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[Astral]

Well, I've been having a minor issue with my computer lately, namely it shutting down after a fairly processor intensive activity. This got me thinking; what would cause this to happen? So I booted up SpeedFan and discovered that my processor was running fairly hot. After sleeping on the issue, I started up my computer in the morning and found that it was running at approximately the same heat... some two minutes after starting my computer; just running Netflix for the last three hours or so is making my GPU at ~51C and my CPU at ~54-55C. Not good at all, I'm afraid (and on further inspection, I felt that the heat sink attached to the processor is, in fact, quite hot. Go figure).

My room is usually cozily cool, and I will wrap my self in a blanket in the interests of keeping myself warm while helping out my computer. I've moved my room fan closer to my desktop and set it on high to provide temporary relief, but I'm in need of a more permanent solution.

My questions is this: Does anyone have suggestions for a better cooling system than a couple fans that generally runs at around 2100 RPM or so? I've been looking into water cooling systems but I can't, for the life of me, figure out what would and would not be compatible with my desktop. Space won't be too much of an issue; the case is fairly roomy. The most likely issue would present itself as the power supply, as I can't imagine it can handle much more (and I've been looking into trying to replace it, in the interests of upgrading my graphics card, but haven't had the time or money to until recently). I'm also likely going to need a tube of thermal paste to renew the seal on the processor, and I'm kind of sad that my graphics card doesn't appear to have an accessible heat sink, just a fan on the card itself.

I can post specs later, if it would help, but any idea of what may be going wrong would be great.

[Fredson]

Just replacing the thermal paste might already solve your problem. After a few years it normally has to be replaced by a new one. If you are looking into watercooling but dont want the hassle to set up a complete system you should think about buying one of the Corsair Hxx series. If you dont want to overclock a H50 or H70 would probably be okay, the H80 and H100 cool better but arent worth the higher price if you stay at stock clock with your processor. If you buy 2 new fans for the Corsair coolers (or 4 for the H100) you can let them run even slower if you set them uf in a push/pull configuration. But keep in mind that you neet a free case fan slot in the right size or you may have to drill new ones which.... normally isnt fully recommended
Just out of interest: What are your specs?

[Astral]

Overclocking has never been an issue for me. I've been fine with the way this computer runs normally. Cobbled parts bought from Newegg together with a stock CyberPowerPC (which I will never buy from again; horrible customer support, though the wiring was rather neatly done. And the RAM and Motherboard both were causing issues out of the box...).
Specs:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131232
Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2.33 GHz
4096 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 (1GB)

As of right now, running nothing but more Netflix, I'm running at 54C on my GPU and 63 on my CPU... blah.

[Fredson]

The CPU is probably a Q8200, am i right? Well it has a quite low TDP so a decent air cooler or just new paste should be more than enough. When your CPU eventually becomes too slow for you, it has quite good overclocking potential (3GHz-3.5GHz on a high end air cooler). So buying an upper midrange/highend cooler instead of a cheaper one might be better and more silent in the long run (because the CPU's warranty should alread have expired (when it becomes too slow)).
The GPU temperature actually should be normal. Highend chips at least get just as hot in idle. But because its a low range card.... Its rather strange that both temperatures seem high now that I think about it. Maybe your case fan is broken? Cleaning your case with a vacuum to get rid of all the dust is also advisable. If you happen to have filters in front of your case fans you should clean them, too.
Or did you just move your PC and now one of the fans is blocked?

[Astral]

All the fans appear to be working fine, and the first thing I did when I started having this issue is taking an air canister and vacuum to clean everything out, but still no dice. I currently have my case propped open in order to allow more airflow from my room fan but that doesn't appear to be helping much either. Definitely looking into a new (or revamped) cooling system though.

[Fredson]

The GPU is still a little hot though. About 20° too hot. But if you want to replace it eventually thats not really a problem. Especially becaus GPUs can stand up to 90° without bigger problems.

[Astral]

After some deliberation with friends over Skype, I've decided to stretch my bank account a little and go for the H80 along with a Corsair power supply and a fresh order of thermal paste. I definitely won't be getting a graphics card anytime soon, but this will at least set me up for getting one in the long term. I do hate gimping myself by not having a somewhat future ready computer, and I've already replaced the motherboard; power supply can't be too difficult.

Edit: As another, random update I found that Netflix isn't perhaps as non-CPU intensive as I originally thought. Idle (and this is information taken from SpeedFan, so I may be quoting it badly), the cores individually run in the 40-45s, but with Netflix (and by proxy, Firefox's plugin container) it was hitting in the 55's, while the main sink was in the 60s. I think that getting the water cooler for my CPU should alleviate the majority of my shutting down issues.

[kg333]

Overall, your temps sound about right, possibly a little high on the idle, certainly not enough to merit water cooling.  Modern AMD CPUs are designed to run at up to about 68C under load continually, while Intel processors are designed to run at up to 70C.  GPUs will safely run at about 70-90C, depending on the card.  As an example, mine runs around 33C idle on my AMD 965BE, and at about 60C under full load.  My GPU runs around 50C normally, and about 75C under load.

However, you're right that Netflix really isn't a valid test for full load.  I would recommend downloading prime95 and doing a max heat test for a little while.  As long as temps stay under 70C for your CPU (and with a stock fan they will be only slightly under), you're probably fine on heat.

[Astral]

My main concern was the shutting down in the middle of playing New Vegas; I couldn't get a fully accurate read on those temperatures unfortunately. The water cooling is part of a set up that I'm going to take advantage of later, though. I've always planned on upgrading it, piece by piece (having done some RAM and the motherboard so far), and it made some amount of sense for me to do so when I get a fan that appears to expel air into the case (for the power supply, though I could be wrong). For now, it's just to keep it cooler for longer and possibly allow for some overclocking later.

[Falc]

Test your ram as well. I had issues that sort of look like yours and certainly gave the appearance of heat issues, but it turns out my mobo had simply started getting flaky... Memtest doesn't take that long and if that fails, you might be looking at a more structural issue.

[jetex1911]

I had my computer heating up alot once, and a friend told me to open it up. When I looked into the innards, there was dust everywhere! When was the last time you've cleaned up the inside of your computer?

[Astral]

As of installing the power supply, yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I thought, though... I cleaned intermittently before then, usually once a month. Biggest issue, I think, was that the thermal paste on the motherboard cooling fan/processor was almost gone, but dust may have factored into it (considering I hadn't cleaned that particular part since I put it in, about a year and a half ago).

Unfortunately my computer cased utilized a spacer between the back of the case and the fan, causing it to be impossible (without extensive modifications to either my case or the cooling system) to install the H80. May look into another (if not more powerful) case fan after I RMA this back. Thank NewEgg that it will accept items as "incompatible."

[Nadaka]

I have dust filters on the air intakes for my computer. It really does help when you can just vacuum the filter clean or every once in a great whilepop it out and hose it off.

I've had similar problems myself recently and it was my mother board not playing well with my memory. It could be memory flaking out because your mother board doesn't set the timings and voltage correctly, and high performance memory can also overheat, so be aware of that as well.

[kg333]

Biggest issue, I think, was that the thermal paste on the motherboard cooling fan/processor was almost gone, but dust may have factored into it (considering I hadn't cleaned that particular part since I put it in, about a year and a half ago).

Thermal paste is sometimes said to lose some effectiveness after a year, but if it's gone after only a year and half, something went badly wrong.

KG