I see a lot of posts about people having trouble with their PC's crashing, becoming unstable, and so on. It's been my experience that the most frequently overlooked cause of PC problems is inadequate cooling. True, most CPU's and graphics boards come with built in fans, but all they do is circulate the air around inside the case. I recently helped a guy at work with a balky PC. Upon opening the case I discovered a 1.6ghz P4, and a radeon 8500 board, plus 512mb of ram chugging along inside a cramped mini-tower with no auxiliary cooling whatsoever. What little open space existed inside was crammed with overly long and poorly routed cables. Air ciruculation...zero. His CPU chip was so hot that some of the circuits around it on the mobo were discolored. I have very close to that same hardware configuration, with no less than 5 cooling fans. One each on the power supply, cpu and graphics chip plus front and back case fans. My PC sounds like jet engine running, but the result....my cpu zips along at a nice comfy 92 degrees. Barely warm to the touch. I'm not saying this is the cause of anyone's particular problems, but its something to check on. Mike Stone

:-lolMike, when I first saw your thread title, I thought, "Oh god, now what????". Bad for this old heart, donchaknow???

Hi Mike,I am personally offended about your keep it cool post. Hold on, be right back...........what...?...It's not about....?...You mean, I.......Never Mind, I agree... :-lol :-lol :-lol :-lol :-lol :-lolFlame hat yesterday, comedy hat today, must be something in the water at my office, huh...!!!Now where did I put my meds... :-)Nice Post, Mike. :-)Regards,Joe :-wavehttp://home.attbi.com/~jranos/mysig.jpg http://avsim.com/hangar/air/bfu/logo70.gif

Well, you gotta admit, it beats shouting at the top of your lungs,ATTENTION!!!!!!!!ATTENTION!!!!!!!!PLEASE READ!!!!!!!Oops, we've probably passed the quota for that phrase today...Dan

Mike, you mean to tell me that this 145 F my CPU is shoing is NOT the recommended temperature????!!! :-eekI thought when these things get warmer the bits flow quicker through their veins and you get a better image when using FS2002 at high resolutions !! :-shy :-outta Francois :-wave[table border=0 cellpadding=10 cellspacing=0][tr][td valign=bottom" align="center]"At home in the wild"[/td][td valign=bottom" align="center][link:avsim.com/alaska/alaska_051.htm|Don's Alaskan Bush Charters]"Beavers Lead the Way"[/td][td valign=bottom" align="center][link:www.avsim.com/vfr_center/mainpages/vfr_flights_main_page.htm]VFR Flight Center]"Looking Good Outside"[/td][/tr][tr][td valign=top" align="center]http://avsim.com/hangar/air/bfu/logo70.gif[/td][td valign="top" align="left" colspan=2]http://www.fssupport.com/images/moose2.gif[/td][tr][/table]________________________Francois A. "Navman" DumasAssociate Editor &Forums AdministratorAVSIM Online![/bemail: [email protected]________________________

Yeah, catchy subject line. Never thought that it might be misinterpreted given recent events.Mike StoneYou gotta admit though, it beats coffee for waking you up.

Nope, it's just like beer, if is gets too warm it just can't cut it.Mike Stone

Don't use that reasoning in the UK !! :-lol :-outta Francois :-wave[table border=0 cellpadding=10 cellspacing=0][tr][td valign=bottom" align="center]"At home in the wild"[/td][td valign=bottom" align="center][link:avsim.com/alaska/alaska_051.htm|Don's Alaskan Bush Charters]"Beavers Lead the Way"[/td][td valign=bottom" align="center][link:www.avsim.com/vfr_center/mainpages/vfr_flights_main_page.htm]VFR Flight Center]"Looking Good Outside"[/td][/tr][tr][td valign=top" align="center]http://avsim.com/hangar/air/bfu/logo70.gif[/td][td valign="top" align="left" colspan=2]http://www.fssupport.com/images/moose2.gif[/td][tr][/table]________________________Francois A. "Navman" DumasAssociate Editor &Forums AdministratorAVSIM Online![/bemail: [email protected]________________________

Mike,That is why I much prefer the full height towers compared to the tiny towers that come with most name braned PC's. Thanks for the info.Brent

I totally agree, Mike. I've added 6 additional fans to mine, and it runs as cool as a cucumber! Even drilled some holes in the side panel, and hooked up an old power supply fan I had lying around.Darrell

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[link:flightsimmers.net/airport/dkrobson1/downloads.htm]Netscape users click here!]Downloads, (the best DC-10 and 737-200 sounds available), links, fs forum, polls. [/center

When I built my pc that was my main concern. So I got the Antec sx1040. Slots for 4 fans in the case plus the power supply.I have the 4 fans, 2 pulling air in, 2 pushing air out, one additional on the power supply, one on my video cards, an 80mm fan. So my case sounds more like a turbo fan starting up. Adds more realism to my flights!!! :)Laterhttp://www.forefrontgrp.com/jayssig.jpg"There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss!"

That is a complete myth !!!!:-beerchug