Summer Heat Wave UK!!!

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zardoz
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Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2004 5:41 am
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Summer Heat Wave UK!!!

Post by zardoz » Wed Jul 13, 2005 1:56 pm

hi all, i have a heat problem, well i think it is anyway.

my spec is as follws:-

antec bqe2 + acousti pak mat applied also elevated of the floor by casters to aid air intake from front vent

nexus 400w power supply

2* nexus 120mm fans 1 in 1 out @ 12 volts

msi 754 with amd64 3.2 c&q applied,
zalman 7000 with nexus fan swap @12 volts

1 gig ram with heatspreaders

black gold dvbt card

2 maxotr diamond max 10 300 gig drives resting on foam blocks at either end of the drives to aid airflow.

nvidia 6800gt with zalman vf700 @ 12 volts

nec dvd drive, floppy, and a zalman fan controller.

now the problem due to the hot weather in the uk, my computer has started to freeze regulary but i think my temps are hot but not to bad, i may be wrong.

please note all temps are at idle and the computer is on 24/7

please note all temps are with the side off! and the door and the window open as well


dtemp 46,42

nvidia nvmonitor
==========
cpu 29
system 39
gpu 57

nvidia graphics card temp readings (from the options in control pannel/display
gpu 57
ambient 42

could someone please clarfify to me if these are abnormally high temps and could be the source to my pc freezing up?

if it is a heat problem would the zalman reserator be the answer to my problem?

andyb
Patron of SPCR
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Location: Essex, England

Post by andyb » Wed Jul 13, 2005 3:51 pm

Your temps are OK considering the current UK temps.

However idle temps arent much good, I would suggest playing a 3d game for 45 mins, then alt-tab to the desktop, and have a look at the temps, and report back.

Andy

HaloJones
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2003 9:09 am
Location: London, England

Post by HaloJones » Thu Jul 14, 2005 5:24 am

Sorry, maybe I'm being stupid here but are you saying your cpu is running ten degrees below case temp?

zardoz
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Post by zardoz » Thu Jul 14, 2005 7:42 am

hi, thanks for the replys.

the original temp readings (as strnage as they may seem) are what the nvmonitor program displays (correct or not).

i have tried to run 3dmark 2005.

th first attempt froze after 3-5 minutes, nvmonitor displayed the following temps (on dual monitor):

cpu 39
system 42
gpu 72

the nvidia graphics driver software displayed:
gpu 72
ambient 52!!!!????

i then tried to reboot and recieved an intermittent beep from the motherboard so i left it for a few minutes to cool down and rebooted, it then froze on the windows xp screen and finally rebboted succesfully after i put an office fan blowing onto the motherboard.

i then ran 3d mark again with the office fan blowing onto the motherboard and it finished 3d mark succesfully. (with a mark of 4362 seemed very slow to me but never ran it before).

i ran 3d mark again and then turned off the office fan half way through and the test froze again at around these temps on nv monitor:

cpu 52
sys 41
gpu 68

to me this suggests that it might be the northbridge but i am no expert, as i have a msi k8neo platinum socket 754 board which has a passive heatsink on the north bridge without a fan.

although saying that i have hammered this computer in past running doom3 and far cry framerate runs and 3d mark 2003 for a very long time and i havent had any problems.

any help would be greatfully appreciated,

thanks again.

HaloJones
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2003 9:09 am
Location: London, England

Post by HaloJones » Fri Jul 15, 2005 1:54 am

OK, first off I don't believe the temperature readings you're getting. If you boot into the BIOS and look for the PC Health section, you should be able to see what the computer itself thinks you're running at. If you can do this as soon after a freeze as possible you may get a clearer indication of the problems. Another tack is to make a note of the recorded temps from nvmonitor, then reboot, enter the BIOS and see if the BIOS and nvmonitor are vaguely similar.

Aside from the reported numbers it seems clear that your cpu cannot be cooled effectively if the case is hot. Given the fans and the case type, your case shouldn't be as hot as it seems. I know it's warm at the moment but my home PCs are nowhere near that hot internally and they don't have 120mm fans front and rear!

I use NF2 boards which are water-cooled so there is no secondary cooling of the motherboard from a cpu heatsink/fan and I've found that actively cooling the northbridges with low-flow 80mm fans makes an enormous difference to the "reported" temperatures.

Mr_Smartepants
Posts: 539
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2003 6:35 am
Location: Cambridgeshire, England

Post by Mr_Smartepants » Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:57 am

My temps have skyrocketed as well during this heatwave. I recently moved my system into our new conservatory (bad move I know, but the kitchen is getting renovated). Ambient temps in that room can soar as high as 33C during the day with all the windows open. My highest reported temps were:
CPU: 60C
GPU: 80C
Case: 33C (good airflow)
Hard drives (via dTemp): 41C (dtemp issued a warning at this temp).
I have given up running the system 24/7 and only run FAH during the evenings or early mornings. HDD temps peaked during a long DVD rip session (5 discs in a row).

I would highly recommend running dtemp (avail in the SPCR downloads section) and monitor your HDD temps. That may be what is causing your freezes. And follow the temp recalibration technique elsewhere in the forums.

Check my sig for system specs.

StarfishChris
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Location: Bristol, UK
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Post by StarfishChris » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:30 am

I raised the case fan by ~200RPM last month, mainly for the hard drive:

CPU 47
MB 34
HDD 43

At the start of June it was 41/31/38. Those temps were recorded when the ambient reached 30°, before it was in the low 20s(?).

Can you take a picture of your case innards? You may need some airflow management advice 8) Nexus fans at 12v should have no problem cooling your system, and the Zalman is better than your temps suggest.

zardoz
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Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2004 5:41 am
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Post by zardoz » Sat Jul 16, 2005 9:04 am

i have done a fresh install of mce 2005 and i have updated all drivers and a bios update to boot,
c&q is activated (set to minimal power management) cpu@994Mhz and the temps are at idle and the weather is cooler today:-
however i seem to have a new problem, when booting just after the windows xp screen my monitors now go black for around 30 seconds until the logon screen is displayed (any ideas?)


dtemp 32,31

nvmonitor:
cpu 30
system 34
gpu 53

graphics driver temp readings:
gpu 53
system 33

bios:
northbridge 34
cpu 43?! (is this measurement at 2.2ghz before c&q is activated?)

ok i have now just ran 3d mark2003 whilst recording goodbye mr chips on itv (froze right at the end) and the reported temps are:

dtemp 38,38

nvmonitor:
cpu 52
system 39
gpu 65

bios (after reboot):
northbridge 36
cpu 44

also ran a test with the case side on crashed at:

nvmonitor:
cpu 53
system 43
gpu 67

bit odd as lasted longer with higher temps???

any ideas for a soloution to this heat problem? here are a few pictures (excuse the quality, taken on my mobile phone).

http://www.ideaspad.com/adz/photos.htm

Ralf Hutter
SPCR Reviewer
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Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2002 6:33 am
Location: Sunny SoCal

Post by Ralf Hutter » Sun Jul 17, 2005 9:41 am

What sorts of temps (outside and ambient inside) are you UK guys experiencing right now?

Mr_Smartepants
Posts: 539
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2003 6:35 am
Location: Cambridgeshire, England

Post by Mr_Smartepants » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:35 am

It's not overly hot by sunny Southern Cali standards 8) Ralf.

Roughly it gets up to the mid nineties F. It's 8:30 PM here now and it's 80F outside (53% humidity). The humidity (and bugs) get to you after a while.

I'm sure others have had it worse. I know when I was in Qatar it would soar to about 140F during the day and rarely dip down below 100F at night in the summer (but it's the DRY heat, man!)

suchageek
Friend of SPCR
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Location: St. Louis, MO

Post by suchageek » Tue Jul 19, 2005 6:20 am

It is a dry heat, but so is an oven as we say here in Phoenix! We have had a stretch of 110+ degree plus weather for a couple of weeks. I can't run my AC lower than 80F when I'm home or I'd have to sell my new 180 to pay part of a months electricity bill! We are under a National Weather Service heat advisory again today as it's expected to be 113. It's a challenge keeping anything cool here, so I feel your pain.

zardoz
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Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2004 5:41 am
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Post by zardoz » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:57 pm

ok summer in england has ended, so all is well again with my pc however i have noticed that nvidias latest forceware drivers suck, they make farcry and halflife 2 stutter and freeze, infact they might have been the problem in the first place, (i cant remember if i had em on or not) :roll:

thanks for all your suggestions, until next time.......

Mr_Smartepants
Posts: 539
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2003 6:35 am
Location: Cambridgeshire, England

Post by Mr_Smartepants » Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:41 am

I remember back in the late 90's the temps had reached historical highs (I can't remember the exact figures) but I remember the asphalt on the roads started to melt and the councils had to spread sand on the roads to keep the cars & trucks from ripping up the roads.
Man that sucked. At least in the US they know how to build roads right! :wink:

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