Liqourice

Of course it's better since I have a closed case but I was hoping for a little bit lower temp. Tried to open the case just to try and it dropped another degree. I don't know, I've seen others run these cpu's on lower temps so I should be able to get it down a bit more, maybe down to 37-38 was my hopes. I did OC to 3.1 and run a stress test with Prime95 and the temp went up to 70-71 in the cores and about 67 on the CPU. That's a little bit more than I had before with the open case and the table fan. I'd guess 3.2 would make it go to high....

We'll see, I applied the arctic silver on sunday and it says that it can take up to 200 hours before it hardens and gives full effect so hopefully that will give a few extra degrees in a few days.

I really don't know what to do with all the cables. I tried to move them out of the way as much as I could. One thing is for sure though, next time I get a new PSU it will be a modular so I only have the cables I need. The 8-pin powercable for the motherboard I have no better idea for. It's to short to drag around the motherboard, one of the downsides of having the PSU at the bottom. I COULD drag ut under the gfx card and under the cpu fan but I was a bit afraid of doing that if the heatpipe gets to hot and burns the cable.. but maybe it doesn't get that hot.

Any suggestion on what to do with all the cables are appreciated but I just don't see what I could do with them!

Oh, the audio cable from the DVD. well, that's more a thing I'm used to really. I hardly ever play CD's in it anyway but it's so small I doubt that it makes any problems anyway.

Oh, and one thing I noticed and it's something I really don't know what to do about. There's no chassis speaker so if there's any hardware problem I won't be able to hear the warning beeps.. I don't know, maybe this is common in new cases but annoyed me quite a bit that there isn't one.

I'm not saying it was a bad suggestion, I'm just a bit disappointed. Of course, I have a tiny bit lower temp now than before with an open case so of course it's better...

I'll keep the temporary harddrive arrangement as it is for now. I'll be getting a blue-ray burner when I can afford it and the prices have dropped and then that problem is solved since it will be SATA. I could also get a new sata harddrive of course and put the IDE in the old case with my old motherboard but we'll see... I have stuff on it that I need right now.

Judas

typically i've found the best results using those little black cable clips that come already mounted in the case (which you removed, which i'm also guessing you had to do for some due to the sheer size of the motherboard)..... either way whatever ones you can still use helps....

what i do with the caples is try to run then back behind where the hardrive connectors are.

as for the 8pin power cable, i run those between the motherboard and video card board typically.... close to the year of the case. the majority of the cables unused i tie up and if you had a 120mm fan on the bottom, the cables would simply wrap around that fan neatly... i don't have digital camera or i would post a picture of what i've done with these cases.....

Another thing i noticed is that you run your optical drive on the bottom... i put them at the top yet....

and the reason i mentioned the audio cable.... i just figured it's one less little thing out of the way

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OldBuzzard

For the 8 Pin connection.

There is a hole in the mb tray right next to the PSU. In your pic, it's hiding behing the IDE ribbon.

Run that cable thru that hole. Then up the back side to the hole at the top. The one you see just above the CPU Cooler. Run it back thru that hole and then connect it. It looks like that cable is long enough to do that.

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Veridian3

Some quick suggestions from a glance through this thread...

1) you can mount a fan in that case, on the back of the motherboard tray and have it blast air at the underside of the motherboard/cpu http://www.coolermaster.com/uploads/...0973996213.jpg

2) Your PSU appears to be upside down... cant quite tell from the pic but the grill seems to be visible. You need to turn the psu over so it sucks air in through the vent on the base of the system and then exhausts it out the back of the PSU.

3) Populate the 2nd vent at the bottom as an intake.

4) Consider that your Phenom might just be a sample that runs hot. (trying on the NF3 and seeing lower temps means nothing, it could just be a badly calibrated sensor on there)

5) Once you turn over your PSU and install an intake fan the airflow should work like this:



You could also install a case fan in the case side which sends air down on to the cpu but i would probably not do that... its an option though.

Liqourice

I'll see what I can do. I'll probably get a fan for the bottom. I'd rather put one where the drive bays are though, it makes more sense to me. Just need to figure out how to mount it up there.

My DVD is placed where it is because I tried to get it as close to the ide harddrive as possible. Now that didn't work as I hoped. As it is I have to have them close since there's only one ide interface on the motherboard, there is no place on the top to place the harddrive so until I get a sata blueray it'll have to stay where it is.

I pulled all extra cables to the back and put them on the bottom under the drive bays as that was about the only place I could think of putting them.

I'll try to move the 8 pin cable like suggested, I really didn't think of that.

I tried to mount the PSU like suggested but I couldn't make it fit to the screw holes. Maybe I was half blind trying to but I'll check that again. However, since there is a fan on the side panel blowing air in between the gfx card and the psu I wonder if it's such a big issue to leave it as it is? I've seen others having the psu mounted like this.

But, does anyone know about the system speaker? As it is now there is no startup beep. Of course that's no problem as long as everything works but if anything should fail I can't hear how many beeps there are and that way figure out what's wrong...

Liqourice

Oh, and there's one more bad thing with this case.

I can't get the soundcard or the gfx card seated properly and be able to fasten them easily, it's like the motherboard is leaning "backwards" a bit. And yes, I put the screws on the backplate to make the correct distance for the motherboard so it's not that. As it is right now my soundcard is not fastened properly and for the gfx card I had to make a really unique solution to get it to be stable in place. It's not a big issue but it definately brings the score for the case down quite a bit.

Judas

odd that would suggest the case has been damaged or manufactured wrong.

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Liqourice

Must be a manufacturing problem because there were no visible damages to the case or the box, I made sure of that when I picked it at the store.

Oh well, we'll see when I open it up again if I can make some kind of adjustment.

Judas

considering that i've had about 10 of those cases or more ..... the first ones were kinda light mental (mounting screws would strip easily) and had a single 2 prong connector for the power LED that didn't work for most boards (most boards using 3 pin connector) However a revision later they were making them with 2 individual connectors to fit 2 or 3 pin boards. Another revision later they fixed the mounting screw stripping problem (metal is apparently heavier).

The latest version i have seems to produce a bit of a tight fit when installing add in cards between the back of the case and the motherboard..... nothing bad.... it's snug.... and even with 2 HD3870x2's... the quick clips worked great.

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Liqourice

Well, I can probably get round that. The only thing I wonder about how to solve is the system speaker.. I don't know, maybe it's not needed but I'm a bit old fashioned at times!

I would have loved to hook the cables for the mike and headphones as well but I can't find a way to hook them to my X-Fi.

Judas

typically alot of boards come with one or you can get one that is small little thing that sticks out about an inch from the motherboard.... you should be able to find these elsewhere.. they cost a buck or so...

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blibbax

What about the one in your old case?

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Liqourice

I'm putting together my old rig in that case so I need it in there. Since the 5200+ isn't running as hot and the X850 is smaller it works with that old case.

I'll try and find a small speaker then.

OldBuzzard

OK, on the 3870 X2 not 'fitting' properly. I had that issue also before I watercooled it.

On the PCI bracket, you will see two small screws that go the the HSF fan shroud. Those are the problem. Just remove them. It will not make a difference, as the HSF fan shroud has plenty of other screws to hold it on the card. I also used screws to mount it as with my early version of the case, the 'tooless mounting' goodie wouldn't lock because of the shroud. That prob;em went away when I put on the Koolance block, but I still used screws, just becaus that 3870 X2 is jst so danged heavy. I just "felt" better doing that way.

As for the X-FI, you may need to bend the bottom of the PCI bracket a bit. I had that problem with my X-Fi, and other Creative cards.

It's a bit hard to tell, but did you mount the IDE HDD in the 3.5 Floppy bay? If so, that is removable. You could just put it in the 2nd from the top, with the optical drive.

Another option would be to use a 5.25 to 3.5 adaptor, like I did for an old IDE drive I was using, as I have a 3.5/card reader that I put in the floppy bay.

As for the case speaker. You aren't alone with that one. There are a LOT of cases theses days that don't have them. Makes it cheaper to build them, and with a lot of the MB's having their own speaker, or displays of one sort or another for trouble shooting, they have quit putting them in. However, there is a solution:
http://www.cwc-group.com/casp.html

Someone over in Europe probably sells them. It would be a matter of finding them.

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Liqourice

I had a hell of a time to be able to screw the gfx card in place since it seems like the motherboard isn't straight and makes an angle of everything inside. Same with the soundcard. I honestly don't understand what you mean with the screws on the HSF fan shroud and how tha twould help.. maybe I'm just to tired right now!

No, I have the IDE HD just "floating" inside the 5.25 bays resting on some metal pins I put in between. If I put it in the 3.5 drive bays the cable is to short, it won't reach both that and the DVD. I have no adaptor so I can't use any.. it works for now, until I get the blueray, then problem is solved. It's resting in one of the 3.5 removable bays but to keep air around it I put something for it to rest on.

I have re-arranged all cables now and moved everything out of the way as much as possible. Tried to mount an 80mm fan on the back but that didn't work, 25mm was to thick so I had to remove it again. As it is now there is no way to get it cooler without adding more fans, the flow of air is as efficient as it can be right now. I just wonder if adding a bottom fan will make much difference for the cpu cooler.. clearing away all cables didn't make any difference whatsoever.

So, I still think a new cooler is what I need.. as well.

Neshi

A new cooler will work out as it did with the case I reckon. You won't see much (if any) difference. That cooler really is sufficient.
I'm afraid you just received a cpu that runs a little hotter then the rest out there, like was mentioned before..

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Liqourice

Which means I will never be able to go above 3.1GHz because when I go up to 3.2 it starts to get a bit to hot.

Not that I know what kind of temps are safe for this cpu. On stresstests it's been up to 67-68 on the cpu and 71-72 in the cores @ 3.1. With my old setup with an open case and a table fan blowing at it it topped out at 70 degrees @ 3.2 GHz so in a sense it's worse now...

I really don't know what to believe. I hear others saying that there are better coolers than this and it will make a difference. I just don't want to spend any more money for nothing.

I guess it's watercooling then. Way way to expensive...

Neshi

Is there a way to try if a different cooler will do the trick, before you buy it?
maybe a friend can lend you a cooler just to see if that really is the culprit.

Just a personal note, 70 degrees would be too hot for my taste. I never let a cpu, even if overclocked, get above 60 degrees...

__________________
If one does not attach himself to people and desire, never shall his heart be broken. But then, does he ever truly live?

The only guarantee in life is failure, to achieve success you have to take risks.

blibbax

That cooler really should be fine. Are you sure it's properly seated with a nice coating of paste?

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Liqourice

Yes, I've tried to do it a few times, different each time to see what works best. As little as possible, a bit more and a lot. I found that this is about as good as it gets with the paste.

Well, I won't be satisfied until I get the temp down at least 5-6 degrees more so I'm gonna save up for some watercooling.. I wanna try and get this cpu as high as possible!

blibbax

For the price of a good watercooling setup you could get a 45nm phenon later this year.

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Liqourice

I know.. but who knows if I need to WC that too! :P

Money are ment to be enjoyed.. if I can afford it then why not. Instead of spending it on one time pleasures like beer...

Liqourice

Added an extra 140mm fan in the bottom but that didn't make any change whatsoever. Can't find any 80mm fan that's only 15mm thick so no go on a backside fan. I think I'll put an extra fan on the top to push air out but honestly, I don't believe it will make any difference either.

I also have a Corsair Dominator Airflow fan that I haven't used, I wonder if that will make any difference whatsoever?

Judas

i think we can start ruling out more airflow not improving anything but your possible overclocks on the ram or video card or the FSB of the board for that matter...

i'm really leaning towards that reguardless of the CPU cooler you likely try and slap on it.. your not going to get much of anything more out of it.

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Liqourice

I run nothing overclocked, everything is stock right now, so it's not because of that I get these temps. Ambient temp in this room is about 21 as well...

Oh well. WC MUST do a better job, I can't imagine that installing a decent WC unit won't make a change. Maybe it's a lot of money but right now I'm starting to feel it's worth it.

blibbax

There has to be an issue somewhere... otherwise what's going to happen when people run it with a stock cooler?

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Liqourice

Well, I remember once when I did some overclocking in BIOS and changed a lot of settings, I don't remember exactly how though, the temps were suddenly 10 degrees lower even if I had it overclocked to 2.9 GHz if I remember correcly, this on the old Gigabyte board I RMA'd.

What makes the temp suddenly drop 10 degrees even if the clock and voltage is 400 MHz higher?

I don't know. To me it seems like the cpu is running a bit hotter than it should considering how the setup is now. I've been thinking about putting the stock cooler on just to see what kind of temps I'll get.

The CPU isn't faulty in itself. I wouldn't be able to OC to 3.1 GHz and have it running stable for an hour if it was. I do wonder if the sensor(s) are giving the wrong data though. Considering that the temps goes up to 70-72 under a stress test with no issues...

I wish I had another Phenom to try with...

blibbax

I know this is obvious, but to what extent have you played with bios fan control?

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Liqourice

I've tried with both on and off for all of it. All fans are running at maximum speed as far as I can tell.