Help, Bought 2 cooling fans, and things got worse?

[ticktock]

Hey all, I currently have this setup:

 

AMD Phenom x4 965be

ATI HD 5750 1mb

2x team xtreem dark ddr3 2gb

WD 640gb caviar black

El cheapo gigabyte gz-x6 case

2x Silverstone FM 123

 

So back then I was with the same setup but the difference was that my fan was a CoolerMaster R4 fan, located in the back of the case for exhaust, and on the front one was the weak gigabyte fan included with the case. At that time my Idle temps were ranging from 44 - 47 deg celsius, so I thought to myself, why don't I buy a new fan that has an rpm of greater than 2000 to make my machine cooler, so I did and got the two FM123s.

 

I installed it, and removed the included fan controller because I wanted my fans running at 2600 rpm forever, I didn't care much about noise. I then noticed that my idle temps has gone from 44 - 47 deg celsius from solid 48 deg celsius. Which is bad, considering I invested money on two new fans in hopes of cooling my system down. So I let the fans sit for three months and so, and now, I get idle temperatures of 49 deg celsius which is very very sad. So now I ask why is this happening?

 

I tried controlling the fans into 2000rpm in hopes of reducing the temps to 47 deg celsius but to no avail, I am using speedfan as my fan controlling and temperature monitoring software.

 

I am speculating that it maybe because the exhaust is sucking out air so much that the cpu's cooler doesn't get air at all. Or maybe it is the case? I really don't know..

 

Here are pictures of my setup:

 

 

 

 

PS.

 

Another speculation I have is that while cleaning my machine up back then I used a lot of canned compressed air on it and it somehow broke the hsf of the cpu? Or maybe when I was cleaning each blade of the flan with a rag and rotating it at my own will. I also did this to the cooler of my video card. I hope you guys get what I mean here.

 

And lastly another one is that the cpu's thermal compound has been broken into by the heat, I experienced the jump from 48 deg celsius to 49 during the period I was playing a lot of games with my machine, so yeah that speculation sounds a little dumb haha.

 

Thanks all, sorry for the long post.

[Munkypoo7]

Try making the rear fan an intake, and try to find some perforated PCI slot covers to air can leave on it's own.

 

I have a feeling that [just as you said] the rear fan is sucking up any cool air that your CPU cooler would be using...

[Alexandre]

Funny I had the same case as you before I bought the Lancool K62...doesn't it have a funnel for the cpu in the side panel? If it does then that rules out your suspicion that the air is getting sucked up by the exhaust fan too fast for your CPU fan to pick up

 

None-the-less, have you tried lowering the RPM of the rear exhaust fan and see if it improves the temps. This may be another way of verifying your suspicion whether the air is getting sucked up too fast.

 

Also has your ambient temperature changed during this testing period? Has it gotten hotter in the room where the computer is because if it has this would also increase the temperatures within the case as well.

 

One option would be to cut a hole in your side panel (or remove the funnel if it's there), remove the front intake fan and make it a side intake fan to suck air directly onto your CPU. This may allow more air to move into the case considering the holes at the bottom of the front of the case are pretty small.

[alexonfyre]

It also seems like your intake may be having issues, if like you said, there is no true front grill for it to draw on.

[ticktock]

Thanks for your replies guys!

 

Try making the rear fan an intake, and try to find some perforated PCI slot covers to air can leave on it's own.

 

I have a feeling that [just as you said] the rear fan is sucking up any cool air that your CPU cooler would be using...

 

If I were to make my rear an intake, and the front an intake too, wouldn't I be collecting more dust? And how can I get the air out? Please teach me!

 

It also seems like your intake may be having issues, if like you said, there is no true front grill for it to draw on.

 

 

The intake, because of its 2600 rpm power, blows kinda ok even without any grill. Its like the case has the cover and then if you remove it there are mesh holes (which get covered up by the cover), these mesh holes take in air from the cover whose bottom is like I said has some like teeth like holes.

 

I'll be taking pictures of the front of the case tomorrow for better understanding.

 

 

Funny I had the same case as you before I bought the Lancool K62...doesn't it have a funnel for the cpu in the side panel? If it does then that rules out your suspicion that the air is getting sucked up by the exhaust fan too fast for your CPU fan to pick up

 

None-the-less, have you tried lowering the RPM of the rear exhaust fan and see if it improves the temps. This may be another way of verifying your suspicion whether the air is getting sucked up too fast.

 

Also has your ambient temperature changed during this testing period? Has it gotten hotter in the room where the computer is because if it has this would also increase the temperatures within the case as well.

 

One option would be to cut a hole in your side panel (or remove the funnel if it's there), remove the front intake fan and make it a side intake fan to suck air directly onto your CPU. This may allow more air to move into the case considering the holes at the bottom of the front of the case are pretty small.

 

Yeah it does, ah so the air from the funnel doesn't reach the cpu's hsf anymore since the 2600 rpm fan is sucking it out. Figures.

 

I tried lowering it in the past but still I get temps at that level..

 

BUT just today, after cleaning my whole machine up, I tried lowering the speed to 70% (which is roughly 2000rpm) and low and behold the temperature was idling at 45 deg celsius. I don't know if this is because I cleaned it up or something but yeah, it got cooler. I noticed there were a lot of dust on the fans of the hsf and on the pipes so I dusted them off, thinking that them dust was covering the exhaustion for heat to be insulated properly, dunno if that helped in achieving that new temperature, also it is 3 am where I am at but, usually even if it is 3 am here my machine idles at 48 to 49 degrees celsius.

 

Yeah the ambient temperature has changed, I bought the fans last september 2010, tested midway of september (my testing though is just by observing the temps at idle, I also don't measure the ambient temperature when I am doing this ><) and still testing up to now. The ambient temperatures has lowered starting from december to now, but my machine's temperatures were constantly at 48 to 49 degrees celsius.

 

Funny thing here is in the past when I tried manipulating the fan speed of the rear, temperatures did not change, yet now it did (by 3 degrees celsius at that) so I really don't get this lol.

Edited January 7, 2011 by ticktock

[iskout]

It looks like your case has room for an 80mm fan on the side panel. Maybe try putting one in there, just to see if it has any change?

[ticktock]

Thanks for the reply! I think that'll help but I don't have any extra 80mm fan right here now, and I don't to intend to purchase one atm since I think I will be getting a new case soon, but idk I might still buy one haha.

 

Lowering the fan speed of the rear fan from 100 to 70 changed my idle temps to 45 indefinitely, and changing it to 65 still does the same thing. Whilst browsing with firefox I am at 46 degrees not so bad compared to that 49 degrees celsius back then, don't know if all that cleaning plus this fan speed lowering are the ones that helped lower my temperatures, don't know how to test this more too..

 

I think that 46 degrees is as cool as my machine can get, I think that if I lower my front fan's rpm I'll be getting back to 47 - 49 degrees and by lowering the rear fan to less than 65% will increase the heat in my machine, what do you guys think?

 

@alexonfyre:

 

hey man can't post pics of my front mesh right now sorry.. I even promised to post yesterday..

[bishop245]

The temps went down because the rear fan stopped stealing the air the cpu cooler needed when you turned it down. If you have the skills add one of the old 120's to the side panel and remove the duct work, that will bring air straight to the cpu. Optionally if you still have both pieces for the vent on the side of your case, then install it correctly so the hsf can draw more outside air to cool itself.

[MandoPatriot]

Funny, I had this same issue on my parents computer. I have two intake fans (front and side) and a rear exhaust. The rear exhaust is definitely stronger, and pushes out tons of air. I really don't feel that much air coming in from the side or the front.

 

Anyway, I was seeing temps of 49-51 degrees Celsius, and did some research. Turns out the north-bridge overheats and can cause issues (Intel DG31PR mobo). Took it off, took off the crappy thermal tape, and used AS5 on the chip. Now I see temps of 44-46, even after running for hours.

[Andrewr05]

Obviously the overall cooling of the components depend on the airflow of the case but I think you should've spent the money on a new CPU cooler instead.

 

I would definitely save up and get a better tower style heatsink.

 

That way the crossflow of the airflow you have now (coming from the bottom of the front of the case to the top of the rear) will actually aid the cooler as it will be inline with the airflow.

[sticknstone]

BUT just today, after cleaning my whole machine up, I tried lowering the speed to 70% (which is roughly 2000rpm) and low and behold the temperature was idling at 45 deg celsius.

 

The fan you have installed now is blowing more air than the fan you had previously.

 

First of all the rpm has very little to do with how much air is being blown by the fan when comparing two different fans. When working with the same fan the rpm will affect the air blown (cfm). On an internet search for fan laws you will see three laws for fans showing a known state as 1 and the desired state as 2. These laws are used with manufacturer specs to give the user the needed performance data.

 

The more cfm flowing through the computer, the greater the cooling affect.

 

When you record your temperatures keep the pc operating in the same state (preferably warm, after a number of hours running), and record the room temp to calculate a delta temp = cpu temp - room temp is the best way to eliminate reading error.

[ticktock]

The temps went down because the rear fan stopped stealing the air the cpu cooler needed when you turned it down. If you have the skills add one of the old 120's to the side panel and remove the duct work, that will bring air straight to the cpu. Optionally if you still have both pieces for the vent on the side of your case, then install it correctly so the hsf can draw more outside air to cool itself.

 

I think, I'll just be placing a 80mm fan at the side atm, don't know how to add a new 120mm hole in the panel, haha.

 

Funny, I had this same issue on my parents computer. I have two intake fans (front and side) and a rear exhaust. The rear exhaust is definitely stronger, and pushes out tons of air. I really don't feel that much air coming in from the side or the front.

 

Anyway, I was seeing temps of 49-51 degrees Celsius, and did some research. Turns out the north-bridge overheats and can cause issues (Intel DG31PR mobo). Took it off, took off the crappy thermal tape, and used AS5 on the chip. Now I see temps of 44-46, even after running for hours.

 

Wow, how troublesome, I think my mobo (M4a785td-v Evo) doesn't have that issue fortunately, I am blaming the shear power of the exhaust fan here I guess.. It has been stable at 45 - 46 idle temps for a couple of days now.

 

Obviously the overall cooling of the components depend on the airflow of the case but I think you should've spent the money on a new CPU cooler instead.

 

I would definitely save up and get a better tower style heatsink.

 

That way the crossflow of the airflow you have now (coming from the bottom of the front of the case to the top of the rear) will actually aid the cooler as it will be inline with the airflow.

 

I thought of buying a new cooler, only problem is, I think a good one won't fit in my case, and I am still having trouble if I should take a coolermaster v8 or a thermaltake frio (but I think this one is out of stock here where Im from). I have definitely learned that airflow is the best contributing factor in cooling now..

 

And by saying that I am now thinking of just buying a new case for my system, and then after buy a new hsf since if I accidentally bought a hsf that won't fit in my case Id be pretty screwed. But since I am just saving up for cash, I think the 80mm will still be good for me atm.

 

The fan you have installed now is blowing more air than the fan you had previously.

 

First of all the rpm has very little to do with how much air is being blown by the fan when comparing two different fans. When working with the same fan the rpm will affect the air blown (cfm). On an internet search for fan laws you will see three laws for fans showing a known state as 1 and the desired state as 2. These laws are used with manufacturer specs to give the user the needed performance data.

 

The more cfm flowing through the computer, the greater the cooling affect.

 

When you record your temperatures keep the pc operating in the same state (preferably warm, after a number of hours running), and record the room temp to calculate a delta temp = cpu temp - room temp is the best way to eliminate reading error.

 

It is blowing more air now because of the unobstructed air coming from the side panel right? the cfm has gotten better because the rear exhaust is not stealing air from my hsf anymore, correct?

 

All the while I though rpm is the top priority in buying a fan, but as you are saying cfm is the better one right?

 

I think I'll buy a thermometer for measuring the ambient temps so that next time I can monitor my machine more, I ask though that when monitoring how many days or hours do I need in between two temperature measurements?

Edited January 9, 2011 by ticktock