Hot time, summer in the CPU

My 4 year old gaming PC (8 core AMD FX 8350, forget the GPU but it’s Nvidia, will add it in later) has always been loud but now with these L.A. summers it’s getting ridiculous. I installed some ‘quiet’ fans to the side of the CPU case but they made fuckall difference. It sounds like a goddamn hurricane when I run a game and yesterday, even just with browsers and stuff open, the CPU was peaking as high as 60c, which according to the chip specs is as high as it’s supposed to go.

Any thoughts on cost effective solutions? I’m thinking of reapplying thermal goo, or even hooking up a water cooling rig like the Corsair H105. (Never tried water cooling, a bit nervous about it.)

I fantasize about just buying a pre-built ‘quiet’ gaming PC but right now that’s not a financial option. Damn problem with having kids is every thousand bucks you spend is another thousand that could have gone into the college fund…

Perhaps @rhamorim might have some tips. Brazilian summers are plenty hot, so I know he’s had to deal with that.

60c is not super hot for air cooling, although it is toasty for idle. I suspect you’ve got a fan about to die. Open it up and determine where the noise is actually coming from; it could be your graphics card too.

When was the last time you gave it a good dust removal clean? I find that dust can get seeply embedded in the heatsinks and alter the sound profile and make the fans work way harder than necessary.

Yeah, been a long time since I did that, so I definitely should.

When I do it, I remove the side panels, take it outside and blast it full bore with my black and decker leaf blower. Maybe don’t do that unless, like me, you are prepared to wear whatever hardware failure that method may provoke, but holy moly does it get rid of the dust. 😁

Nvidias tend not to be too bad these days, but generally the GPU cooling is what makes the loudest noise during gaming, not CPU or case fans. Unless you’re getting a lot of noise idling, I’d focus on that. Obviously, though, the cooler you can get your case and the better the airflow, the less work your GPU cooler will have to do. Certainly your first port of call should be a thorough dust removal. It’s just good practice anyway, and it will definitely help.

I’m afraid I don’t have many tips to share. I got lucky enough to buy a pretty quiet PC last time, but on hot(ish) days I’ll just turn a normal fan on to blow on the metal case when it gets hot, and avoid things that make the PC go hot (like more demanding games, or games with poor framerate control). It helps that I’m usually on the PC at night, but with 30C nights even in spring/fall, you can imagine it can get somewhat tricky sometimes.

Oh yeah, I also do my best to keep it clean. Dust is a PC killer, especially in places where it’s more often hot than not.

Other than that… we just learn to live with those limitations, or with the noise. Nothing much else Brazilians can do about most things, alas.

I was thinking of wrapping some ice cubes in a towel and putting them inside my case.

#whatcouldpossiblygowrong

Early model Commodore 1541 drives were notorious for getting so hot that they’d throw the entire drive out of alignment. This was thanks to a couple of ginormous capacitors in the back of the unit. The usual solution to this was to 3rd-party install a heat-sink over these caps to keep them cool. And, if you were like me, I would wrap a “blue ice” in a towel and set it on top of the heat-sink.

Ghetto water cooling decades before the PC crowd figured it out (taps forehead)

Thirding dust removal. I keep a weather eye on the case’s air vents. When crud starts building up on the filters, I figure it’s time to open the case and blow everything out.

The only heat issue I’ve had recently was when I unknowingly shifted an internal cable onto the CPU fan, sticking it in place.

Besides cleaning, on my desktop rigs I usually replaced fans when possible with Panaflo low noise fans (or equivalent.)
https://www.amazon.com/Panaflo-80mm-HydroWave-39-6CFM-Low-Noise/dp/B00H0B26P4

Beyond that, is the room cool enough? Could you benefit from a window or portable AC for your gaming room?
https://www.lowes.com/c/Room-air-conditioners-Air-conditioners-fans-Heating-cooling

My office/gaming room is upstairs. It’s much hotter up there in the summer, so much so that I have a portable AC unit just for that room. Why portable? My HOA doesn’t allow window AC units.

The room’s definitely not cool enough. Even with the AC on, it doesn’t get super cool, and we don’t like to use the AC too much because of the power bill. To a certain extent the environmental situation is ‘just how it is.’

Until my HOA bitched about it, I had a $50 craigs list window unit covering my office/game room. It worked great. I ran it when I was in it, and only then, and it would cool the room down within about 10-15 minutes. I consider spot cooling (and heating) efficient, in that I now don’t have to crank down the main thermostat just to get that room reasonably balmy during the summer. I replaced the window unit with a much more expensive portable unit, but even still, it prevents me having to cool the whole house down just for that room.

There are other cheap options as well. Heat curtains, window film with some amount of sun block, etc.

Water cooling would work too, but it seems like attacking a room cooling problem with a specific fix for one item in the room.

My solution might sound since like it’s not really a solution, but I mean it as a genuine workaround, not a sarcasm: with 30 degrees nights and over 40 degrees days - and a couple of computers that didn’t last over a year - I have learned to not do any intense gaming in the summer, and just adjust my gaming habit to the outside weather. If budget is an issue, I’d suggest trying to preserve your hardware during this harsh season.
I think we had discussed this at some point with @Rhamorim, actually.

Edit: and yeah, dust - merely cleaning a fan can result in a difference of 10 to 20 degrees C of cooling, especially if you live in a humid area.

That bodes well for climate change. Never mind millions displaced and starving – think of the lost gaming time!

I’d say it’s a very mild but also quite tangible effect of the climate change I have been experiencing, indeed ;)

+1 vote for cleaning the dust out of your PC.

Also, you could try underclocking/undervolting.

It sounds like you’re reluctant to upgrade, but I’d still recommend not spending more money trying to cool a 4-year old system. The current crop of CPUs will outperform that old AMD, and generate less heat while doing it.

Also the Define R5 is magic. I didn’t realize my computer was off from a storm last night until pecking at the keys didn’t do anything.

@Gordon_Cameron I love these little fans. They’re quiet and move air nicely. I wouldn’t plug it into my computer even though it has USB plug. Just get a power strip with built in USB ports. You could use on on yourself, and one pointed at your computer intake.

https://www.amazon.com/Opolar-F60-6-Inch-USB-Table/dp/B015Z3PV4Q/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1501864926&sr=8-11&keywords=opolar+fan+usb

https://www.amazon.com/Opolar-Desk-Clip-Mountable-Speeds/dp/B01081DZY8/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&qid=1501864951&sr=8-24&keywords=opolar+fan+usb