Just "silenced" my computer, and my CPU temps spik

[BigDu21]

Hi all,
I finally finished my project to quiet my computer. My problem is that I'm seeing a spike in my CPU temps which doesn't look right to me--before the switch they hovered at around 43* C; now they're sitting up around 50-52* C (according to speedfan). A summary of the changes I made is below; any ideas on how to cool things down would be appreciated.

Changes:
1) New Antec 3000B case from a previous unmodded Cheming AE601. Snipped the fan grills away, added a layer of melamine foam from mcmaster car. currently using 2 120 mm fans; one in front, both at full speed/voltage; also have a filter on the front fant. Closed off all the side intakes.
2) PSU--took an my enermax (365P-VE FCA) and diabled the bottom fan, and put a TT smartfan in the rear--it ramps up as needed (the temp sensor is on the outer rim of the fan itself. The air coming out is warm-ish, but not hot.
3) New CPU cooler for XP 3000+ at 400 FSB. Thermalright si-97, with a 92 mm fan--currently at full speed from a 12v line; used Artic silver 5 for the thermal goo.
4) New VGA cooler--Artic silencer for 6800 GT.

Those are the major changes, I'm running 2 WD HDDs; a plextor 712A DVDRW; and a SB Audigy2 are also in the system. It is my opinion that given all this the temp should be at or below what I was seeing w/ my previous jet engine computer. I have checked the seating on the CPU cooler, and it appears to be ok near as I can tell.

Any ideas appreciated. Thanks.

*Edit*
I should note these temps are found while folding, so I guess that would account for some of the heat, but 52* C just seems like a very high number to me.

[ckolivas]

The temperature is fine. Too many websites are obsessed with getting cpus to as low temperature as possible. Read my comments from here:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=19342
Saying "oh wow this cooler is better than the other because my temperature went from 50 to 43" may be true, but does nothing of any significance in the real world.

[BigDu21]

Thanks for the fast reply ckolivas....
what you're saying makes sense, I just really had to make sure that sounded about right to those here in the silencing community.

[sthayashi]

Are those temps at idle or load? If the're at load, they're normal and ckolivas is right.

If they're idle, it does seem to be on the warm side. What are your loaded temps? What do your cables look like? Is it a rat's nest inside your computer or is as clean as a whistle?

[Tiamat]

also have to remember is that sound is energy. Law of conservation of energy forbids you from destroying that sound energy. However, it enables you to convert it to other forms of energy. In this case, that form of energy is thermal energy. In almost all forms of sound absorption materials, there is a release of thermal energy to balance the energy equation.

Try turning the cpu fan around to blow the opposite direction. Sometimes a case will respond better to a cpu fan oriented one way or another. Good luck!

[sthayashi]

also have to remember is that sound is energy. Law of conservation of energy forbids you from destroying that sound energy. However, it enables you to convert it to other forms of energy. In this case, that form of energy is thermal energy. In almost all forms of sound absorption materials, there is a release of thermal energy to balance the energy equation.

Like many Physics theories, this is technically true, but in reality sound -> heat energy is insignificant. Much like the "aluminum cases being better for case cooling than steel cases" theory.

Try turning the cpu fan around to blow the opposite direction. Sometimes a case will respond better to a cpu fan oriented one way or another. Good luck!

This IS true and always worthwhile to try.

[BigDu21]

Thanks for the ideas on the CPU fan, I'll give that a try too, and see if that helps. I ran Prime 95 for 30 mins, and the temp topped out at 55, and it closed out w/ no errors. I also shut down folding at home and as I'm sitting here the temps are already down to 49. So it looks like it was just the folding that was causing the extra spike in temps. Thanks again for the help.


*Edit*
Having solved the mystery of my high temps, I'm thinking about trying to undervolt my CPU a bit (preferably w/ little to no performance loss) to make the temps cooler. I haven't seen a "undervolting basics" thread anyplace; is there some resource on the site or the web that has a walkthru of how to get started w/ this?

[Operandi]

I haven't tried undervolting yet but I let SpeedFan underclock my 2500XP depending on CPU load so you can give that a try.

[burcakb]

BigDu21,

Unless your AthlonXP is a mobile/unlocked chip or your motherboard supports undervolting, you have to do some vidpinning to be able to undervolt.

Or you might try software like 8rdavcore and see if it works.

Undervolting is really easy, especially if you can do it with software.

Start your undervolting software, start Prime95'ing away.

Slowly lower your vcore in very small increments. The moment Prime95 reports a calculation error, up your vcore one bit, set it and do extensive test with Prime95 (say 24 hours) and you should be fine.

[c00z]

yeah your main problem is that your insulation for sound is also for heat. As mentioned earlier the temps dont need to be low, but need to be normal. Here is what i mean, your cpus life is dependant heavily on temperature and the differential between the load and idle temperature is one huge consideration. Ie if you idle temp is 30 and your load temp is 60...your cpu life will be degraded heavily. Secondly, your processor is safe to 85C anyways, so ias long as your load is below 60C you should have no problem at all. Also, the differential temperature between your case temperature and cpu temperature is also a very good indicator. Here is an example, if at idle your case is 27C and cpu idle at 45C and load it 55C cpu and case is 33C then your load temp only went up 10C but 6C of that is due to the increased ambient temp in the case so your load temp is really only 4C higher if you are able to maintain the case temp. Thus, you will have to see if you case temps are jumping alot during folding and this can signal that you are not getting proper airflow

I am running a Si-97 with at barton @ 2600mhz with artic silver 5, 1.9V with a 120mm 58cfm fan and I am getting load temps of 58C and idle of 49C with case temps of 30C idle and 35C load. Hope this gives you a better idea.