I guess this is kinda silly question but i've been wondering about my case temps.

My case temps are bit high, at least I think so. Normal temp is around 40C and after some gaming, its 45C. CPU temps normally ~50C and HDD 38C. While playing, temps go up about 5C's.

I've built myself a fancontroller (with nice ledbargraph) for casefans and CPU so I can speed up the fans while I play. Otherwise fannoise drives me nuts.

The PSU is 350W Enermax with 92mm Papst @7V.

Isn't that kind of casetemps bit high? Even with fans running at full speed (2* 80mm Papst's, 19,4 CFM, 1 intake &1 exhaust), temps stay well over 35C. And ambient is allways between 20-23, so thats not high.

I could certainly get cold air in by just taking the 'puter outside since its been between -20 to -30 (-4 to -22F) for over a week, but thats wholly another business

I have AthlonXP 1600 running @ 1.4GHz, Alpha 8045 HS, MSI KT3 Ultra ARU and GeForce2 MX400

My case temp maxes out around 39-39 C. I have 1 80mm intake (sometimes I turn it off) and 2 80mm exhausts (1 in PS, 1 next to CPU, both temp controlled)

For that low of an ambient temperature, that case temp does seem a bit high.

Everything else sounds completely normal to me (my CPU floats around 46-52)

That cold outside? Where do you live?

I have a Athlon XP 1700+ @1.46, Stock HS w/quieted 9v fan, IWill XP333, and Radeon VIVO 64 MB DDR.

My case temp is quite hot at the moment, 43C... I don't like it at all. I think it's due to my hot CPU.

I thought so, I wasn't so concerned about the other temps, that just seems to me to be little bit too high, even with full speed.

It makes one think if I should do something to add some airflow inside my case. I have thought about rounding the cables and maybe some other things i could do to help airflow.

Any good advices?

I haven't cut the fangrills that are in my case due to lack of tools to make it well enough. I do have some pieces of old nylons as filters in front of my intake fan, but i'd think that doesn't block the airflow much.


I live in northern Europe. It's pretty much normal temperature once in awhile during wintertime, but these have been pretty long and cold weathers around here.

You would be surprised at how much airflow is blocked by all kinds of innocuous things. This can be critical when you have very low airflow to begin with. Try removing them and check case temps again just to be sure.

You probably should.

Nylon doesn't block much air really. I'd be more concerned with outtake than with intake. Because if the hot air is moved out then fresh cool air will automatically be drawn in.

Cutting the fan grills in the back and having not air filters cut my CPU temps by 2C.

It's very useful in some cases to not use rounded cabled. Flat cables will let you route them behind the motherboard - the ultimate solution to improving airflow.

I would not worry so much about case tempertures, although they seem a little high I would not worry. My case temps are between 35-41C. If all is running well and you don't have any problems I don't think those kind of tempertures are too high. I find CPU temperture more important than case temps.

As mentioned in the previous tips tidy cabling and less obstruction for the fans the better the airflow. But if you are really concerned I would buy a big case, this always help case tempertures.

I have a P4 2.53 with an Alpha heatsink and low airflow, 15mm thick Sanyo Denki fan (similar to Panaflo L1A). My cpu temps range from 43-46 deg Celsius idle and up to 54 deg Celsius load. My case is cooled by a Zalman 300 Watt PS (the most recent "apf" version) and 92mm JMC exhaust fan that was the cpu/case fan for exhaust. My case temps usually hover around 35 deg Celsius (especially after intensive programs like 3-D games) and go to as low as 33 after a long idle (maybe 30 minutes). The highest case temp I get now is around 36 deg Celsius.

Just a quick note, AMD systems will generally have greater tempertures than Intel. Don't want to go into it too much but AMD processors are harder to cool due to there small contact area and not so great lug methods of holding the HS.

Oh of course, I agree with you on that. BTW, my older system is a 1.4 Athlon Thunderbird. It resides in a full-tower case with a Enermax Whisper 431 Watt PS (dual fan), 60mm Panaflo exhaust fan, 92mm side panel Panaflo fan (mod), 80mm Panaflo L1A intake, and 80mm Silencer exhaust. My CPU is cooled by a rather noisy ThermalTake Volcano 6Cu but it really gets the job done! My CPU temps usually remain around 30 degrees C idle and 40 deg stress. My system case temps remain around 22 deg Celsius. I must say, this systems is MUCH cooler running than my P4 computer, but it is also MUCH louder.

If i decide to cut the fangrills off, should I remove all the components? I'd think that all the metal that comes out when using file would cause problems if I wouldn't remove everything.

It's not that I can't do it, since I put it together all by myself, it's just that ohter familymembers might have some objections if 'puter is in parts for few days

And maybe I don't like it either if I don't have working machine for a day or even longer...

It's safest to remove all components while you're cutting it out yes. Then give the case a nice little shower .

I am just in the process of modding my ThermalTake 6Cu to use a spare 80mm ADDA fan. As the cooler is 80x60mm I am going to try with the fan overlapping on the PSU side. Current temps are ambient ~25C Case 34C CPU idle 43C load 53C on AnathlonXP1800.

Cheers, John

Athlon 1800XP - Panaflo 2xIn,1xOut - Enermax 365 - All fans are temperature controlled - ThermalTake 6Cu