Hi - I am planning on building a new pc for myself within the next 6-9 months there is a simple question that has popped into my head of great concern. I was interested in in hearing what your thoughts might be regarding all this extra heat build-up that seems to be going on now with the latest new hardware along with mobo's that use passive cooling solutions and how it may or may not effect the health/longevity of a newly built system in the long run and even its short term stability/dependability attributes.It seems to me that amost of these mobos are opting for passive cooling solutions now...this worries me, not in itself so much but more because of the fact that this is coupled with new processors that are turning out a lots of power usage/heat and SLI GPU configurations which are also adding greatly to the heat equation, not to mention 600 & 700w PSU's running alongside all of this.Im worried that if I make the wrong decisions when building my new system that all this heat buildup will severely limit the the longevity of my pc and or its components...I am planning on building a new home pc that might include an AM2 AMD dual core or even 4x4 proc, SLI or possibly GX2 (so that

David,Yes I would consider additional cooling in the system you specify. First thing you should look for is a good case. I haven an Antec P180 and it has a great air flow, combined with a Thermaltake Big Typhoon CPU cooler I manage quite ok (+/- 40

Hey David,Things to be concerned about:1: Heat2: Airflow3: DUSTThe latter often being overlooked. Anyway as far as passive cooling, unless you are a "silenceFreak" stay away from passive, getting some fans sucking and blowing is the sure way to keep things cool. But there are quite alot of choices, so what is the budget (if you have any) to start with.?

budget is not a problem for me...i already plan on using a high end case with extra fans installed, and i regularly dust out my case's fans, filters and cpu heatsink, etc.What bothers me is that there seems to be no other choices as far as the new mobo's are concerned...in other words, they all seem to have passive cooling solutions, and the few that DO have small fans seem to break easily and arent reliable...im just afraid that a couple of 120mm case fans and a Zalman9500 cpu cooler might not really be enough these days...think about it...with 2 gpu's things can quite hot, then add to that a 600w PSU, also very hot, memory get hot as well these days, and then you have 2 hard drives and 2 optical drives, not to mention all the cables getting in the way and you have a case with not too much room left for the kind of airflow you might truly need these days.Im already considering to buy a case thats very oversized...probably a full tower no doubt...but still im a bit worried after reading about all this new stuff comming out over the next 12 months..its powerful and HOT..and whats the point of putting all that together in 1 case if the darn motherboard chipset is gonna fry because the new mobo technology isnt including a solid cooling solution for its own chipset?I never worried much about heat before and ive been building my own systems for 10 years now without trouble...but when you keep reading all about the new stuff comming our way shortly and how much power its all gonna need and how much heat each component is going to be expelling...well...i just dont feel too comfortable about it...i dont feel like spedning $3,000 for something thats going to have heat/stability issues because i run the thing 8 hours a day 7 days a week...my current system is 4 years old now and never had a hiccup...but something tells me this sort of problem-free system might not be as simple to obtain in the future.Dave

Dave,Since you are getting a bigtower, thats allready a plus and will greatly reduce heat build up allready. However, these days with the North/Southbridge chips also getting very hot. Might suggest you look at either a Zalman NB32J Gold which is passive but does an Outstanding job keeping it cool, or you can look at a Swiftech MCX159 which is actively cooled, now dont get put off by the looks of the flimsy fan, because its all but that. Its a very nice sollution for getting rid of another 50F of heat. Now looking at the PSU dont get a passive one, get a nice dual fan one, Kingwin has recently brought out their newest version the Mach1, which does not only look nice but does a great job sucking out the heat from the CPU surrounding area thus further reducing build up, oh yeah when getting a CPU Cooler make sure its full Cu. not some Alu or Alu/Cu.. Copper conducts the best. Now to move on to the drives, you want to keep them cool, in a bigtower get cooler bays like a SilverStone FP53. As for your video card, have to wait for those new cards, currently as an example the 7900 is cooled better with the stock cooler than aftermarket one. Those things are nuclear reactors and a main contributer of heat build up. So your allready good on your way with thinking and as long as you get a bigtower with enough fans that'll provide do good airflow ( Blowing more air INTO the case then sucking it OUT ), i know that sounds wierd, but im telling you this becuase that will help you reduce dust buildup,A good rule of thumb is front to back and botom to top. So if you can mount fans on the front and side they should suck air in the case and fans on the back and top should blow air out. Futhermore get a good chipset fan for the NB/SB and you shouldnt have to worry that much about heat buildup.hope this helps you on your way,

Just FYI...When you get around to building this thing...There is a little program called SysTool I've just happened across...Does a nice job of temp monitoring ect...http://www.techpowerup.com/systool/I know there are others..Motherboard Monitor and SpeedFan for example...Those programs seem to be older and no longer supported?? SysTool appears to be more current and supports allot of newer components the other's don't...As to your concerns...I will just give my own personal expierences...I have a Liquid Cooled(Danger Den Stuff) Athlon64 4000+ system(OC'ed to 2.8g)...The temps never get over 45c under extended load...That's GPU and CPU...My computer room temperature can reach 79-80F in the heat of the day...I have never seen the CPU/GPU exceed those numbers...If the room is a bit cooler...My temps will be slightly lower...This system is probably workin' on two years old...It's been liquid cooled for a while now...OC'ed for a approx 3 to 4 months...I have no concerns for the longevity of this RIG...Even pushing it with the 2.8 OC...My FX-57 rig is about exactly the same story as the 4000+ as far as temps...However it is AirCooled and not overclocked(Yet..he he)... I personally switch out all of my case fans to the Panasonic PanFlow...They are the bomb...There may be other good fans out there too?? I just know the PanFlow's are Far More Effective than anything I have come across to date...They are a bit louder than some of the others...But to me it's worth it..I only use Round cabels...I feel they are much less restrictive than the traditional ribbon cabels...Also try and do a nice tidy job with the wiring...My personal philosophy is...If the case is moving air...The passive chipset cooling ect doesn't bother me...Like the others have said...Circulation is the key...I just don't find my stuff running all that hot...I have read the 7950 GX2's apparently are actually lower power consumption than the 7900's...And you get 2 for the price of one..he he...(I hope to have one on the way soon myself...)If your 6-9 months away from actually building...Stuff will have changed alot by then anyhow...I am looking forward to seeing what is in store...The Conroe stuff may be outperforming my trusty AMD stuff by then...I never thought I'd say this...But...There may be an Intel Box in my future?? I shudder to think...Good Luck with your decisions...

Chuck - thanks for the thoughts...i know what you mean about switching to intel possibly...im actually on the other side of that fence because for the last 10 years ive been building ive ONLY had Intel and never was willing to try AMD...AMD used to always run hotter and to me wasnt worth the small performace gain...but the last few years of watching and reading was just now starting to change my mind where ive finally decided that for gaming AMD was really the only way to go, afterall they offer much better performance fps wise than anything intel has right now...so you see i have been convinced to finally give AMD a go this time around when i build...HOWEVER, as you said i may STILL have to stick with Intel if their Conroe's can out perform AMD's 4x4 solution!! hehehe.Theres so much new technology comming out over the next 6-9 months that year end 2006 really might not be such a good time to build yet...i mean, between dx-10, vista, dx-10 gpu's, DDR2, Dual core procs and its alleged support by mainstream software devs that im starting to think spring/summer 2007 might be a better time thus allowing some time to see how it all unfolds and TRULY performs under real world situations & games so we all know what works best with what and for which games, etc. Im getting older now (41) and im noticing my game time is slowly begining to diminish a little bit at a time...kinda bored with certain game types, burnt out on others, not to mention getting sick of giving my money away to software pubs who are having a field day when it comes to releasing buggier and buggier deals as time goes on...plus the fact that it appears we are entering some sort of console cycle in the market now where less and less attention is being spent on pc titles...all this considered this may be the last machine i build for awhile...at least 5 years im hoping...normally i rebuild from scratch at least every 3 years like clockwork, but now i think my machines will have to hold me for longer, especially considering how clock speeds havent gained anything in the past 3+ years...kinda weird to think that 3 years ago i build this 3.0 gig Intel and if i built a new machine right now id still be in the 3 gig range (or less with AMD), LOL.Anyway, whats this Panflow all about?..sounds like it replaces the case fans?...ill have to check into it, sounds interesting as airflow in my case is very important to me...i wouldnt mind the noise if i can adjust it with some sort of controller for times when im not gaming...someone needs to invent a freon based mini-air conditioner unit thatll blow frigid air into your case, lolDave

"Anyway, whats this Panflow all about?..sounds like it replaces the case fans?"Actually they are case fans...They are just better quality, more efficient than most stock case fans(My expierence anyhow)...I mis-spelled...Correct spelling is Panaflo..SorryThey are really expensive for case fans...However I personally feel they are worth it!!http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/m...y_Code=Casefanshttp://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/m...y_Code=CasefansHave Fun!!