Motherboard running hot, add a case fan?

[spiderdan]

My motherboard (Asus P5Q-VM) is registering at 50 degrees Celsius, a bit hot in my opinion (believe this is really the north gate temperature). I am thinking about adding a case fan (or two) to bring this temperature down. Would this likely improve the issue (I want to avoid replacing the stock heatsink)? I currently have no case fans installed. Would it be sufficient to add just one, or will I need two? If just one would it be more effective in the front or back? I believe I should exhaust the air out the back, is this correct? What type of bearing is best? (always thought ball but apparently they are loud) I was thinking about placing this fan as an exhaust fan out the rear of my pc. Some other fans I was looking at are below. If you know of a better fan for they money, please comment. Preferably I want to buy from newegg so I can combine shipping. I would like to keep the price low if possible. Quietness is important and as for air flow, all I need is for my motherboard to run at a safe temperature (get a warning every time I start pc probe.) My case uses 120mm fans.

Antec 761345-75120-9 120mm Case Fan - Retail

Scythe DFS123812-2000 120mm Case Fan - Retail

 

[Conumdrum]

Let me ask slowly.

You have NO case fans? And the stock cooler?

No case fans?

Do you cook inside the case?

Any fan is better, both of those would be just fine, in fact four of them would be better.

 

[spiderdan]

That would be a correct assumption, the only "case" fan is the one on the psu. Surprisingly, only the motherboard is hot. The processor is running at 26 degrees celsius. Thanks for the reply!

 

[buzznut]

I don't know what kind of case you have but the best for most cases is to have an intake fan in the front of the case (lower front) and an exhaust in the rear (upper back of the case). If that is not possible, A blowhole out the top can be used.

120mm fans are best as they will push more air at a slower, quiter speed than smaller fans. But it depends on the case if you can actually USE these fans.

 

[Conumdrum]

Okay, okay...
What are you using to monitor CPU temps and what CPU do you have? And I'm sure thats not under load. 26C with no case fans is rather suspect to me, unless you just turned the PC on. Let it sit there for an hour or two then check temps.

Actually 50C on the NB isn't bad, but usually under load. If using the bios reading for temps, well, they can never be trusted.

Try getting realtemp for the CPU temps, then let us know.

 

[spiderdan]

The given temperatures (50 for mb 26 for cpu) are at idle using asus pc probe. This is a fairly new pc and the biggest load I have had it under is a short video conversion, where the processor jumped up to 32 and the mb went up a degree or less. There is a porthole directly above the processor on my case, so that helps with cooling.

 

[Conumdrum]

ASUS pc probe is the Mobo software. Unreliable. The CPU I'm sure is at least a dual core, and your not looking at the real interior CPU temp with what your using. You need to see each core temp, and won't with what you are using.

Your also not loading the CPU at all. Try Orthos to load the CPU and PLEASE get realtemp. Then you'll probably leave the PC off untill you fix the fan issue once you see how hot things really are.

Seriously, you could be burning your PC up.

 

[jsc]

ASUS pc probe is the Mobo software. Unreliable. The CPU I'm sure is at least a dual core, and your not looking at the real interior CPU temp with what your using. You need to see each core temp, and won't with what you are using.

Or at least, reboot and go straight to the BIOS and check temps.

 

[spiderdan]

Thanks for the replies. The bios gives the same readings. My processor is a core 2 duo e7300. My house must be a bit cooler right now because my mb is running at 48 and my cpu in pc probe is jumping between 22 and 23. In realtemp, my cores are at 24 and 32. Speedfan registers each core ten degrees higher. (at the same time) Which is more reliable? Speedfan registers the system and cpu at the same temperature as pc probe. If the reading in pc probe is wrong, how does the motherboard know what speed to set the cpu fan for, or does it set the cpu fan? Also, if the pc probe reading is not the core temperature, what temperature is registering in pc probe? Thanks again!

 

[Conumdrum]

Speedfan needs to be calibrated. And you have a E7300, I think thats one CPU that could have a sensor bug. If those are your idle temps they are a bit high, and the difference between the two cores is due to the chip and proper placement of the heatsink. Not to worry tho about the diff, it's 8C and not terrible.

I'd still like you to run Orthos and monitor temps in speedfan and realtemp. If you see 70C stop the load test. If it's in the 50's after 30 min your okay, low 60's is okay too. Another thing you can do is take the side off the case and use a house fan to blow air into the case side and check temps at idle and load. Gaming is not used to benchmark load temps, you need proggys like Orthos for the CPU and Furmark or even 3Dmark to get loads on the GPU.

But please, get some fans for the case. If you want a recommended fan used by the pros on many many top rigs (this isn't the place pro's hang out BTW), go to Petras and buy two yate loon medium fans at $5 each. They are cheap and well respected.

You could buy some San Ace fans at $18 a piece that do a bit better, but at the price, only the rich and very experainced builders that have the best of everything use such fans. Like one's that spend $1200 on just the watercooling parts.

I'm done here, good luck.

 

[spiderdan]

Thank you for the help conundrum. I am afraid that I already ordered two fans from newegg last night, but I will keep your suggestions in mind in the event I am not satisfied with these. One is the arctic cooling fan I mentioned in my original post, the other is a similar arctic cooling fan that can be mounted for intake. Hopefully they are satisfactory. I suppose realtemp does not need to be calibrated? I experimented with a small fan I keep around last night blowing in an intake on the side of my case. It eventually cooled the mb to 31, granted this is a 100cfm fan. I moved a trash can to get to the side of my case and, when I finished with the fan, I left the can out. When I started my pc, the mb's cpu sensor registered 17 celsius. My house is at 71 Fahrenheit, so I found this surprising. It slowly raised to 20 Celsius, which is still a bit cooler than my house unless I'm in a cold spot. The mb has slowly worked its way to 46. Will definitely keep this can out of the way.