P180 bad air flow?

[bystander]

Hi you guys,

Recently I acquired a P180 to replace my BQE (which I pretty much destroyed). The thing that I'm not very happy with is the temperatures are a bit too high, although not dangerous yet. As I'm typing this right now, the temperatures are sitting at 45C for CPU, 42C for case. One thing I noticed is that when I take off the side panel, the CPU temperature would take a huge dive all the way to 36C. So I'm thinking this could be a huge air flow problem in my case.


Pics:



Another angle:




Specs:

-A64 3000+ s754 (newcastle) at 2.35Ghz, 1.6V cooled by XP-120
-OCZ PC3200 2*512MB at 235MHz, 2.7V
-Asus K8N-E Deluxe
-BBA 9800pro at stock clocks cooled by VGA Silencer rev3 at low
-Antec TruePower 480W
-2x WD Caviar 160GB ATA


Fans:

-back exhaust: stock TriCool at high, fan only'ed
-top exhaust: brandless at 5V, pretty close to TriCool at low according to my ears and my hand
-CPU blowing in: 120mm fan at 12V that came with my BQE (39 CFM, 25 dBA according to Antec)
-bottom chamber fan blowing towards PSU: stock TriCool at low


Temperatures with side panel: (by Asus Probe)

CPU: 45C idle, ~49C load
MB: 42C idle = load


Temperatures without side panel: (by Asus Probe)

CPU: 36C idle, didn't test load
MB: 40C idle


Ambient (room) temperature: 22~23C

I've tried some other fan config. With front intake, changing direction in the back exhaust, taping out the vents near the video card, etc. None of them did a better job than lowering either CPU or MB temps by 1C.

So I'm wondering... Is the air flow/cable management inside my case real bad, that causes a ~10C difference between with and without side panel? Anything I can do about it?

[IceWindius]

Well for one thing, adding an intake fan would decrease your temps dramatically instead of the fans passively pulling air through the case. Below is my setup and right now im showing temps on my Aerogate II as:

1.Lower HDD Cage area 29.5c
2. Main intake area 30c
3. Upper case 33c
4. Rear CPU area 31.c5.

[Devonavar]

I notice two things:

-Your load temperature is only 4°C above your idle temperature, which is very good cooling, assuming it's accurate.
-Your MB temperature only changes by 2°C with the side panel off.

In my opinion your problem (if you have one at all) is that your downward blowing CPU fan is fighting for air with the other two fans. Try removing or reversing this fan.

A 9°C difference between open air and a closed case is far from uncommon for any case. I'm not sure I see your problem here.

[bystander]

adding an intake fan would decrease your temps dramatically

Unfortunately, it didn't...

IceWindius what are your specs and what fans you use?

[bystander]

In my opinion your problem (if you have one at all) is that your downward blowing CPU fan is fighting for air with the other two fans. Try removing or reversing this fan.

reversed: 47C idle
removed: >50C idle and going up... (well I turned it off)

I've tried removing either exhaust fans, but none of them gave me a >1C decrease.

A 9°C difference between open air and a closed case is far from uncommon for any case. I'm not sure I see your problem here.

I'm not sure if this is a real problem either. From others' silent rigs I saw in the past, with a fan setup like this (ample exhausts + actively cooled 120mm CPU HSF), idle temps are usually at mid or low 30s. Assuming Asus Probe is accurate, idling at mid 40s is leaving me mildly concerned.

By the way, my room temperature is 22~23C, which gives a ~20C rise even for the motherboard . I don't know how good/bad this is...

[Devonavar]

It could be that your overclock is doing it. A lot of people are achieving the 30° temps by underclocking and undervolting. They're also using Cool 'n' Quiet. Your load temp is under 50°C, so I'd say you're perfectly fine.

[jabba]

ok ... i guess you tried a bunch of stuff

have you reinstalled your HSF recently? Maybe your TIF needs to cure, or maybe it got loose during the move and you need to reapply it.

[Bluefront]

bystander......assuming your temp readings are accurate, I'd have to agree with you that you have an airflow problem. An idle temp of 45C using an XP-120 with a 120mm fan at 12V? There's a problem here.

A cheap no-name case with almost any configuration can best those temps at an idle using that HSF.

I would try removing the rear fan....construct a temporary duct from the opening to the CPU fan, blowing down on the heatsink. If the idle temp is similar to removing the side panel, for sure something is wrong. Looking at your cables, I don't think that is much of a problem.

A restricted intake opening, maybe caused by the case design, could be a problem. But if what you report is correct, for sure there is an airflow problem.......

[bystander]

I would try removing the rear fan....construct a temporary duct from the opening to the CPU fan, blowing down on the heatsink. If the idle temp is similar to removing the side panel, for sure something is wrong.

I don't have a duct yet, but I took off the back exhaust and the improvement is very minimal... I have also tried making the back exhaust as an intake (without a duct), but the CPU temp still has difficulty cooling below 44C.

By the way, when I unplugged my external USB 2.0 card reader and my 4 port USB 2.0 hub, and my CPU temp dropped by ~4C total (MB temp no change). Both the card reader and the hub are empty, so they shouldn't have any activity. Is this supposed to happen? (I use Asus Probe for temps)

[Devonavar]

I'd say that's fairly good proof that Asus Probe can't be trusted in this case. Now it's a question of whether it's the software or the hardware that's at fault. Try installing Speedfan and see if you get the same temps (you probably will).

Of course, you could just leave it as is. As long as you system is stable, why worry about temps?