Ok, thanks to everyone on the forum and to EdNG for specific advice, I have now got a system that I am more than happy with acoustically.

Now it is in no way what you would call silent, but is certainly quiet. I can hear all manner of sounds that I could never pick out before

Anyway, what I want to know is what temps should I be aiming for, or indeed getting?? I have had a look around and my system temp does seem quite high, but given spec I am not sure if it is acceptable/expected... The 60G may be leaving the system soon BTW

Spec is

Thermaltake Tsuanami case
DFI Lanparty II Ultra RevB
XP3200 Proc
2x512mb Corsair TwinX XMS Pro PC3200
Sapphire ATI9600Pro
60G Maxtor ATA133
2x120G Maxtor SATA150
200G Maxtor SATA150
Enermax Noisetaker 475 (latest addition )
2x120m Acoustifan (1 exhaust, 1 front) @ ~1000rpm
Thermalright SP94 - 92mm Zalman @ 1800rpm
Zalman MFC1

Temps as per MBM are (all in Deg C sorry!)

CPU Socket 46
CPU Diode 34
Case 49
Drives ~40

WTF? Your Case temps are higher than your CPU temps? I don't buy that.

Also, under what conditions are you getting those temps? Idle? Running F@H? Prime95?
One more thing... I thought the SP-94 was only compatible on Intel processors. Are you sure you have the number right, or were you able to fit it on there?

His board is most likely reporting northbridge temps as, "system," temp. Many boards do that, including my ABIT AN7.

He's most likely using the SP-97 I recommended to him, in combination with the Neo Backplate.

Yes I agree with sthayashi about load; if you could do tests at idle (nothing going on, nothing in the background, not even mouse movement) and giveus some temperatures for that, and then load up either CPU Burn or Prime 95 and run the In-Place Large FFTs torture test for at least 20 minutes then tell us what temperatures you see, we can get a better idea of what range of heat your system will be dealing with...

Hard drives seem fine enough, and will be cooler when the 60G is going; the CPU temps, if those are at idle, are on the iffy side. 49C is an o-kay temperature for that northbridge, assuming it doesn't go much higher. I'd worry when it breaks 60C on the nForce2 Ultra 400.

-Ed

Oops my bad slip of a digit.. It is the SP97!!

Anyway, Yes

Temps are just for general usage (browsing etc.), CPU temp ups to 49 ish when under load, 50 when I have left CCE running for a few hours I am happy enough with that, more concerned with the case temp really, I know the case temp is higher than the CPU that is pretty much whats confusing me!! But if it is the NB then that may explain it.

I will give Prime95 a run for a bit and get back to you.

Ok, just out of interest, I had a quick look at Sandra as well, where my board temp was reported the same as the case temp in MBM so I do think it is the NB we see there.

As for before temps (nearly idle)

CPU Diode 35
CPU Socket 46
Case 49

After 20mins of prime (and without touching the fan speed)

CPU Diode 42
CPU Socket 51
Case 50

Hmmm... From what I have found out, the 'case' temp is actually a probe very near the SB and damn that gets hot!! anyway, just taking the side off the case and it is not much warmer than the room temp

Given that there appears to be a large number of people with similar complaints on the DFI boards around, I am not going to bother too much. Especially as it is very quiet

...apart from a slight ticking on the VGA HSF.... oh dear!

If you wait, according to Arctic Cooling's e-mail to me, about six more weeks, you can get one of their next generation VGA Silencers for your 9600 Pro; improvements from the current model include copper core on the main block as well as a wider backplate and provisions for memory cooling!

Sounds good. To be fair, I can only hear it with the side off for now... at least till I get rid of my 60G maxtor . I'll have to wait a while anyway, I am broke now

You are being assimilated into the SPCR community; resistance is futile! Once that 9600Pro is silenced, it will be something else!

Bwahahahahahahahaahahahaha!!!!

Oh dear... I'm not very handy with a dremel though

It is very addictive though!

Don't worry; I'm not a master rotaryist, either.