Cooler is better I know...but

[OBIO]

how are these temps (taken with Everest Home Edition)?

Mother Board = 100 Degrees F

CPU = 117 Degrees F

GPU = 127 Degrees F

IDE HD = 100 Degrees F

SATA HD = 95 Degrees F

Ambient air temp is 76 degrees F thanks to a nice Trane central A/C system.

These temps were taken right after shutting down FS9. I had been flying for about 45 minutes with Track IR 4, FSMetars, Snapper all running in the back ground and AVG doing the daily 4:00 AM virus scan of the entire computer (along, AdAware, Linksys Easy Link Advisor and all the odds and end that XP has running behind the scenes). I don't know if these temps are too high, okay, superb.

I am planning on doing some small updates to my system, just replacing some of the stock stuff with new...not big ticket items, just small ticket items. A new case fan, new CPU heat sink and fan. And I have thought of a neat use for that plexiglass the nice old lady down the road gave me when I stopped in at her garage sale last spring....I am going to take the stock side panel off my system, replace it with plexi with either 2 120-mm case fans or an 8-inch diameter low profile server fan and run the fans off an independent 12 volt power supply.

The CPU fan and heat sink combo I am looking at on Newegg is the Rosewell RCX-Z200. A 92 mm fan with an aluminum heat sink with a copper clad base. $15. Plus the cost of shipping and a tube of thermal grease.

Also thinking about picking up another 1 gig stick of PC3200 RAM. I currently have 2 gig, running XP Home SP3...will I notice any improvement with the 3rd gig or would it be a waste of money.

Also looking to upgrade my Power Supply. Currently running the stock 250 watt PSU, that only has 4 peripheral power cables. Would like to step up to at least 500 watt, with a few more power cables....what would be a good one to pick up at a good price?

OBIO

[stansdds]

My hard drives run a few degrees cooler than yours, but my case intake fans blow fresh air across them. Otherwise, I think your temps are just fine. A 250 watt PSU is pretty anemic by today's standards, I think you'll be happier with a better PSU.

[OBIO]

My HDs are all the way to the front and bottom of the case...and they get basically no air flow..hence the idea to plexi the side of the case and adding some more cooling fans. One directed across the HDs, one directed against the Graphics card, and one to help cool the CPU...got to check to see if the CPU fan blows cool air down into the heat sink or if it pulls the heat up out of the heat sink..that way I will know if I need to install that fan as a pusher or puller...will have to make up a hose thingie to focus the flow of air, but that should be easy as falling off a log.

I just need to decide if I want to use one super sized fan or two or three or four well placed smaller fans on the plexi. I can get the smaller fans for free (have a couple at hand already), the 8 inch low profile fan will set me back about 12 dollars. The single large fan will be easier to power externally using a single 12 volt power supply. Supplying 12 volts to 3 or 4 smaller fans will be a bit tougher, but I can do it.

OBIO

[stansdds]

I can tell you that a single 120mm fan moves a lot more air than a pair of 80mm fans and is much quieter, so bigger is better when it comes to fans.

[OBIO]

I have replaced the 80mm fan on the "custom" plexiglass side panel with a 120mm. And you are right, a 120 does move a ton of air for a small fan.

OBIO