Help Cooling Gateway DX4300

tasselhoff · May 3, 2010

Hi,

I need some suggestions on improving the cooling in my PC. Sorry for the long post but I figure it will save everybody time if I provide all the information up front.

I've got a Gateway DX4300 desktop tower that came with AMD Phenom Quad Core, 8GB RAM, Hitachi 1TB 7200 RPM SATA2 HD, ATI HD 4650 1GB video card (PCIe), 300 watt power supply.

I made the following changes:

- Added AData 64GB SSD
- Replaced stock video card with ATI HD 5750.
- Replaced stock power supply with CoolMaster 500w.

Cooling in the system is via a 92mm fan (3-pin) 39 CFM blowing out the back of the case, a CPU heatsink/fan, and the power supply fan. Both fans are controlled by the motherboard. There's a perforation on the side of the case (roughly 7 x 7 inches) over the CPU fan that's the main air intake for the system.

It seemed to me that the system was running warm out of the box, but with the addition of the new video card, it's really hot. With the case closed, the CPU idles around 130-135 degrees/rising, and the other two sensors (location unknown) on the mother board are about the same.

Fan speed is managed by the motherboard. The (AMI) BIOS has a "Smart Fan" setting for both fans, but it's either on or off, with no parameters that are configurable. With Smart Fan enabled, the fans run at around 50% speed maximum, which does not keep up with the heat load. If I left the system running that way, it would eventually cook itself. Even with the side panel off, the temperature gets up to around 140 degrees.

If I turn Smart Fan management off, both the fans rev up to maximum. This does a decent job of keeping the system cool, but it's like sitting next to a vacuum cleaner - really loud. And I understand that running the fans at maximum could damage the motherboard fan header.

Speed Fan won't do anything with controlling the fans.

I'd like to leverage the fans I have, and get some control over them so they adjust as needed based on temperature. I'm OK with adding a fan someplace, but I'm not crazy about cutting holes in the case. I've never had to do this before, so I'm not clear about the use of fan controllers, etc.

I'd really appreciate some insight/suggestions on how to address this.

Thanks,

Jim D.

Burrell · May 4, 2010

If you have any dust inside your PC, clean it out with an air duster.

Antec Tri-Cool fans have 3 speeds that can be changed at the press of a button and have good CFM/noise ratios.

DavidGP · May 4, 2010

Hi

Cases designed for OEM PCs dont tend in the main to be great coolers, that one looks really good but but lacks some extra space for cooling, while I can see a grilel at the front, infront of where the HDDs go the space doesnt look like it will fit a fan.

Pity as a rule of thumb is air in at front and out at back/top as you need some airflow to start with to create this flow and the front fan is a perfect place to have one, the side grille dont know if it will house a fan but could be a good place to put if it will fit a 120mm fan (suggestion is the Noctua S12B I have Noctua fans in my PC and its pretty quiet, concidering their are 4 of them, they have additional cables to adjust the speed of the RPM) extracting air.

Cable management is also an area many leave out, as keeping all your cables as much as possible tidy and out of the way of any airflow, will aid cooling.

Could also look into changing the Heatsink Fan for the CPU, wouldnt be my first choice of things to do, but worth exploring that as an option to cool your PC down more as stock fans do a job but 3rd party specialist ones do better.

Where is this PC located? is it on a desk, in a desk space or on the floor as where its located can add to heat, especially if its in a desk space as many of these areas dont have enough ventilation.

Whats the ambient room temp, again this can add to a PC having a higher temp, room temp for me at present is 18.5c and CPU is a cool 33c

tasselhoff · May 4, 2010

Halo said: ↑

Hi

Cases designed for OEM PCs dont tend in the main to be great coolers, that one looks really good but but lacks some extra space for cooling, while I can see a grilel at the front, infront of where the HDDs go the space doesnt look like it will fit a fan.

Pity as a rule of thumb is air in at front and out at back/top as you need some airflow to start with to create this flow and the front fan is a perfect place to have one, the side grille dont know if it will house a fan but could be a good place to put if it will fit a 120mm fan (suggestion is the Noctua S12B I have Noctua fans in my PC and its pretty quiet, concidering their are 4 of them, they have additional cables to adjust the speed of the RPM) extracting air.

Cable management is also an area many leave out, as keeping all your cables as much as possible tidy and out of the way of any airflow, will aid cooling.

Could also look into changing the Heatsink Fan for the CPU, wouldnt be my first choice of things to do, but worth exploring that as an option to cool your PC down more as stock fans do a job but 3rd party specialist ones do better.

Where is this PC located? is it on a desk, in a desk space or on the floor as where its located can add to heat, especially if its in a desk space as many of these areas dont have enough ventilation.

Whats the ambient room temp, again this can add to a PC having a higher temp, room temp for me at present is 18.5c and CPU is a cool 33c
Click to expand...

Hi -

You pretty much nailed the case. It IS nice to look at, but there's no room in the front for a fan. The PC sits on a table next to my desk, so ventilation is not a problem.

The PC is less than 6 months old, FYI, and because it's elevated there's almost no dust inside.

I've reached a middle ground for fan settings - I've got the case fan running at maximum, and I left the CPU fan managed by the BIOS. The system is a lot quieter, and I can keep the case closed without cooking it, unless I do something intense.

Room temperature is around 19, and right now my CPU is loafing along at 37, and the other sensors are spread out between 41 and 49. The video card is at 59.

I thought about adding a fan to the opening in the side panel, but I was wondering what that would do to the CPU pan directly across from the opening. Would the side fan pushing air against the air flow on the heat sync fan impact the cooling of the CPU?

I was also wondering about cooking up a sleeve to port the air from the CPU fan out the side of the case. My son's PC has one of those built in.

Thanks for the response - I'm open to any other suggestions.

'Preciate it.

JD

DavidGP · May 5, 2010

Hi JD

Location is great and dust is generally a minimum when on a desk etc, but I do a 6 month cleanout reguardless, so worth doing this with some spray air and a very soft brush, just removes the light buildup of dust.

Fan fins will get dust and fluff on the fins this reducing effectiveness, the motherboard will heat up slightly due to a light covering and the heatsink can hyst get dust in the fins of the metal.

CPU 37c is good, so no major worries their apart, GFX cards do tend to be these days hot as hell.

Yeah a air tunnel is a good option, Dell tend to use them alot, would need to know the direction of your CPU fan as in general they should be pushing air onto the CPU not away as that pushes colder air through the heatsink fins, so a side fan would need to be pulling air in from outside the case to add to this, if its the other way and drawing air outside the case you could create a dead space of air, this not aiding cooling, BUT to be honest its worth an experiment in the air tunnel and just make sure you get yourself a low db (quiet) fan and some little rubber gromets to put between the fan mounting holes and the case as it stops some vibration.

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Help Cooling Gateway DX4300

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