The new system I built runs between 32 and 34 C. Is that safe? The motherboard runs hotter, currently 47C. I was looking into replacing the stock case fan I have after seeing how much more air my other 2 fans push out, but I don't really know what my goals are. Nothing is overclocked.

My XP3200 runs a core temp of 39 degrees C and the motherboard a couple of degrees higher. Under heavy'ish load this rises to about 45 on the core.

Doesn't sound bad to me for CPU temps. You went AMD, right? They run pretty hot. Hotter than that for me.

*edit*
I've got a 2100+ and last time I checked it was around 40, and that's with the super-duper copper Zalman CPU HSF on it.

Yeah, it's a AMD64 2800+. I bought the retail version that has a pretty nice heat sink. My case has one of those funnels that extends to about 1/2" from the CPU fan. The funnel breathes right to the outside of the case. I was pretty amazed that the motherboard gets hotter than the CPU.

Well that funnel will help a lot. I suppose the mobo's chipset is hotter because it usually has a much dinkier cooling method on it, and your CPU cooling method is better than average. Does your chipset have a fan or heatsink?

I see one or two heatsinks on the motherboard (one for sure is on a big chip that says ASUS on it). No fans though.

Your goal is to not cook your hard drives, which generally means an ambient temperature of 45C or less inside the case near them. The drives themselves will be a few degrees warmer than that.

Cheers

Good to know. I wasn't aware that would be the important thing, but it makes sense. I wouldn't mind replacing any hardware on my PC EXCEPT for the hard drives. That would stress me out.

On my case, the "important" drives are mounted to the bottom front of the case - right near the two 80mm fans that pull in the cold air. The warm air expells out the top in the rear (just below the power supply).

Not bad for a $50 case that had a 450watt PS!

I dont know how true it is but I read somewhere that its better to have more exhaust fans then intake cause it causes some kind of vaccuum and sucks cool air in from all kinds of differnt spots in the case. I could be way off tho, just something i remember reading.

I was bored so I stuck my web cam inside of my case.

Wow. That's bored.

Yeah, seemed like a cool idea. Until I realized that nothing ever happens in side of a case!

I generally want a fan blowing (not sucking) air at the hard drives to keep them cool. Fans suck air from all directions, but tend to blow it mostly straight out.

As for the rest of the case, suck it out at the top, which is why PSUs are built that way and placed there.

Cheers

On the other hand, if all of your fans blow inward, and they have dust filters, then your case will get less dusty inside, potentially saving fan lives.

I looked for a 92mm fan to replace my 80mm rear fan (the case is pre-drilled for both) and can't find any in stock that have blue LEDs on them. At least not from any stores I've heard of before. Sucks ordering these things and paying more for shipping than the fan!

Yeah, I found that the case for nearly all of the cases (no pun intended) I looked at. It's actually a 400watt power supply. Kinda hard to get anything under 350 nowadays because of the P4 and AMD64 rerquirements. The case is a "Rosewill" which, for cheap cases, is actually considered "name brand". They made the power supply too. I'm sure I'll be upgrading it soon, but I needed a system to get on my feet.

Thanks! Is 34.01 CFM good for a 92mm fan? I know nothing about hardware.... (I'm sure you guys picked up on that already!)

Frankly, I'm not certain. I've never really been a modding guy of any sort, and I've just stuck with the fans that were in my case to begin with. Of course, it's a Lian-Li case, so it's pretty nice all over.

What I would wonder is if those fans will be sufficiently quiet. But hey, for $3 it's not too much of a gamble.

and at 34CFM it sound like jet turbine with afterburners