
Messages
38
Any advice here would be great...this is mostly about cooling but I have a few other questions. You may have to be famaliar with my case and motherboard layout though.

My build:
(new)
MSI Diamond Plus
AMD 4400+
GIGABYTE G-Power GH-PDU21-SC CPU cooler
2 x EVGA 7900 GTs (new model - KO revision)
(carryovers)
GB Aurora case (120 in front and 2 120 in rear)
SB Audigy 2 and 2 gigs (8 banks) HyperX memory
Raid 0: SATA Maxtor 80 gig harddrives x2.
Thermaltake modular PSU - 520W
Dell 2405 (24" Widescreen LCD)

Overall, I am very happy with this build, but as always there are a few things bugging me. I am not overclocking anything (although the 7900 are stock o/c a bit)

My main question is about the system temps. Initial chipset temps are 63C at idle and hitting 69 at load. This is way too hot. Default max temp appears to be 50C. I believe I have a "dead area" around the NB heatpipe and fan due to the video card and large CPU cooler. I hooked up a case fan and pointed it at the NB and got temps to 47 before I stopped.

I set the BIOS options to control the fans to disabled and nothing changed. The NB fan was over 5000RPMs anyway...which I believe is as high as it goes.

I have since ordered a 120m fan that I am going to install on the side panel grill. Does this sound reasonable? I hope to control it with a fan controller as well.

CPU is 31C at idle, 40C under load. I am comfortable with this. Fan is under 1000rpm. Really nice cooler here that GB made.

7900s report 52 and 55...under load they are hitting in the 70s. I believe the 120m fan I will be installing will help here as well. My old setup had a x800 GTO card in the same case and had similar temps.

Has anyone succesfully removed the snapclamps on the Aurora 5-1/4 drive bays? With fan-controller type 1/4-depth bay addons, the clamps do not hold them in place and they really need to be screwed in. I don't see how to remove the plastic clamps without breaking them entirely.

First run of 3DMark05 at 1024x768 (everything optimal) was 11500. Second run was at 1900x1440 with everything cranked (AA, etc) I got almost 9000. Needless to say, I am impressed.
 
Sorry for the double post...but one little update.

Installed Oblivion. Have it set for 19x12, HDR, default shadows, vsync on, everything else high. In the INI file I lowered the grass setting (I could care less about grass) for density.

I get 40fps outdoors, 60 indoors (highest it will go with the monitor vsync'd) and 20-25 when there is an Oblivion gate around.

After playing for 30 mins and exiting, my system temp was 55 and the cards were at 60. Seems 3DMark really pushes the cards more-so then I thought.

Considering I use to get in the teens running 1024x768 and most things turned down and no Bloom or HDR, I am again stating I am very happy. Just my temps are a bit high I think.
 
Something you can do to possibly help your NB temps is removing that huge copper brick and replacing the stock thermal paste with some AS5.

Other than that, all your temps seem just fine. Those 7900s will be fine with those load temps, and as you said your CPU is also well within spec.
 
It sounds like your case is cramped or airflows not right or something, install a couple fans if you can, my 7900GT SLI temps are usually about 42-44 or simular on idle and like 55-59C load, I don't know why one always stays hotter then the other or though.
 
I think the front 120mm fan in the Aurora case just doesn't pull in push across that much air, as far as reaching the motherboard goes. Otherwise, it is a great case and probably one of the best I have ever owned. (The old Inwin Q500 may be the best, but it was also a beast). The two 120mm fans in the back are pushing out well enough I think though.

The 120mm fan I ordered will be here today, and I will slap it inside the side grill. That should help quite a bit I think. The temporary fan I put on there (smalled then an 80mm) is an old Thermaltake CPU cooler fan and very noisy for the amount of air it pushes.

It is getting warmer now here - today reached almost 80. My temps were:

CPU - 34
System - 55
GPU - 55 and 60

This was basically at idle.

If that doesn't help enough, I will look into replacing the stock GPU fan/heatsinks and then reseat/replace the paste on the NB. I have two tubes of AS5 sitting around.
 
Another update. All temps are reported with new controller running high (attached to side fans) and the computer just sitting idle.

I installed one 120mm fan (w/ controller) in the side panel, blowing in, centered on my top video card - so that it covers the NB, SB and also the top of the lower video card.

My temps went down only about 4 degrees - to idle system temp of 51-52ish.

I installed another 120mm fan on top of this one, in the side panel, blowing in. The only real change was that it pushed up my CPU temp from 30 idle to 40.

I then reversed the top one so it was blowing out, and the CPU temp went back to 30 degees...nothing else changed.

I then unscrewed both fans, and removed the small-holed mesh grill that Gigabyte has installed over the side panel - the side panel itself has machine-holes that are hex-sized over 1/4", while the mesh has small dots. The mesh is gone. Nice that it was held in place with screws instead of glue or weld.

After reinstalling the side fans, top pushing out and bottom pushing in, I now have a CPU temp of 29, a System temp of 46-47, and the two GPUs are 51. This is with the side fan controller set on high (noise could be worse, I may need to dampen it a tad).

I think that is the best I am going to get, without removing everything and reseating/resinking the NB copper fan/copper cooler combo and the heatpipe/heatsink combo on the SB. Hopefully when it gets really hot outside, my temps will still be ok.

Like I said before, I really love this case, but I now totally realize that the 120mm front ntake fan not only just blows on the hard drives, but the hard drive cage really blocks all air flow to the lower half of the MB that one would usually get from a front fan.

Sorry for the long read...just never had an issue like this before.
 
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