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  1. #1
    Relic Shield
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    cooling and PSU question.

    Recently while playing Half-Life 2, my system locked up hard. Resetting the computer and looking into the BIOS, I discovered my system temperature was ~55 C and my CPU temperature was ~59 C; currently my CPU idles at 55 C. Obviously some cooling solution is in order, but the problems are these:

    1) I live in an old dorm without any sort of air conditioning whatsoever.
    2) It is 96 F outside, what with it being summer and alll
    3) My case has precisely one fan mount, with holes for a 80mm, 90mm, or 120mm fan. Right now it's mounted with the 90mm fan that came with the case, it's doing a pretty craptacular job of moving air out.

    So, what kind of fan do I get if I want to move the most hot air out of my case?

    Another problem I discovered is that this 520W-rated PSU is delivering only 3.24 volts on the 3.3 rail; I don't know if that's a cause for concern, but I'm wondering if I should get a new PSU to replace the one I've had for 2 years now. Right now I've got an ATI Radeon X1950Pro with an AMD dual-core 5600+, SB X-Fi, 400GB HDD and 2 optical drives.

  2. #2
    Han Cholo
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    Re: cooling and PSU question.

    Get a new PSU, don't make the same mistake I did. My old PSU (380W lol) wasn't capable of running my graphics card and it just ruined the card and the damn PSU itself stopped working on top of the computer always being heated.

  3. #3
    Chram
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    Re: cooling and PSU question.

    get a new case. (one with better airflow)

    and while you *can* run at 3.2~ on the 3.3 rail, (It's rare to get a true 3.3 rail - my 600W only delivers 3.26 on the 3.3 rail too) if you're concerned about it, do some research and find a supply with a true 3.3 rail.

  4. #4
    Cerberus
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    Re: cooling and PSU question.

    While you're spending money, get a portable air conditioner. Makes life 1000 times better!

  5. #5
    E. Body
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    Re: cooling and PSU question.

    What kind of CPU cooler do you have right now, is it the stock one or did you install a 3rd party cooler on it. That could be the problem itself if you're CPU cooler just isn't any good.

    Also, get a better case as someone said, airflow is just as important as the other stuff. If the hot air being released has nowhere to go, then you're not really benefiting from any cooling you do have.

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