heat and fans

[fini]

I am about to build a new system (see my old post entitled '£1000 challenge') and was wondering about heat. I've never quite understood whether people get their heat readings by some strange gadget they bought or whether the motherboard contains that info (my current Dell definitely doesn’t). Do most motherboards report temps back or do I need to buy something to measure them?

How many fans do you think are suitable as well because I was quite happy to put in however many came with the case + 1 PCI extractor fan thing, but now I see people with anything up to 28(!!). I’m planning to run an AMD 2000 XP or 2100 if I can bribe someone into thinking it’s a good idea. I don’t want to get into a debate about whether AMD's run hot or not, but just thought I should tell you the processor. I’m going to use a full ATX case so there’s definitely goanna be enough room and there's no chance of me overclocking it.

Thanks
fini

[namrak]

There's multiple ways for people to obtain their system's temperature readings. The first an easiest, though not necessarily the most convenient is to check your BIOS on bootup/restart. There should be a hardware monitor option in the BIOS that will allow you to check your cpu and motherboard temps as well as fan speed readings. Unfortunately, I'm sure you won't be spending most your time in the BIOS since you really can't play games there (well, maybe you can with the fsb settings, but lets not go there).

That brings us to the operating system. There are programs available that will monitor the temps of your cpu and motherboard in real time. One popular program is Motherboard Monitor which can be downloaded here. There are other programs as well.

Additional ways to monitor hardware temperatures is to purchase a device like Thermaltake's Hardcano II for around $30 retail or use something like the CompuNurse reviewed here.

Regarding how many fans and where to place them. Well, you should have at least one fan at the bottom front of the case blowing in and two fans at the back of the case, closer to the top blowing out. Ideally, you'll want to equalize the number of fans that are drawing in air to the number of fans exhausting air. General rule of thumb is to have fans blowing in at the front and bottom of the case. Fans that are exhausting should be at the top and back of the case. I'd also recommend you purchasing a slot fan/blower to put next to your video card if you have one that gets hot. This will help move the hot air away from your video card and out the back of your case.
G'luck!

[TARP2]

I have found that most OEM heatsink fans are adequate, marginally. In the last few AMD chips I've used,I replaced the HS and fan with aftermarket. Thermaltake has done well by me. Along with articsilver.

The best case cooling I have created includes 2 60mm fans on side of case(intake), blowing onto cards, 2 60 mm fans on top of case(outtake), and one outtake 80mm upper rear of case.This box is fully loaded, and no heat issues.Gotta keep the air moving.

Not my expertise, but I believe them are sensors(thermistors?) in the HS that read your temps.

Good luck.

[gtaylor]

All modern motherboards I have seen have a thermister underneath the CPU on the motherboard, giving a temperature straight back to the bios. Generally, you can set a warning temperature so if it is running too hot the bios will let you know. Roughly 80 degrees is what I set as I don't overclock and it shouldn't go above that. They all have fan RPM sensors as well, so buy case fans which have a third pin for sensing. I used one that didn't and consequently didn't realise for a couple of weeks that it had failed. If the fans are decent enough in terms of how many cubic feet of air they shift, and the computer has enough space around it for free airflow, one at the fron blowing in, and one at the back blowing out should do for tyour requirements. It's my opinion that buying better quality fans/heatsinks is more value for money as they tend to last much longer, and shift a lot more air!

[DocEvi1]

couple of ideas, a Zalman flower cooler from www.quietpc.com give great performance and minimum noise.

The newer XP chips, and P4's have a temperature monitor built it, it is up to the board if it is supported. Most other motherboards have a little (usually blue) thermistor located in the CPU socket/slot. This allows the temperature to be taken however as you can imagine it is not accurate, it is measuring air temp, not chip temp, and it takes a long time for it to change either up or down.

have a look at the airflow guide here

Stefan

[sevenbeansalad]

Ive got a p4 1.5ghz compaq that we bought late last year would it have a sensor and how would I access it?
Thanks,
Christopher

[DocEvi1]

read the post

Stefan

[sevenbeansalad]

I'm sorry, I did not mean to make you mad.
Do you know how to access the temp sensor on win xp?
Thanks,
Christopher