Gaming PC performs well but is terribly loud and hot

[horstp]

Hey everybody! I have a bit of a weird request and I assume that the appropriate answer for me would be something along the lines of: "Buy a new rig and go with the time!" ... but... maybe there is a way to humor me after all.

I bought my current gaming/surfing/working computer back in 2010 and I bought all the parts separately, which worked out a little cheaper and allowed me more versatility. I upgraded it in 2013 (SSD and more RAM) to enable it to run Arma 2 / Day-Z. Since then I never had performance issues, but then again, I don't play recent releases. I guess the most demanding games I have tried to play on it have been Crysis 2, VtM: Bloodlines or GTA IV.

Now to my query: My computer is extremely loud and has been for years (to the point where my ears are ringing sometimes when I go to bed) and it creates ridiculous amounts of heat (my desk is in a 15m²/160sqft office and the whole room is noticeably heated by it, by a several degrees above the rest of the apartment). I have reached a point where my office fridge is having trouble dealing with the ambient temperature and cannot cool down my drinks enough. I have tried clearing out all the dust and swapping out the heat-conducting paste between CPU and radiator, but that didn't change a thing.

Now... since I am so happy with my rig's performance and all, I would rather replace what causes the trouble than buy a whole new computer and I have to use Windows 10 at work, and I hate it so much. So basically, I would like to know:
- What can I do to quieten down my PC and stop if from creating so much heat?
- If I have to buy a new one, what is the best configuration that is still fully compatible with Windows 7?

Here's my hardware configuration according to Speccy:
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T (6x3.2Ghz) (currently at 68 °C/154 °F)
RAM: 32,0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 803MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-870A-UD3 (Socket M2) (at 42 °C/108 °F)
Graphics: 1024MB ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series (ATI AIB) (at 51 °C/124 °F)
System drive: 232GB Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB ATA Device (SSD) (at 41 °C /106 °F)
Storage drive: 931GB Western Digital WDC WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0 ATA Device (SATA) (at 44 °C/111 °F)

 

[profoundnoah]

Sorry for not seeing your response until now! I'm so glad to hear that. Downloading GeForce Experience will give you support for the latest drivers and important features such as shadowplay/GPU control panel. I'd advise downloading it. Speccy is a bit weird when it comes to GPU readouts. For COMPLETE accuracy, I'd use either GPU-Z or the built-in dxdiag function of windows. Your storage running that hot is a bit weird, but certainly isn't threatening. I wouldn't worry about it. It also depends on where the sensors are for that storage, as my 960 Evo is ranging anywhere from 34-54 degrees on its various sensors.

 

[horstp]

No worries, thank you for responding. Strangely enough my Windows Performance Index has dropped since the update. I used to have 7.5 (done in 2016) and now it has dropped to 6.6. Weirdly the weakest link (the only thing below 7.5) is my primary storage, which is "Samsung - 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive" - it shouldn't be holding back the entire system due to a poor data transfer rate, should it? Can I trust the Windows Performance Index with this and should I look into potential issues with my SSD?

 

[profoundnoah]

I wouldn't worry about that too much. It really is a meaningless number and hardly reflects any real-world performance values. https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/3b700ea8-1385-4599-9183-04614f6d6629/windows-experience-index-in-windows-10?forum=WinPreview2014Setup