Ok so my current setup is about 18 months old (maybe 20) and ive noticed a deffinately decrease in performace despite keeping drives defraged etc. Ive even bought another 2Gb of RAM recently to see if that made a difference which it did... slightly. Now i dont have a huge knowledge of computers and stuff hence why im asking you guys, could there be something wrong with my system as it is atm and does it need upgrading? Any suggestions would be great. Setup: Intel 6600 Quad Core 2.4GHz Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 PCI-E Onboard Audio ATX Motherboard 4Gb OCZ XTC Platinum DDR2-800 RAM nVidia Zotec 8800GT 512mb Hiper 580W Type-M PSU 500Gb Maxtor SATA HD 2x 80Gb Maxtor IDE drives Some pics of it can be found here ------- Ive also downloaded some software to check the temperatures of stuff - Screenshot is below and bear in mind this is just with the PC running idle. When gaming the case itself can get quite hot to the touch especially around the PSU and exhaust from the graphics card. I have had a couple of suggestions that a new case might help as all i have atm is a Aspire X-plorer case with 1x 80mm fan in the top blowing out and 1 at the back with a side exhaust for the CPU fan. So far ive been recommended a Antec nine hundred 900 case or a NZXT Nemesis Elite Edition but not sure which would be best, so any other suggestions are welcomed. Also as im a student, aka poor lol, my budget for a new case isnt much, around £80 ($110-120) As for system upgrades i can spend a little more but not too much. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please post them up as . Thanks in advance.
Sorry, it's actually around 3.5 gig, but still not the full 4 gig... (I should finish eating before I post sometimes... )
It's 4GB. Windows will only show 3GB of supported ram, however the rest is used internally, which still means it's supported.
we go over this too often. 32bit Windows systems Physical Address Extension Memory Limits for Windows Releases read it and spread the knowledge so i don't have to read about XP only supporting less than 3GBs and all Vista distros supporting all the RAM under the sun.
another case of a case that is too hot. tom's does a great job of breaking down temp maxes for Intel processors. From Intel (assuming I looked up the right model): Table 5-4; 71C is the max temp recommended. Preferred operating temp is 60 or lower. as is becoming an all too common thread on XOO, cool that shite down man or you will end up like this. heat and computing are enemies. the hotter it gets the worse your compy performs. consider airflow, case design and venting (cold intake is as important as hot exhaust) for your system. odds are you have a failure in getting that heat off your processors and out of the case somewhere in the system.
I just dont get why its runnign so hot though. Ive taken the side of my case off now and the temperature is staying at 70 degress C. Ive downloaded that Real temp program off that site, and its suggesting that the max temp my chip can take is 95, after that i wont have a computer... >.< Anyone have any ideas as to what i can do about this? Panacea suggested get a new case, heatsink and redo the thermal grease just to be sure.
Kinda this. It's important to note that the actual amount of memory you can use is going to be 3.5GB or less.
Pan is certainly on the right track, but I don't know what your case/set up looks like to recommend the same. Actually having the side of the case is defeating all the work the case would be doing to vent the heat...unless your room is really cold. without a closed system all the fans are kinda just blowing the hot air in circles. You may actually be making it worse, but again i cant really say without seeing the build. As for what RealTemp says; I personally would stick with the vendors recommended values. We all know that vendors are conservative with those numbers, but 90+C would turn your system into liquid plastic. like the others, look at how your heat sinks, fans and case are working together to vent hot air. is there a failure in the system that an improved widget could solve or do you need to consider a whole new case that is better designed for managing its temperature?
Some pictures can be found here.... http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/Rec0il/PC/ Running 2 fans - one at the back, 1 on top, and a heat exhaust from teh CPU fan
You could probably get a substantial perfomance boost from simply reinstalling your OS and games/apps if it's been 20 months that's a long time. You definately have some heat issues, I don't see a Heat sink or fan on your GPU, is there one? your system isn't cutting edge but it's definately no wuss either. the design of the case doesn't really promote air flow though. if your GPU is getting hot to the touch, that's an issue for sure, clean the fans, verify they are all pushing/pulling air in the correct direction(meaning they aren't on backwards)
The CPU basically the heatsinka nd fan that came with it, i havent bothered to change it. The GPU has a fan on the underside of the card that pulls air in and pushes it out near the back on this side. Anyway, ive ordered the Antec 900 case and a new heatsink - Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer. Hopefully with a better case that has proper airflow it should work a little better, gonna also redo the thermal grease to make sure its all fine. Will let you know how it goes
I actually have the exact same case. if you still have the stock fan and heatsink, I highly recommend just getting some cans of compressed air and cleaning the heatsink. First time i did, i nearly shit myself with how much dust came out of the system. I can see some dust on the back fan and on the top fan as well so blast those clean too. They don't have to be completely clean, but definately clear as much as possible. And since you are getting a new heatsink, i recommend you use Artic Silver Thermal Paste. Best stuff on the market. Also, if you don't have it yet, I recommend you download CCleaner and blast away all the dead files along with cleaning the registry out.
Yup ive already ordered Arctic Silver paste for the new heatsink, all the stuff arrives tomorrow so hopefully it should fix the problem. You actually have the Aspire X-Plorer case aswell then? How do you find the air flow in it, cos mind really doesnt seem to move any air around which isnt helping. Ive also had a quick look at my heatsink and it seems the PC may have taken a knock when i was transfering it from home to Uni. The heatsink is slightly loose in one corner and i think thats probably contributing to the massive heat buildup as its lacking contact between the cpu and heatsink. Unfortunatly I cant get it to sit more secure so im thinking one of the pins may have broken somewhere... Ill have a proper look tomorrow when i transfer everything to the new case as its almost 4am here and i cba to take my pc apart now -.-
I'm using the antec twelve hundred and it's freaking awesome, It's a little big but more than enough space for everything. with 6 fans + 2 extra slots if you need more and even place for water pump or container, the air cooling is enough for me though.
Update: Well the new case and heatsink arrived this morning and after transfering everything over, i noticed my old heatsink had a broken pin on it so the contact to the CPU wasnt the best, that was probably the main cause of the heat building up. However the new case is brilliant, got the fans on the lowest setting atm so its pretty quiet and even when gaming the CPU is yet to go over 40 degrees adn teh GPu yet to hit 70. Definitely money well spent
Good deal. Antec makes some great cases and with 120mm fans they are super quiet. Money on a good case is never wasted.