Help keep PC cool in the summer time?

The VCR King

Well-Known Member
My PC is normally around 30C idle, but the weather where I live has been very hot lately and the AC upstairs is pretty much nonexistant and even with my window open my computer room is easily 80-90 degreesF, and my PC idles around 45C and under load it'll go into the 50s and 60s.

Also yesterday I got that PS2 emulator working and I've been playing Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 and a lot of my other games, and while playing yesterday my temps went to something around 70C.

Is this okay or should I figure out something to help cool my rig better in the summer time?
 

The VCR King

Well-Known Member
70 is way too hot, need to keep it under 60c. What cpu cooler do you have?
Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B. The PC is almost always under 40C and its actually 34 as I type this, but as soon as summer comes and the air heats up it idles at 45 and only goes from there.
 

beers

Moderator
Staff member
Idle temps don't really mean anything unless they're way high.

70c load at stock speed means I'd probably redo the thermal paste and check that the fan speed isn't being throttled by BIOS/drivers.

AMD runs pretty hot anyways, those temps look fine to me.

Not any hotter than Intel really.
 

The VCR King

Well-Known Member
Idle temps don't really mean anything unless they're way high.

70c at stock means I'd probably redo the thermal paste and check that the fan speed isn't being throttled by BIOS/drivers.



Not any hotter than Intel really.
It's only hit 70 once so far. Other than that it pretty much goes up to 60 and stays there until I close the game

I've also had task manager open while running the emulator and cores 1-4 are pretty much getting no usage while 5 and 6 are at 90% which suggests that the emulator is only using cores 5 and 6
 

Intel_man

VIP Member
I don't know about you guys but unless he's constantly hovering at 70 degrees, I wouldn't worry about it. Hell, I've had my i7 920 do that* for 6 years and it works like it just came out of the box and not break a sweat.

*By "that", I mean I have it hit 70+ from time to time under load. So long as he idles in the high 30s, and normal load puts him in the low 50s... he's fine.

If you're uncomfortable of going over the 60 degree mark that seems to me is the general rule of thumb for your processor, there's really only a few options you can try out during the summer time.

1. Reduce your ambient temperature in your room.
2. If CPU is being overclocked, reduce it during the summer time.
3. Go liquid cooling. Keep in mind, this may not be affective if your ambient temperature is through the roof high.
4. As suggested above, reapply thermal paste or use a different brand of thermal paste that has been tested to provide a lower cpu core temperature reading.
 

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
Thremal paste, no matter what brand only has a marginal difference between temps...

My votes still for the Peltier.
 
Top