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[ferrari_rulz_02]

Hi guys,
I have a major pain in teh ass of a problem that i hope to get some advice for.

I recently spent AU$400 on the guts to a new computer to run as a server at home. I have a copy of server 2003 as part of the MSDNAA program to run on it.
Initially i had a lot of problems with it blue screening, and it turned out to be a dodgey ram chip. Got that replaced and solved that problem.

But since then, it has continued to blue screen. I thought that it may be overheating, so i stuck the computer in another room, opened the case, and blew a desktop fan onto it. Have had it running now for 4 days, no blue screen to be seen (previously, it would blue screen 3 - 4 times a day).
however, i just moved it back into my room (cover on, no big fan blowing on it), and guess what....its overheating again.

the system is a Pentium d 820 (dual core) 775, 512mb ram, gigabyte ga-8vm800m-775 mobo, 350gb sata hdd in a micro-atx case.

i have one 80mm fan (out of a psu) acting as a system fan, but it obviously isn't doing good enough a job.

so what do you think i should do? i was thinking of spending $40 on a cheap full sized case, and see if the bigger area keeps it cooler. what do you guys think?

Thanks,
Daniel

[ferrari_rulz_02]

update:

i have had the server running all night in my room with the side of the case off. up untill i tried to VNC into it not 10 minutes ago, it hadn't blue screened. but after i had VNC'd into it or about 10 seconds....blue screen 0x19.

give my 10 minutes and i will post its current operating temperatures and a picture of the case

[ferrari_rulz_02]

ok...here are the temperatures that its running at at the moment:



Temp 1 and 3 are on the mobo (i am assuming), temp 2 is the cpu, and the last one is self explanatory.
These temps are taken with the side of the case off, as shown in the following image:



just some notes about the pic:
the fan in the lower right side of the image is an 80mm fan blowing air out the front.
The device below the hard drive in the upper right corner is a floppy drive case, with its guts removed, housing an 80mm fan blowing on the hard drive.
There is no exhaust fan at the rear of the case (to the left of screen), as there is only room to mount one 60mm fan, and i dont have one of them on me.

The temperatures change a bit when you take the side of the case off, with the cpu and temp 1 changing as much as 10C. However, my real concern is for teh third temp. That sits on 45 or 46 no matter whether the case is all on, of all off and a fan blowing on it.

For that reason, im thinking that it might be a better idea if i just migrate the whole thing to a new, full sized case, and a 120mm exhaust fan at the back of it.

[ferrari_rulz_02]

QUOTE(awal @ Oct 29 2006, 03:52 PM)

btw those temps are not bad

yeah, i didn't think so either, but the 45C one is the one im worried about.

but there must be something overheating, because if i put the side of the case back on, it will blue screen. take it off, it wont (and there is a bit of a difference in temps with the case on/off.

[ferrari_rulz_02]

update:

i am getting very worried about that temp that is sitting at 45C. I have identified it as the south bridge. The north bridge chip has a nice big heat sink on it, but the south bridge has nothing.

i was thinking about just getting an el-cheapo heat sink just to sit on it, and hopefully that will make a bit of difference (i am only looking to getting 5C of thermal difference. more would be great, but its not really necessary).

i have found once nice cheap heat sink that i think will do the job. See the online description here

The only problem that i can see with doing this is with the chip itself.
see the below image



the problem is that i don't know if thats a sticker on top of the chip. if it is, then then heat sink will not be very effective.

i would really like to know what you guys think. i think i will get that heat sink in the next few days, but i would love you hear your comments.

cheers,
daniel

[--DANNY--]

Danny

[ferrari_rulz_02]

QUOTE(xboxexpert @ Nov 2 2006, 01:51 PM)

I think when you put the side of the case on it push's on the IDE Connector which then push's on the CPU fan bringing it to a hault.  When you take the side off the IDE connector comes off the fan and it starts again.  Do me a favor and clean up the mess in that case then post results.

thanks for the replies guys. no, the ide connector is not hitting on the cpu fan, it just clears it. the speedfan program that i use to check the temperatures also monitors the fan speed of the cpu. at the moment, i have the cpu fan running flat chat all the time. that has dropped the temperatures of the northbridge and cpu to 32C and 27C respectively.

The southbridge chip is sitting a good 4 inches away from the edge of the cpu fan.

i have tidied the cables up a bit, just getting them out of the way. as you can see in the picture i posted before, there is a fan in the area of the southbridge (lower left of the picture). the only thing is that i am using that as the exhaust fan, as i dont have a 60mm fan to place in the rear of the case.



im thinking of spending $40 and getting a cheap, full sized case for it. i had a look in the shop today, and there is room for two 80mm exhaust fans in the case i am looking at.

do you think that the computer would be right to sit in that case, with two 80mm fans, and run in a closed closet?
--DANNY--, i was actually planning on putting it in the closet and using vnc to monitor it since i got the thing. but with it overheating and blue screening, i figure its best to sort these problems out now before i tuck it away for good.

thanks guys for the replies, i really appreciate it

{p.s. xboxexpert, i love your water cooling. they rock }


edit: i get now why you said that about the ide connector pushing on the cpu fan xboxexpert....
it looks like the cpu fan is not spinning in that picture....that just the quick shutter speed on my digital camera. believe it or not, it was actually spinning at around 2000rpm.

[--DANNY--]

Danny

[xboxexpert]

Hop on MSN tomorrow and add me.  I'll help you resolve your problem.