Always trying to improve my system(s) with a very limited budget in mind, I'm currently using a Cooler Master HAF32 case with a Corsair H75 LCS for my 4770K, which uses a 120mm radiator in p/p configuration and I'm thinking of swapping it for a Corsair Carbide Air 540 with a Corsair H110 LCS with a 280mm radiator in a p/p configuration. My question concerns the thermal grease. Which would be more advantageous - a simply cleaning of the CPU to remove the majority of the grease leaving it tinted and install the H110, with the provided grease over it, or a complete clean, using the Artic Silver Cleaning kit, of the CPU and just use the grease provided with LCS?

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I don't buy computers, I build them!!

Always best to fully clean off any existing heat compound.

Before going for a full rebuild, try running the existing system with the side of the case off. Another option with the side off of the case is to mount the radiator outside the case, so it's not drawing air from inside the case.

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Grant
Darwin NT

A bit of isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab should do the cleanup just fine without buying a fancy cleaning kit.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

A bit of isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab should do the cleanup just fine without buying a fancy cleaning kit.

For a full rebuild I like to rub the slug with a paper towel until it comes back clean. I figured anything that was left in the microscopic groves after that was a benefit. Different strokes & such.

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SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[

Always best to fully clean off any existing heat compound.

Before going for a full rebuild, try running the existing system with the side of the case off. Another option with the side off of the case is to mount the radiator outside the case, so it's not drawing air from inside the case.

I already have the LCS pulling air from outside of the case, but it does get to the hi 60c - mid 70c with peaks up to mid 80c when the ambient temps are in the 80+F range, with or without the side panels on. The one thing I forgot to mention in the initial post was that the main reason for swapping out the case was the expansion slots. With it I'll have the room to add a third GPU, probably another EVGA GTX750Ti FTW, which I'm unable to do with my present case because the PSU is in the way.

A bit of isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab should do the cleanup just fine without buying a fancy cleaning kit.

I bought my cleaning kit waaaay baaack when I was young and didn't know better and since it works so well, I just can't throw it away. I've forgotten how many CPU & LCS upgrades I've used it on. One of these days when I'm older and more senile and it runs out I'll go to a medical supply store and get some 90% alcohol.

[edit]

For a full rebuild I like to rub the slug with a paper towel until it comes back clean. I figured anything that was left in the microscopic groves after that was a benefit.

This is what I was thinking as it leaves the grooves already filled/tinted and the stuff that comes with the LCS has an even surface to work with as opposed to having to expend some of its material to fill in the grooves.[/edit]

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I don't buy computers, I build them!!

Hi Cliff,

That's the case I'm using currently. I had put the 280 radiator in the air intake in front but found that it was not providing enough cooling to the GPUs so I moved it to the top of the case and have it pushing air out of the case thru the radiator. Yes I can hear it now, but that worked better for me than pulling air in. I have 2 Gtx 780 with acx fans and they don't push air out the back, instead the air gets spread into the case so I needed to remove the air. The last thing I did was remove the plexy glass from the side panel and replace it with a 200 mm fan blowing air in. (If I could have gotten a 220 or 240mm fan I would have used that). What I got is 4 GPUs on that mb. 780sc, 750 ti ftw, 780sc 750 ti in that order. Full load 3 multibeams the 780 only get 63C the 750- 55 and 43. CPU temps 35-43C. When I switched out my radiator I did paper towel first, then the alcohol and Q tip then paper towel then used the grease in the radiator. Good luck

Zalster

Hi Cliff,

That's the case I'm using currently. I had put the 280 radiator in the air intake in front but found that it was not providing enough cooling to the GPUs so I moved it to the top of the case and have it pushing air out of the case thru the radiator. Yes I can hear it now, but that worked better for me than pulling air in. I have 2 Gtx 780 with acx fans and they don't push air out the back, instead the air gets spread into the case so I needed to remove the air. The last thing I did was remove the plexy glass from the side panel and replace it with a 200 mm fan blowing air in. (If I could have gotten a 220 or 240mm fan I would have used that). What I got is 4 GPUs on that mb. 780sc, 750 ti ftw, 780sc 750 ti in that order. Full load 3 multibeams the 780 only get 63C the 750- 55 and 43. CPU temps 35-43C. When I switched out my radiator I did paper towel first, then the alcohol and Q tip then paper towel then used the grease in the radiator. Good luck

Zalster

Ahh, just the man I was hoping to hear from. When I had the LCS pulling the air from inside the case with 2 x GTX750Ti FTW w/ACX, the CPU temps avg. mid 60c and spiked to mid 80c when the ambient temps were 80+F. When I switched the direction of the fans on the radiator it dropped 10c and am still waiting to see what happens when the temps reach 80+F. I also noticed that when the machine is running full AP tasks 2 CPU & 2 ea. GPU, the temps jump at least 10c at 70%, and when I do full v7 - 4 CPU & 3 ea. GPU at 90%. The more AP CPU tasks I do at one time the more the CPU temps increase and the GPUs remain steady with an avg. mid 50c. Right now, its 75F outside and the GPUs are avg. 54c &7 50c with the CPU temp @ hi 40c - low 50c. I'm speculating that the big temp difference is because of CPU type, yours being AMD.

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I don't buy computers, I build them!!

Greetings guys,

I've been following this thread and I have seen something that goes against what I have read and heard.

As Cliff's sig states, I too do not buy computers, I build them. I have been since about 96-97 or so. Everything I have heard and/or read about the case side panels is to leave them on. Leaving them off defeats the purpose of the fans.

I just transplanted my PC into a new gaming case that allows for more fans and filters for air drawn into the case. The side panel has a large gaping series of holes for the installation of 4 120mm fans or one 200mm. I have 2 intake fans in front, filtered. 1 intake fan on the bottom, filtered. The PSU fan on bottom, filtered. My LCS fan on the back, intake, filtered. And, last but not least, I have 2 fans on the top for exhaust, non-filtered (obviously). All fans are 120mm.

I took a cardboard box and cut a piece that is slightly larger than the series of holes on the panel. I literally bolted the cardboard to the panel.

Since doing all of the above, my PC, i7 860, is running cooler than it has in years. The 860 is notorious for running very hot and has a low temp threshold, according to research I have done on it a few years ago. I am now running on 8 cores instead of 6. Because of the 860, I could not run 8 cores unless I used TThrottle, but using it would have drawn my CPU usage down to 50% or less. I still have TThrottle running for when the ambient temp gets too warm. I have not seen my cores running less than 80%. As long as the ambient temp is low enough, all 8 cores run at 100%.

I have a widget that shows me CPU and RAM usage. At present, the core usages are fluctuating between 92 and 100%. This is a far cry better than what I had before. My air flow is doing it's job and TThrottle is keeping an eye on things for when things warm up too much.

If I could succeed in getting my PC to run as it is by doing what I did, how would leaving the side panels off be better?

Keep on BOINCing...! :)

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CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath

If I could succeed in getting my PC to run as it is by doing what I did, how would leaving the side panels off be better?

Try it and see.
It really depends a lot on the design of the case, it's size, how many fans are installed in the back & front, the number & size of the cards in the system, HDDs etc.

When I was running with the side on the case, my video card (at the time) actually ran cooler than when the side was off of the case. However with the side off of the case, the video card only ran about 2° warmer, while the CPU ran 5° cooler.
With the side off & the CPU 5° cooler I figured a 12cm fan on the side would make things even better. It didn't- CPU temp actually climbed about 2-3°, almost as warm was with the case on the side (I figured this was due to the turbulent air from the side resulting in less air being available for the CPU fan). In the end I ran with a smaller fan on the side, only blowing air at the video card & the HDDs. That cooled the video card down, and the HDDs, and didn't adversely affect the CPU temperature.

Both of my present system cases have the PSU at the top, and having the side case off, with the systems lying on their other side results in the lowest CPU & GPU temperatures.

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Grant
Darwin NT

If I could succeed in getting my PC to run as it is by doing what I did, how would leaving the side panels off be better?

Try it and see.
It really depends a lot on the design of the case, it's size, how many fans are installed in the back & front, the number & size of the cards in the system, HDDs etc.

-[ snip ]-

Greetings Grant,

Welllllllll... I believe I will keep my system as it is right now. It is running better and cooler than it has since I built it. :) Covering the grid of holes on the panel made a huge difference. :)

I forgot to mention 3 other fans in my case: 1 is an OEM fan on my video card. The other 2 are fans that blow on the circuit side of each HDD. Since heat rises, I doubt any heat generated by the HDDs will do any harm since I have the 2 exhaust fans in the top of the case. I also forgot to mention that the case is a full tower with LOTS of room for air flow. And, no more ribbon cables to impede that flow. :) My IDE DVD/CD drive crapped so I replaced it with a SATA drive. :)

I have noticed, while playing Star Trek Online, that my GPU temp climbs considerable. But, this is due to something that the game programmers have done and are looking into. Before the last maintenance cycle, my GPU remained at 35 to 45 Deg C while in the game. Now it runs at 55 and higher. :( I don't use the GPU for SETI@Home crunching. The card is not a very high end card.

Keep on BOINCing...! :)

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CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath

Siran,

Normally, you would be right about leaving the side panel on. Couple of things thou. First being the removal of heat generated by the GPUs. Most video cards expel the heat out of the back of the card where the video connection is. That is why they say to not block the back of the computer and leave 6 inches of space. I have 2 GTX 780 SC with the ACX fans. The fans on the gpus don't move the air out of the back of the graphic card. Instead, it blows them to the sides and since one side has the Motherboard blocking it, it basically is pushing all that hot air out "the top" of the GPU. So that hot air is not being removed but staying in the case raising the overall temperature. I experimented with having the 2-140 fans on the radiator pulling air in from the outside into the case along with the other 2-140 in front of the case but it didn't decrease the temperature of the GPUS. So I had 4-140mm pulling air in and only 1-140mm in the back trying to remove the hot air. By reversing the 2-140mm on the top so that it pulled the air out and thru the radiator, it did decrease the temps of the GPUs without adversely affecting the temps of the CPU. But as much as it decrease the temp, it wasn't enough for me. So I removed the side panel and replaced it with a 200mm fan first pulling air out of the case. The temperature of the GPUs actually went up when I did this. So I reversed the direction and have it blowing air in over the GPUs now. Now the temps stay at a nice level and the CPU temps are just as nice. Lastly, and probably most importantly. My room. I can't control the temp very much in here. That being said, they like to keep it around 70-72 F so I usually have to have a jacket when I'm in here. I positioned my computers in such a way that they get air blown on them from the big vent in my room. So that big 200 mm fan is sucking in the cold air from the A/C. With those computers going full tilt, I can sit comfortably in here without the jacket. Anytime you start messing with the configuration of the computer, you should test and see what the changes do. With me, it worked out that taking off the side case and adding the fan pushing air in worked the best. For you it might just be the opposite. Testing is the only way you are going to know.

Good Luck

Zalster