Thermal problem with new fans

[tuxmeister]

Hi guys, I was wondering if some guru can lend a hand with my current problem. First let me lay down the info:

Case: Cooler Master Silencio 550
PSU: Tacens Radix Modular 650W (quite silent)
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
RAM: 4x4GB Kingston Hyper X DDR3 1600
MoBo: Asus M4A785TD-M EVO
GPU: nVidia GeForce GTS 450 (strangely enough I can play BF3 all Ultra lol)
Screens: 2x Samsung SyncMaster 933 (19")

Cooling:

CPU: Cooler Master V8 with replaced FAN (Noctua NF-S12B FLX without adapter, so at full speed)
Case: Intake (front) 2x Corsair SP120 High Static Pressure (Quiet Edition, no provider had the high speed ones, but these are rated at 1450RPM and 37.85CFM)
Exhaust (back) 1x Corsair SP120 (same as above, I got 3 of them).


Here's an image (old image, fans are old, RAM is missing and the top HDD cage has been removed with the disks placed in the cage below):

CPU is no lower than 37ºC with load temperatures (i.e. playing BF3 for 30 minutes) reaching 58-60 ºC.

Am I doing something wrong?? As I understand the fans I got and the way I placed them should deliver a better and bigger flow of air from the outside, in fact the air coming out the exhaust is quite cold compared with stock fans.

Any tips on how to improve this? Keep in mind the current setup includes the fans which I got delivered today, spent about 70€ on all of them so not about to replace anything.

Any ideas?

 

[Chainzsaw]

Hello,

Sorry what? Your load temperatures are excellent. What is the problem? From your description everythign seems normal, and in fact really good.

 

[tuxmeister]

Hello,

Sorry what? Your load temperatures are excellent. What is the problem? From your description everythign seems normal, and in fact really good.

Chainzsaw, for some reason I keep thinking the idle temp is too high, should be in the low 30's, but maybe this is just how much this CPU can be cooled without other efforts. Having read Tom's FAN roundup and comparisons for the past week trying to decide what to buy, I realize there are better solutions out there but the whole point of me getting this Silencio case was to keep it quiet as it's my work computer (and play sometimes) so I need my office to be as quiet as possible so it doesn't drive me nuts after a 12-13 hour stretch.

If you say this is normal going toward pretty good, I'll take that and be happy about it!

 

[Chainzsaw]

The idle temperature is fine - that CPU is an older one and does run a bit hot. What is your ambient temperature? I'm guessing it must be around 20C.

By the way how are you finding the idle temp? Bios? Program? Some programs seem to give either +/- 10C difference in reading.

 

[tuxmeister]

The idle temperature is fine - that CPU is an older one and does run a bit hot. What is your ambient temperature? I'm guessing it must be around 20C.

By the way how are you finding the idle temp? Bios? Program? Some programs seem to give either +/- 10C difference in reading.

Currently I'm getting it from SpeedFan, but the initial readings I got them first through BIOS and then from Asus' PC Probe II (latest version) but that thing, strangely, puts 25-30% extra CPU usage on the system, so just by running it I'm getting the CPU 2-3 degrees hotter than it should.

The temp from BIOS matches SpeedFan (v 4.46) so I'm pretty happy with it. The thing is, this software doesn't allow me to control any speed at all.

Just a quick note, the lower fan on the front intake is powered via a 3pin PWM to 4pin Molex adapter, as my mobo only has 2 extra PWM fan ports besides the CPU one, so there's no speed reading for that one, but I can assume it's running at full speed.

It's a shame that because I'm using those two WD Caviar Blacks in RAID I can't get the temp readings off of them, I used to be able to, but not in RAID.

Also, quick question, I've been thinking on swapping my MoBo for a Sabertooth AM3+ 990FX and getting a Bulldozer 8120 (I run A LOT of VM's for my work, hence the 16GB of RAM). Any idea on how that CPU would perform with these fans and case? What temperatures should I expect?

One thing appealed to me on the Sabertooth and it was the fact that it has 4 or 5 3pin PWM ports and a special software that goes along it's EFI BIOS that allows you to monitor lots of temperature zones on the MoBo and tweak the speeds to create the perfect flow. Have you any experience with such motherboards?

 

[Chainzsaw]

I always seemed to have problems with Asus PC probe - so I uninstalled it on my system (it seems to be flaky for me).

If those different programs are showing similar temps - then those temps should be correct.

Those fans in front should be cooling your HDD's decently - which definitely will help make them last longer.

If you did decide to go with the 990fx and 8120 - it should work no problem in your case. It looks like you did a good job with your case in terms of wiring (in other words good airflow).

I don't know about temperatures for a new CPU/MOBO - but i'm guessing you should see similar temperature levels with the newer processor, however it will probably be slightly higher.

I also do not have any experience with motherboards with temperature "zones". However i've read about them - and although it's a nice feature - it's somewhat "gimmicky" in my opinion, but could help identify heat problems.


You could possibly get a 5.25" fan controller so you could set your fans speed manually - which could help reduce noise even further.

 

[13thmonkey]

In general agreement that the temps you are seeing are not an issue.

if you are concerned about noise then reduce fan speeds, BF3 loads will be a lot more severe than office loads, even if VM'ing a lot. I wouldn't change a thing unless you want more power.

 

[tuxmeister]

Thanks for all the replies, guys! It seems I just can't get better with what I have. I'll give the upgrade a try when I get some spare cash and see what kind of temps I get. I might upgrade to water cooling if the Bulldozer gets too hot. The thing is, I live in Spain and it is bloody hot in summer. I got the case and the V8 last winter that's why I never got worried but this summer is being very hot an I was worried I might damage something.

I think I might try out a fan controller, but it's already pretty quiet, the insulation on the CM case is fantastic, especially on the front door.

Thanks again for all your replies and maybe we'll find ourselves playing BF3 someday lol

 

[Chainzsaw]

No problem. Your computer is pretty good for now. It can probably last at least another year or two.

The only reason to change would be if you want a faster computer.

 

[tuxmeister]

No problem. Your computer is pretty good for now. It can probably last at least another year or two.

The only reason to change would be if you want a faster computer.

I'm upgrading soon anyway as there's not only the CPU, there's the HDD as well as I want an SSD, as my mobo is still SATA 2 and I have HDD's for everything.

As for the air flow on the case, I've put everything I can behind the mobo so the space is pretty unrestricted. I know the Bulldozers are not as good as some quad-core Intel chips but I want the cores for VM's. At any point I can have 2-3 Server 2008 machines running and a few clients so the extra cores will be helpful.

 

[dannoddd]

Your temps are great.
The only thing that I noticed was that the Noctua S12 aren't meant for heatsink cooling. They're meant for case cooling. The P12 and F12 are supposed to offer far better static pressure.

Static Pressure is intended for pushing through tight areas, like a heatsink.
CFM is intended for free flowing places, like case fans.

So at your worst, you should swap all your corsair for noctua and noctua for corsair. ha ha.

I wouldn't though, your temps are great.