HardOCP Needs Your Input!!!!! Please Read!!!!

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,597
Hey guys, after years of looking, I have finally found a very qualified editor to write REAL power supply reviews. We are struggling a bit this morning with a questions and need your help. This will help us extend our "real world" slant on PSU testing.

What is the average temperature inside an enthusiast's case? So if you will sound off here with a temp reading of what the temperature is inside your case, we would love to know.

We are sort of bouncing back and forth between 45C and 50C now, but need to be sure we are being realistic. Maybe closer to 40C? Sound off.
 
In my old tower, about 55.
In my Micro Fly, about 35.
In my SN26P, at least 50.
 
Old PC: 30C (non-OC'd)
PC in my sig: 48C with proper airflow, 53-54C if it's plugged up. (OC'd)

202276
 
42*C with absolutely no fans (safe the PSU fan). I imagine 35-40* would be more realistic.
 
My new setup in the sig has the temp probe on the motherboard at about 36C right now, but its probably around 66F in my room right now. In the summer when its between 72-75 I'm sure it will be closer to 40-42C inside the case.

That's gonna be a very tough thing to keep controlled in my opinion as every case can be different. Like my PSU draws air in from the bottom of the case thru a grate, so its not really effected by internal temps. I do think if you publish exactly how your system is setup though it could provide us with a good baseline from there. Can't wait to see some reviews, there aren't many good psu reviews in my opinion.
 
Imitation said:
That's gonna be a very tough thing to keep controlled in my opinion as every case can be different. Like my PSU draws air in from the bottom of the case thru a grate, so its not really effected by internal temps. I do think if you publish exactly how your system is setup though it could provide us with a good baseline from there. Can't wait to see some reviews, there aren't many good psu reviews in my opinion.
Click to expand...

We have the ability to control the temperature inside and incubator, so that is not an issue.

Let me ask this. How many of you have PSUs that are pulling ambient air???? With the current specs almost all to my knowledge are pulling air from inside the case and exhausting it outside the case. Thoughts???
 
The temp inside my case is around 35-40 depending on what i am doing, but i think temps up to either 45 or 50 should be tested as everyone knows how hot it can get in a lan that is in a closed off space like a garage or apartment. Either way i look forward to the awesome reviews on PSU's in the near future from the [H]
 
Using the same calibrated thermometer, my room temp is 18C. Inside my case, near the middle above the CPU HSF but not in the direct path of blowing air from HSF or case exhaust fan, it gets to 22C when fully loaded (Orthos and looping 3DMark06 running). Near the CPU, it gets to 29C.

1cm above the video card, it gets to 26C. Bottom of case where no cards reside, though away from front intake fan, it's 20C, very close to ambient.
 
23c in the winter

45c in the summer

the psu draws in heated air from my radiator as well as 5 hd's, but i also keep the case side off, so it is getting a mix of heated air, and ambient room air.

most electronics have an operational tempriture range, and if im not mistaken, most psu's have a max ceiling of some where around 50°c (i used this page for my data: http://www.antec.com/specs/SP500_spe.html ) while its not "real world" it wouldn't be hard to reproduce "worst case". I would say do a worst case, and a "out of case" with a controlled room temp of say 80°f becuase it is going to be hard to reproduce all of the varibles that we can come up with, (ie the guy with dual thunderchickens cramed into a mini atx box is going to have a worse amb temp that the guy with a single celleron in a full tower) and then you have loads to deal with, as temp + load = effenciency (no... but you get what im saying) if you have a 500w psu powering a 200w system, the power supply will not give a damn if its sitting in a 55°c case.

the psu i linked is claiming 5% on all rails, i would say load it to 5% (i.e. 475w in this case) and ramp the heat up while monitering the each rail, back off the load as needed to keep the psu stable, plot the voltage pre rail +temp and load at temp into a graph. As the temps rise the graph should fall off, people can then look at there system temp . and see how that psu would prefrom in there environement (a 400w psu may be fine at 25°c but if there system hits 35°c it may call for a 450w, such as my case, i can get away with a 400w in the winter, but i use every last ounce of 480w in the summer)
 
My case temp averages 35-38c idle...and 38-40c while gaming or under load while folding.

I have a 120 fan in the front pulling air in and 2 80mm fans in the rear exhausting air out.
my PSU pulls air from case also, and exhausts it out the rear ...like most PSU's..

My room temp is always about 62-64F....it varies very little from summer to winter....
3 zone climate control FTW :)
 
Mine run around 40c, but this has more to do with where the case is located than the case ventilation itself. I have an older oak computer desk where the tower sits in, so ventilation isn't great. While measuring the case temps for ambient is important, where people typically have their case setups placed would be more relevant IMO. So, you plan on measuring PSU temps to see if the supplied voltage sags for a given power supply?
 
*All temps taken from INSIDE the PSU enclosure using a thermohawk keychan directed at the back side of the metal enclosure Both PSU's are the same, Ultra X VS-600 (black matte finish)

Winter ambient case temp: 22c

Summer Ambient case temp: 28c


My server case is a different story:

Winter Ambient temp: 31c

Summer Ambient temp: 41c (huge delta I know)
 
I can add mine.

My desktop is 44c (passively cooled x800 and ePower fanless...not exactly...PSU so it gets toasty) and my HTPC is 42c.

My IBM xSeries x330's are hovering around 41c which isn't bad given they are 1u's just stacked in the rack right now.

Via Sperry Digital Thermometer.

I can grab all my work units tomorrow.
 
29C via MBM5 (side off, 68F ambient) - maybe 2C more with side on.

21C intake temp via CoolDrive6 probe placed in flow of 80mm intake.

-bZj
 
Right now about 25C load, but I am running side panel off, and my room is a freezer.
 
MBM5 on my system shows 21c (case) and 29c (CPU) with an ambient of ~70F. The PSU is pulling in and exhausting case air. I have 3*80mm intakes (2 in the front and 1 on the side).
 
Case temps are right at 46°C and I rarely cut it off because of Folding... and that's with 2 OC'd video cards SLi and an OC'd AMD X2. ALL on water including NB. And if it matters, I'm in Miami. Its either warm or hot here.



 
Right now according to monitoring software my motherboard temp is 30c, but it is also freezing in my house. I would say it normally runs from 35c to 40c depending on load. As far as the air inside my case, I don't really know, and I have no idea where the sensor is located for the motherboard reading.
 
I have four computers in pretty big ATX cases.
Normal temp in my house is 67 degrees F
MB temps from ASUS Probe, three PCP&C PSUs,one Antec.
All draw air from the case and exhaust outside.
All of my cases have side panel fans that draw air into the case, if that matters, all are air cooled.
#1 LianLi:38-40C
#2 Chieftec Dragon 30C
#3 Fancy Alienware plastic case 38C
#4 Antec Sonata 30C
:D
 
with good airflow thats hard to judge, and is entirly dependant on where inside your case you take the reading from. Ambient temp in my house right now is 22C. There is an air pocket that seems to be idle and getting hotter from the exaust of the 8800GTS. It is ~ 45C. Measurements from right below my (horizontally mounted) Thermalright Ultra 120, are 32C
 
Around 33 Celsius Idle
Max 42 doing prime on both cores, 44 after one hour serios CSS gaming:D
thermaltake armor with 3 x 120 mmm fans and 90mm top exhaust
and 25 cm Sidepanel fan

Also 8800 GTX inside damn that sucker is one hot beast
 
The X2 system in my sig idles around 28 and loads around 38. It's in a modded Thermaltake armor cooled by 5x120mm, 4x90mm, Zalman 9500 CPU cooler, Zalman VF-900s on the video cards.

The Opteron box idles around 38 and loads around 45. It's in a tiny case from the 90s on stock cooling. Also, it's racked under my desk and doesn't get as much flow as it should.
 
Well, currently running Orthos for over 10 hours and 45 minutes, and it's either low 20s or near 30 (via Speedfan, not sure which sensor is accurate). I'm thinking in the 20s because I opened the case and it's not too much warmer than typical room temp. My room's quite cold right now, middle of winter and two walls of the room border the outside of the house. Plus, I'm running a TJ06 and the case interior has always run cool for me. And my PSU vents interior case air to the room.
 
Lian-Li PC7AW Plus case with 2 Scythe S-Flex SFF21F fans. One is on front of case as intake fan and other is on bad of case as exhaust fan.
Cpu and video cards are watered cooled.
Asus A8N32SLI
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
2 BFG 6600 GT in SLI
1 WD 36.5 Raptor - OS installed on it
2 WS 74.5 Raptor in Raid 0 - programs in installed on them
1 Sony DVD +/- RW drive Dual Layer
DigiDoc 5
Enermax Liberty 500w power supply

in Winter time
at idle
22C reported by digidoc
27C reported by MB
under load
24C reported by digidoc
32C reported by MB

in Summer time
at idle
27C reported by digidoc
32C reported by MB
underload
30C reported by digidoc
37C reported by MB
 
Let me ask this. How many of you have PSUs that are pulling ambient air???? With the current specs almost all to my knowledge are pulling air from inside the case and exhausting it outside the case. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I modify the mounting/case/fans on my personal machines to provide the PS with ambient air.

Internal case temp as measured with fairly accurate temp probe at middle of case 2/3 the way up (just below power supply and just to the front of the case ) runs ambient + 4 C

I watercool and have superior airflow.


I would suggest two tests, or if not possible worst case your testing. As heat is the killer use some average higher case temp as people like me will be a minoritory and should expect better results than the test.


As you are probally aware most manuf rate there power supplies at an unrealistic 25 C and heat is a byproduct of supply effeciency, clearly stating the manuf temp spec, testing temp spec, and temp rise in the supply at full load (in ambient and in oven) would be helpfull. Also the temp rating of the main filtering caps would be usefull information, just mentioning who made them without the part number to look at the ESR, working voltage and temp rating (and derating) is not helpfull.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top