My PC keeps alarming on hot days. I assume it's overheating. Can you get additional fans fitted to stop this?

Question

Are they very expensive? Are they easiy to fit yourself? I am not a 'techie', and would be worried about taking even the cover off the PC. ALso, I am assuming that this is an overheating problem, but I don't know. Is there anything on the PC that can tell me this?

Answer 1

Speedfan will keep track of temps for you.
or Rivatuner
or Everest

Taking the side off requires only a small amount of technical ability, and would probably cool the cpu by a few degrees immediately. Probably? - in a case where there is good airflow, this would be reduced by removing the side - that's not something you need worry about!
If taking the side off does the trick - two things:
minimise the opportunity to accidentally introduce foreign bodies to the case: feet; fingers; pencils; pets; children...
you will need to clear out the dust more often. gently. by putting the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner in the vicinity of the components NO TOUCHEE! A compressed air can is useful in provoking cleaning out fans & fins. In fact, that might be a good place to start - dust build up over time seriously impairs the effectiveness of fans - I've lost a couple of graphics cards that way...

Fitting extra fans. I would suggest this is not easy - there is likely to be nowhere to mount them. It may be that you could replace your existing case fan with a more powerful one - that should be straightforward. In my experience you are likely to have to replace an 80/90/100/120mm fan with one that is the same size. You need to look for high cu.ft/sec values - this is likely to go hand in hand with rpm (and dB - it will get noisy!).
I once blu-tac'd a spare 80mm fan at the front/bottom of my case, to suck air in. I was trying to cool the hard drives - it may have worked on the cpu - a little.
The psu. Fairly easy to change out. The replacement should have at least two fans - one to blow air out the back, and one to draw it in from the case.

First step - clean existing dust out.
Second - monitor temps
Third - change rear case fan
Fourth - change psu

Good luck.

Answer 2

Ok you need to open the PC up (sorry but this is what has to be done) and give it a good clean up. There is most likely a huge build up of dust and stuff and that is what is overheating and possibly clogging the fans.

Try unplugging the PC and disconnecting all the external cables. Pull out the unit and open it up....

Now, with a vacuum cleaner and small funnel attachment, suck up all the excess dust.

Now take an old pastry or paint brush (dry) and the vacuum cleaner, and clean up the fans a bit more.

try and get all the corners of the PC as it gets everywhere. Also get the hoover round the power supply as it clogs up too.
Just be careful not to break or touch anything while you do this and it'll be ok.

Once cleaned up, leave it open and plug in the mains lead. switch on the PC and check that all the fans are turning, especially the one on the CPU. if any are not turning, it's essential you get a replacement fan asap. You can get one at your local PC outlet or Ebay. online etc very cheaply.

And if you did this, give yourself a pat on the back for completing your first PC spring clean. Do this as regularly as you like and your computer just might last a few more years.

hope that helps bud :o)-

Answer 3

Fitting additional fans can sometimes worsen the problem as a new fan may work against the original fan, causing it to be less effective at it's job.
Blow out all the shite out of the case as it may be this dust that's ruducing airflow around the CPU.
Also, check the position of the temperature probe. The probe may have fallen down between the probes of the heatsink. Some probes are meant to be kept up a bit from the CPU, and if it's gone down too low, then the reading will be slightly inaccurate.

Answer 4

the best way is to just take the side off the computer. keep the cats out. but it'll run fine.

Fans will only help so much with a computer case that has wires and cables everywhere.

If it looks like a bed of multicolored sea kelp.

you should zip tie the cables out of the way so that you can take out "hot pockets" of air that get trapped by the cables.

and clean off your heatsink with a can of duster. take care not to let the cpu fan spin with the computer shut off. it'll create a voltage. and could damage componants.

:)

best of luck

Answer 5

i have 7 fans fitted inside mine, and a monitor unit that not only shows the temperature of the processor and motherboard but allows me to adjust the speed of each fan. Fitting is easy..... some clip in and some screw in with 4 screws, they plug into the motherboard or by a connector on the power supply loom, even for a beginner when you see them it becomes obvious what to do.

Answer 6

I'm in Germany and we have no air-conditioning. The fourth floor gets pretty hot. For my computer, I just get a desk fan and keep it next to the computer near the vents. It usually solves the problem.

Answer 7

i bought a new casing/tower for my PC which had 2 additional fans (side, back, front and internal now!) this cost me £50 and I simply switched the mother board etc over to the new casing and hooked up the power to the new fan

Answer 8

there are 5 fans in the computer of my friend,for protecting his cpu , hard drive, memory ect,
if u have airconditionner, which is more useful to your computer
or ,
it`s a the most convenience way for avoid overheating , to remove its metal crust ,and make the fanner to blow toward to your nude pc,if your pc is not a mobile

Answer 9

My dear friend,

If you have P4 Processer Then you must need additional fan in your CPU chesis. And it is on side cover. Bcoz P4 process is generate more heat then other processor.

And You can goto in BIOS Power management & see what is CPU fan RPM. if it is less then 4000 RPM then call hardware engineer & change your CPU cooling fan.

Good luck!!!!!!

Answer 10

In any case, you need more powerful cooler. Maybe, your fan is full of dust - this way, cleaning it will help you.
I mean both CPU cooler and Power Supply block.
You can also check your BIOS settings: what's max. allowed temperature there? Look at your CPU manual and set up maximum not-dangerous-for-CPU temperature