puttputtgolf2000
New Member
Hi guys, this is my first post!
I’ve noticed many of you are complaining of overheating CPU’s, and I’d like to share my recent experience with mine overheating, and how I fixed it.
Here's my brand new setup: Intel P4 3.2G 775 prescott 800fsb, Asus P5RD1-V mobo, 1gb OCZ dual channel DDR, 400w dual fan PS, ATX case w/80mm exhaust fan, etc.
My CPU was running at 51deg Celsius on idle, and 70+ deg under load (playing games)! It got so bad the OS would kill a few apps just to decrease the load on the CPU, but temps stayed high for long periods of time. After a couple weeks like this, I fried my first mobo. After replacing it, I decided some drastic action was necessary to lower the temps before I cause more damage.
My friend who has a similar setup also had this problem. He added a ZalmanCPU heatsink and fan, and reported improvements of a few degrees but they were not significant therefore I didn’t want to go that route.
I emptied out my case and took it to a machine shop and drilled the holes and removed the shield that was limiting airflow. I installed a Thermaltake 120mm exhaust fan replacing the original 80mm. I used the 80mm for the front intake instead. This helped bring temps down from 51 to 47 deg at idle, but did not do much in terms of preventing high peak temps. The 120mm fan did help in releasing the hot air, so the time needed to return to idle temps was shortened. Needless to say I was not impressed with the results, so I wanted to take this a step further.
I went back to the shop and this time I machined a custom aluminum snorkel or “Air Guide” as the industry calls it, which directs cool air to the CPU from a side panel opening. Only difference was, my air guide would be force fed by another 80mm ultra quiet fan forcing cool outside air directly to the OEM CPU heatsink/fan assembly.
It works in similar way to a supercharger or turbo on a car, only this one is electric powered instead of belt or exhaust driven.
The results were staggering!!!
Idle temps dropped from the initial 47 degrees after the first round of mods to 28 degrees!!!
That’s a drop of almost 50% from before!
Peak temps dropped from a scorching 70+ degrees to only 42 degrees MAX! And the best part is the time it takes for temps to drop from peak back to idle is around 1 minute!
While looking for residual hot spots, I found a pocket of hot air sitting in between the back of the power supply and the CD/DVD drives at the top of the case. For the fun of it I added a 40mm fan I had lying around as a blowhole to see what it would do. The power supply is noticeably cooler, the power supply fans run at a much lower rpm now, and the time from peak to idle temps is well within a minute now.
I’m adding a fan controller next week so I can manually adjust the rpm of the 120mm exhaust fan and the turbo air guide fan as needed, and to see if I can bring the sound levels down from 35db to 25db.
If you guys are interested I’ll post pics tonight when I get home.
I’ve noticed many of you are complaining of overheating CPU’s, and I’d like to share my recent experience with mine overheating, and how I fixed it.
Here's my brand new setup: Intel P4 3.2G 775 prescott 800fsb, Asus P5RD1-V mobo, 1gb OCZ dual channel DDR, 400w dual fan PS, ATX case w/80mm exhaust fan, etc.
My CPU was running at 51deg Celsius on idle, and 70+ deg under load (playing games)! It got so bad the OS would kill a few apps just to decrease the load on the CPU, but temps stayed high for long periods of time. After a couple weeks like this, I fried my first mobo. After replacing it, I decided some drastic action was necessary to lower the temps before I cause more damage.
My friend who has a similar setup also had this problem. He added a ZalmanCPU heatsink and fan, and reported improvements of a few degrees but they were not significant therefore I didn’t want to go that route.
I emptied out my case and took it to a machine shop and drilled the holes and removed the shield that was limiting airflow. I installed a Thermaltake 120mm exhaust fan replacing the original 80mm. I used the 80mm for the front intake instead. This helped bring temps down from 51 to 47 deg at idle, but did not do much in terms of preventing high peak temps. The 120mm fan did help in releasing the hot air, so the time needed to return to idle temps was shortened. Needless to say I was not impressed with the results, so I wanted to take this a step further.
I went back to the shop and this time I machined a custom aluminum snorkel or “Air Guide” as the industry calls it, which directs cool air to the CPU from a side panel opening. Only difference was, my air guide would be force fed by another 80mm ultra quiet fan forcing cool outside air directly to the OEM CPU heatsink/fan assembly.

The results were staggering!!!
Idle temps dropped from the initial 47 degrees after the first round of mods to 28 degrees!!!

Peak temps dropped from a scorching 70+ degrees to only 42 degrees MAX! And the best part is the time it takes for temps to drop from peak back to idle is around 1 minute!

While looking for residual hot spots, I found a pocket of hot air sitting in between the back of the power supply and the CD/DVD drives at the top of the case. For the fun of it I added a 40mm fan I had lying around as a blowhole to see what it would do. The power supply is noticeably cooler, the power supply fans run at a much lower rpm now, and the time from peak to idle temps is well within a minute now.
I’m adding a fan controller next week so I can manually adjust the rpm of the 120mm exhaust fan and the turbo air guide fan as needed, and to see if I can bring the sound levels down from 35db to 25db.
If you guys are interested I’ll post pics tonight when I get home.