What do you do when your temperature controlled fan doesnt do its job...

The Titan

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So yeah I have a nice Intel processor with a temperature controlled fan. The fan is supposed to step up its speed when the processor gets hot, and it used to very well. Ever since I came back to college this year, though, this piece of shit isn't doing its fucking job. I am thinking I should get an adapater and plug the proc fan into a molex connector and just try to make it go full speed all the time (6000 RPM on an 80mm fan). Its kind of loud when its at full speed but if that save it from 170 degree temperatures then I guess its worth it.

Anbody have any other suggestions that can help me? There no reason this thing should kick up its speed when the processor reaches 150-160, but instead it just sits at about 3200 RPM. Barely ever goes faster. I have the side of my case off and it speeds up to about 3400 under instense gaming, and with the case side on it just never speeds up at all. Maybe the temp sensor has gone bad...

Any help and suggestions appreciated.
 
Titan - I just installed a Swiftech and this 92mm Panaflow fan. Wow, what a difference. The temps rock, and the noise is equal or better than the Zalman it replaced. The 92mm fan really moves a ton of air, and is very very quiet. Without knowing what HSF you currently have, if you can mod it and install a 92mm fan, I think you'd like the difference.

Regards - B.B.S.
 
Stock heatsink and fan. With all the wires in my case I dunno if I have room for a bigger fan. Its an 80mm sized one right now... It just may require a new and custom one. I have the ol socket 478, so I should be good.
 
The sink you have is nice, but that requires removal of the damn plastic thing my current sink fastens on to. I am not really in a position to perform this kind of surgery on my machine right now... :(
 
The Titan said:
The sink you have is nice, but that requires removal of the damn plastic thing my current sink fastens on to. I am not really in a position to perform this kind of surgery on my machine right now... :(
Not true - it attaches to the "stock" Intel bracket from the top, and fastens with two spring clips that latch into said bracket. No violence required......:D Here's a link to the install instructions.

The other nice thing about the Swiftech is that it's really not that big. I had a Zalman CNPS-7000Cu in there, but with my Thermalright north bridge HSF, it wouldn't fit anymore. The improvement in the NB cooling was such that I used an older HSF I had around until I found the Swiftech would fit, even with the 92mm fan, NP. I sure like mine.....temps with my 3.3Ghz OC run about 45 idle, 55-6 under heavy load.

Regards - B.B.S.
 
that sounds a lot like the cooling in my laptop... if it ever had active cooling, it's been dead for a very long time, and i can barely compensate w/ a $30 targus chillmat (worthless by the way) and a 9" windmere fan.

tho it does sound like the temp sensor went awol... you can't replace it tho, i think it's like on the chip or something.

just get a big honking fan the size of nj that pushes enough air to suck the fillings out of your teeth even at 1/2 speed. the 60mm ys tech high-speed fan pushes 40cfm @ full speed so a quartet of those will send your heat packing... tho they will sort of dampen conversations somewhat, as they are *ahem* not designed for silence.
 
BBS if you were a woman...

Actually I will just say thank you a bunch man. That looks really frikkin worth it :)

Starhawk thats a nifty solution but I wouldnt want THAT much noise. ;)

I think I will be looking into this stuff.

Do you guys know whether I could plug my CPU fan into a 3-4 adapter connected to a molex connection? I might try this until I can buy and implement a proper solution.

I think, if the temp sensor "went out," it would be because I have, a couple of time, more or less frozen my case with 30 degree air, blown directly into my case from outside. Right now its 20 degrees outside. At the time when I did this, my under load temp was 80 degrees. :D I guess this is my reward for that though.
 
The Titan said:
BBS if you were a woman..
Uhh....thank you....??.....:eek:
The Titan said:
Actually I will just say thank you a bunch man. That looks really frikkin worth it :)
...trust me - get that Panaflow 92mm fan. It's worth the trouble to acquire, and I can highly recommend the guys at HeatsinkFactory as good guys to work with.

Let me know how it works out - B.B.S.
 
Just read the pdf thing. DAMN! I AM A DOPE! I need this. Does it fit as snug as the stock heatsink? The only part I am extremely worried about is the removal of the stock sink and the removal of current grease on the proc, and the application of the new grease. I have no razor blade.

Does the fan plug into a molex? I will look...
 
The Titan said:
Just read the pdf thing. DAMN! I AM A DOPE! I need this. Does it fit as snug as the stock heatsink? The only part I am extremely worried about is the removal of the stock sink and the removal of current grease on the proc, and the application of the new grease. I have no razor blade.

Does the fan plug into a molex? I will look...

Arctic Silver and go to Home Depot or Lowes for a blade.
 
Have you tried to blow it out. It may just need a good cleaning to work right again. Try that first.
 
My fan right now has a capable max speed of 5500rpm. Granted it doesnt really reach that anymore... Is 57 CFM sufficient? I dont know the CFM of my current stocky.
icehokplyr said:
Have you tried to blow it out. It may just need a good cleaning to work right again. Try that first.
Yes I have not tried that yet but I will do so soon.
 
57 is high Bro. Not yet that dangerous, but high. I'd blow that fan out ASAP and leave your machine open until you do. Just be careful of static electricity. If that doesnt work, be careful and do some cleaning up. First try to loosten the screws on the heatsink a half a turn to let some air pass between it and the processor. If that doesn't work: Take out the MB and unscrew the heatsink and carefully get the processor off. Try not to touch it more than you have to. Re-apply some Arctic Silver from www.newegg.com and set the processor again. Don't over tighten the heat sink either. Again, let some air get to the processor. Try the first two options now and see what happens. I bet it gets a few degrees cooler. Not much, but cooler. Let me know.
 
Yeah my machine is open. I wonder if setting my machine on the floor will help. Never had any trouble until now, although I guess where it is now in the room is a hot spot or something...

I will blow it out tonight when I turn it off.

Static in this place is rampant. its a wonder this machine works now as it is. I thought I static-ed the damn thing when I first got it. I didnt. It works. Everything is fine but the temperature.

/me looks at the delta and vantec fans...

You know, those look awesome, but I have a feeling if I buy one of those I wont want my machine in the same room as me...
 
Just be careful if you put it on the floor. Don't put it directly on top of a carpet.
Alos, shut down your machine and try to loosten the heat sink screws a half a turn. It's not hard and will probably help. Then re-boot and check your temp after a few minutes. I bet it drops.
 
Its a stock sink bro, no screws.

I had it on top of a carpet all summer. Everyone I know has their machine on the floor...
 
No prob man always welcome suggestions. I hope I can buy a new sink with a bigger fan and have far better results.
 
The Titan said:
Just read the pdf thing. DAMN! I AM A DOPE! I need this. Does it fit as snug as the stock heatsink?
It fits < really > snug. The two clips really anchor this thing down.

The Titan said:
The only part I am extremely worried about is the removal of the stock sink and the removal of current grease on the proc, and the application of the new grease. I have no razor blade.
Run by Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. and pick up some Isopropyl Alcohol. You can score small cans of very pure Iso in the paint section. That and some elbow grease should remove any TIM you have in there. Scraping with a razor blade sounds like a good way to scratch the heat spreader on your CPU. I've used the corner of a fine (white) Scotch Brite pad, dry, to get the wax type TIM's loose, but Iso and a clean rag always gets it done.

If you buy a Swiftech, it'll come with some Artic Aluminua thermal goop. Very good stuff. I used Ceramique, as I had it here, but the supplied compound is quite good.

The Titan said:
Does the fan plug into a molex? I will look...
If you order a "three pin tail" when you order the fan, it sure does - RPM monitoring works fine, too. The wattage is such that it wasn't an issue with my MoBo; it's pretty modest. Got to say again - that Panaflow is a dandy.

Good luck - B.B.S.
 
Not gonna use the razor blade for cleaning off the thing bro. ;) Might use a credit card for putting the stuff on, eliminating the possibility of being cut.

The 3 pin tail is for plugging into the motherboard... I guess we could do that too. That fan only runs at full speed right? Doesnt look like it'll do any temp controlled stuff, which I can say at this point is a good thing...

I am worried about it fitting in my case, because there a lot of close stuff, but once its in stock at that great site you linked to, I think I will buy it.
 
I am at a loss for words. I just dusted my comp. I am now getting reports via motherboard monitor, that my current full load temp is now at 138. Max. The fan, at 138 degrees, speeds up to 3400 rpm. This is excellent. I will dust my machine more often. My god, the temps are beautiful. I am still looking into a more robust cooling solution anyway, but its good to know that it was only dust. Only DUST!

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Now the fan is speeding up at far lower temps. Fuckin A.
 
:rolleyes: why didn't i guess that. dust f***ed up the computer that i learned to program on, a 386 workstation running win3.1

you faired much better than i did. the psu shorted and sent a surge thru the whole thing. everything is fine except 1 busted cap (wierd shape... i think it's a tantalum cap) and the hard drive, which bios tells me is non-existant even tho it's all hooked up and there is no phys. damage.

at least your comp lived thru it.
 
The Titan said:
I am at a loss for words. I just dusted my comp. I am now getting reports via motherboard monitor, that my current full load temp is now at 138. Max. The fan, at 138 degrees, speeds up to 3400 rpm. This is excellent. I will dust my machine more often. My god, the temps are beautiful. I am still looking into a more robust cooling solution anyway, but its good to know that it was only dust. Only DUST!

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Now the fan is speeding up at far lower temps. Fuckin A.

What did I tell you?? I told you it would cool it off.
 
starhawk said:
:rolleyes: why didn't i guess that. dust f***ed up the computer that i learned to program on, a 386 workstation running win3.1

you faired much better than i did. the psu shorted and sent a surge thru the whole thing. everything is fine except 1 busted cap (wierd shape... i think it's a tantalum cap) and the hard drive, which bios tells me is non-existant even tho it's all hooked up and there is no phys. damage.

at least your comp lived thru it.
Youd be surprised what my comp has lived through. I will make sure to dust often. I meant to dust when I first moved in but I didnt. *smacks forehead*
icehokplyr said:
No body ever listens to me.... ;)
That and every one else suggested that too. its more important than we all think. I just played a game, warhammer 40k dawn of war, and my processor never went above 132 degrees, in fact, the proc fan got up to 4600 rpm to keep it there. Thats full load too. That game eats slower machines alive, and sometimes mine. :) At least this prolongs things a good bit. Now if I can get my machine on the floor where its colder anyway. :D
 
suggestion: put filters in the fans, you will be dusting less often. cases on the floor are always very dirty.
 
Oh I am sure. Especially at home, the dust there seems more... rampant...
 
indeed it is, especially if you have pets.

/slightly off topic
dusting horror story: (ignore if you don't care)

my mother has this dinosaur comp that is a p1 90mhz... it's like 8 years old.
so she wants me to dust it out (okay, okay... i wouldn't stop bugging her until she did)... i crack open the case, and...
:eek: omfg. there is like 1/16" of dust on *everything*. there are even *cobwebs* i kid you not. it took *hours* and almost 1/2 of a can of air to clean that thing... and it *still* isn't really finished b/c there is alot of "clingy" dust that won't obey the can. good heavens that was a winner to clean.

/end slightly off topic
 
Filters are a GREAT idea. I didn't know they sold them.
It's amazing how much dust accumulates inside a computer isn't it?
 
The Titan said:
Youd be surprised what my comp has lived through. I will make sure to dust often. I meant to dust when I first moved in but I didnt. *smacks forehead*That and every one else suggested that too. its more important than we all think. I just played a game, warhammer 40k dawn of war, and my processor never went above 132 degrees, in fact, the proc fan got up to 4600 rpm to keep it there. Thats full load too. That game eats slower machines alive, and sometimes mine. :) At least this prolongs things a good bit. Now if I can get my machine on the floor where its colder anyway. :D

That's awesome Bro.
 
starhawk said:
suggestion: put filters in the fans, you will be dusting less often. cases on the floor are always very dirty.
Head to you local Home Depot / Lowe's and look around in the furnace filter section. You can buy a 24" X 24" piece of perfectly suitable fan filter material for three to five bucks. Plenty to filter every fan in even Titan's system......:D

Regards - B.B.S.
 
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