Overheating computer?

[RideTheCrash]

In the past my computer died twice because it overheated. I can't really remember why, but there was something the store I bought it from screwed up on and had to fix. But since there was a vent directly behind it on the wall, we moved next to the desk on the floor.

Recently I moved my desk, mixer, etc to different parts of the room. I figured since the computer wouldn't be in front of a vent, it would be okay and wouldn't heat up. Well last night I was troubleshooting stuff with my soundcard and I noticed the computer was really, really hot. So I pulled it out some, left a fan running on it full blast and went to bed. It cooled back down but as soon as I'm on it for a bit it heats up.

Now I don't think it's really an internal thing in the computer, it has to be the location, because I didn't have this problem when it was on the floor. Where it's sitting right now is in a space made for computers in my desk. It has a backboard on the back of the desk, which has a few inches of space at the bottom and top for cables and such. I'm thinking the fan blows hot air out and since it's such a small space it heats everything up.

Now assuming I'm pretty much right, I'd obviously like to find solutions to this. Moving it back on the floor now isn't a great option anymore, but if I really have to, I'll find a way to. I was thinking maybe a small fan to put on the back board to blow onto it, but I don't want something really noisy due to recording (though I guess I don't really record in the same room I track in). And then I've heard of some other cooling devices, which I don't remember much about.

Any ideas?

 

[02o [Otto]]

overheating

first off how big is the computer case? can u add a few silent fans? are u monitoring the CPU so it doesnt fry? overheating can realy do some damage to computers and make the shelf life of parts very short and heat can cut down performance, is there an alarm set in the bios? incase of overheating
whats the heat of the CPU? do u have monitorying softwear running that lets u see the sys temp, cpu temp, fan RPM this is nice to have

Otto

 

[RideTheCrash]

I'm not sure how big it is...average? Sorry I can't find my measure, it decided to go missing. I don't have any software as far as I know telling me that kind of information. As far as I know it's just a regular fan in there too.

 

[crankz1]

You really need to open the case up and verify that all fans are operating (CPU fan, PSU fan and case fan if equipped) properly while the computer is running.
Also, while your in there, it may be a good time to do some cleaning of all the dust and crap that tends to find it's way inside computers.
Just make sure to power it down and unplug it prior to cleaning.

 

[reshp1]

I'm not sure how big it is...average? Sorry I can't find my measure, it decided to go missing. I don't have any software as far as I know telling me that kind of information. As far as I know it's just a regular fan in there too.

Do you know what motherboard is in there? Most Mobo's have temp monitoring programs that either come with them or you can download. If you have a Pentium, you know you're overheating it if the performance goes down considerably. It's called throttling, the CPU will slow itself down if it it gets too hot. Not sure about AMD, I think you can run those until you fry it. I have a little utility called ASUS probe that came with my ASUS mobo that I have running in the background all the time. It has an alarm that lets me know if my mobo or CPU goes above a user specified temp, and also if any of my fans aren't spinning for any reason.