High temps on hard drive and gpu, time to add some front fan

Control: management of fans, temp/rpm monitoring via soft/hardware

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
aimless
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:24 am
Location: United States

High temps on hard drive and gpu, time to add some front fan

Post by aimless » Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:02 pm

I just built my first PC with help from here and am so happy with the results! With everything off in my room except for the PC I can still hear it, but its so much quieter than my old one. Right now I have a 120 MM Scythe Slipstream @ 1200 RPM and the Mugen 2 CPU Cooler.

Temps on my passively cooled 9600GT are about 58 Celsius and temps on my two hard drives (1 TB WD Black and 74 GB WD Raptor) are about 48 degrees Celsius. I feel like this should be a bit cooler.

I've got an Antec Solo case with room for two 92 mm fans at the front. Right now the hard drives are in the bottom bay if you will. My plan is to move them up and put the fan in the uppermost bay. I'm using the suspension mounts so the idea is the air will flow past them and onto the GPU.

Sound like a plan?

I've narrowed my choices down to these six I'm thinking of either the
Nexus DF1209SL-3 for its review here but I've had two recommendations for the Scythe GentleTyphoon 2650 RPM variant, probably because the massive amount of air pushed by it. How much air really needs to be pushed though to get past the hard drives and actively cool the GPU? Normally more is better, but I'd rather not over power anything since I'm still trying to maintain the same noise level I have now.

I noticed the GentleTyphoon has 4 pin header. Does this mean its PWM and will vary its speed based on temp? Or just that I can change it on my own via BIOS?

Is a PWM fan even good for this kind of a situation? It seems like it might not accurately sense the right temp. and therefore blow slower (or faster) than needed.

I can always undervolt the Gentle Typhoon if I need to, but that seems kind of silly as I can just choose a fan that spins slower.

Basically, suggestions? Right now the noise level is perfect for me and I'd like to keep it right about there.

Thanks

lionfoot
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:30 am
Location: USA

Post by lionfoot » Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:27 am

I just installed two Nexus DF1209SL-3's in my setup , also an Antec solo and they are silent . The only problem I had was I could not reach the second connector on my Asus P5K mother board because the wires were too short . I wired them together and control them as one with the Asus software . Running at 1500 rpm with 3 HD's temps at 36 C . I installed them hoping to cool the HD 's and the MB which was running at 52 C . But the MB temp has not changed . I am considering Antec's spot cooler for MB .

K.Murx
Posts: 177
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:26 am
Location: Germany

Post by K.Murx » Thu Aug 20, 2009 1:10 pm

The GPU temp is perfectly fine, no need to worry. The HDDs seem to be running a bit hot. What is the room temperature? How many HDDs do you have?
Anyway, just for the HDDs a 800RPM SlipStream should be sufficient imO. To be safe, you can always get another 1200 + a Zalman FanMate and test.

JamieG
Posts: 822
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:31 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by JamieG » Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:07 pm

lionfoot wrote:I am considering Antec's spot cooler for MB .
If you mean the Antec SpotCool, don't buy it. It is not all that quiet even on the low setting, and didn't seem to do to much when I installed it in my P182.

@ the OP: those HDD temps are hot though - two undervolted (non-PWM version) Nexus 92mm fans for the front of your Solo should be fine to help pump some extra air into your system. Cut out the fan grills and use the soft mounts that come with the Nexus fans and wire them to about 5-7V. If you haven't already, cut out the rear fan grill on your Solo as well and soft-mount your Slipstream with some rubber fan grommets.

I'd go with two fans and keep your HDDs in the bottom spots - this way the top fan blows directly on the GPU and the lower fan will help cool the HDDs. You shouldn't notice any increased noise, particularly if you are running your Slipstream at 1200rpm - you could definitely turn this down to about 700-800rpm without affecting your temps too much.

I'd buy 3 x Zalman fanmate 2's at the same time you buy the two Nexus 92mm non-PWM fans, so that you can dial in your preferred noise level without compromising cooling. For a couple of bucks each, these things are great value IMO.

CA_Steve
Moderator
Posts: 7650
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:59 pm

the hdd's can be cooled by any minimal airflow - you don't need a lot. Get a 800-1200rpm fan and a fanmate 2 to dial it down to silent and low temps.

aimless
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:24 am
Location: United States

Post by aimless » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:05 am

Hi everyone, sorry for the late response here. I was sleeping, then working.. back to the issue though.

@lionfoot, I like those Nexus fans still :) Thanks for your comment, its good to know they can work quietly yet!

@K.Murx, I'm a bit concerned about that darn GPU. When I got home today it was 62 Celsius after doing nothing but memtest all night. Even though it might be within safe levels I feel nervous letting it go like that. It's passively cooled so as long as the air temp increases it will to.

I have 2 hard drives and room temp fluctuates from 82 to 90 Fahrenheit during the summer. I'd consider the slipstreams but I don't see where they come in 92 MM, only 120, and that won't fit my front bays.

@JamieG, fancy coming across you again! :) Those hard drive temps are hot, a bit too much for my liking actually even if the early raptors can run that hot I don't know if I should let them.

I haven't cut out the fan grills yet at all and I'm still pretty satisfied with how it all sounds. I'll try it on the back one to see if it makes a noticeable difference.

You really are a big fan of those fanmates! I think this will be the time I get them.

@CA_Steve, this is my plan I think. If I leave the hard drives where they are I'll really undervolt one of them since the fan will be directly in front of it. The other will probably get left at full blast. I'm not particularly sensitive to a nice, smooth, noise. And I'm not in it for the silent game either.

Thanks for the tips!

CA_Steve
Moderator
Posts: 7650
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:36 am

If you want to see the absolute worst case for the graphics card, run a test that stresses the gpu and another that stresses the cpu for max system power/heat generated.

furmark for gpu
Prime95 for CPU

- Like the HDDs, a passive gpu just needs a bit of air running over it to pull the heat from the massive heatsink. You could try having 2 front fans...or maybe jury-rig a v low rpm fan on the gpu itself (if there is room).
- GPU's are designed to run hot. It's not uncommon to see 90C when loaded. I have a fairly old Gigabyte 6600GT passive in another PC that runs around 88C. The 8800GTS (stock dual slot w blower fan) in my Solo gets up to 75C when running Prime95 (small fft) + Furmark (260W total power).

Post Reply