Ambient/Case temp?

[ricster2000]

Just wondering what ambient case temp is deemed reasonable/safe, as I'm trying to get the right balance between having a quiet and a cool pc. I'm just worried about overheating if i set my two 120 fans to 5v, which brings me to an ambient temp of 45C, but gives me a near silent pc.

Thanks

 

[RallyMaster]

Which sensor are you using for that temperature? If that's the one on your video card, then it's not correct. 45C is my CPU at full load on my stock heatsink. It is definitely cooler than that.

 

[ricster2000]

I'm using the mobo sensors. At idle, my cpu is at 28C (using cool and quiet) but my case temp reads as 45C (using two akasa amber 120s at 5V). Is that case temp reading too high? Is 45 even safe?

Here are the important specs if they're of any help
Athlon64 3200 (socket 754, stock heatsink/fan)
MSI K8T Neo
Seasonic S-12 500W
ATI Radeon 9800pro
Thermaltake Tsunami (replaced stock 120's with 2 Akasa Amber 120's)
DVD drive, 2 Seagate SATA HDDs

 

[dunkster]

I wouldn't be comfortable with that case temp - case idle temps should be around 30C at idle for a well-ventilated case. Your hard drive temps must be a bit high also.

Looking at review photos of the Tsunami, the front-door intake grill looks a bit restrictive. A good test would be to run the case with the front door open, to see if case temp goes down.

I assume you're running your 120mm fans as front-intake and rear-exhaust and no side-intake fan - which should produce a quiet case.

Cases with optimized front-to-back airflow should produce case temps around 30C at idle with just a single rear 120mm case vent fan. This can be pretty quiet with an intrinsically-quiet fan at 12V and vibration-isolated.

My guess is that your case air intake path is restrictive - and some surgery may be required.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: By 'case' temp, I refer to 'system' temp reported by BIOS, MBM5 or other monitor.

 

[pulsedrive]

yeah, that 45C sounds like it might be the NB, not your "case"

 

[furballi]

Case temp is a function of room temp. Add about 5C to the room temp and you should arrive at the ideal case temp for a high-performance rig at low to moderate load.

For example, my room temp is 67F.

Case...24C
HDD...26C
CPU...30C (~10% load with Cool n Quiet enabled)

 

[ricster2000]

I'm pretty sure its not the NB temp. My BIOS, along with Corecenter and Speedfan list the 45C as System Temp.
Anyway, i tested out a couple more configurations:

120 fans (front intake, rear exhaust) at 5V : 45C
120 fans at 12V: 38C
120 fans at 5V + Side 92mm fan at 12 : 33C (however, this setup is too loud as i havent replaced the stock side fan yet, but I've read too many fans can actually be counter-productive)

Judging from what everyone is saying, my temps are still too high comparable to others tho.
The weird thing is, according to Speedfan my 2 HDDs are running at 24C and 26C.
Maybe i just have a dodgy sensor...

 

[Luckyboy1]

That case temperature is a bit high, but may not be a worry as long as you CPU and GPU temps. stay low under full load.

 

[letdown427]

Erm, your CPU temp is 17degrees lower than your apparent case temp. That doesn't happen on air cooling.

Also, if your hard disks are at 24 and 26, your case must be very cold. Or the hard disks are off. Air cooling relies on the air inside your case. If your case was 45 degrees, everything else would be above 45 degrees. I could be wrong here, but it goes against my grasp of physics at the time of writing.

 

[ricster2000]

Yeh...thats why I think my sensors may be broke....or off.....or encapsulated in some kind of molten lava Think I might just stick a thermometer in there and see what temps i get.

edit: i just stuck my hand inside my case and it certainly doesn't feel like 45C....maybe it has something to do with the location of the temp sensor, but i don't know where it is/what it looks like.