How to Keep Your PC Cool
Photograph: Marc Simon
It's critical to keep your system cool, particularly as you add newer--and potentially hotter--upgrades. Overheating can not only crash your system, but permanently damage your CPU and other components.
The solution, aside from your CPU heat sink, is fans, fans, fans. Properly installed, they pull cooler, outside air into your computer and exhaust hot air from near the top of the case.
To figure out how toasty your PC is, Robert Bruce Thompson, author of Building the Perfect PC (O'Reilly), recommends starting by measuring ambient room temperature with an ordinary thermometer. Then measure the temperature of air that's being pushed out by the system fan at the back of the case (not the power supply fan). If the exhaust air is at least 9 Fahrenheit degrees hotter than the ambient temperature, it's time to take action.
[1] Blow the dust away. Accumulated fuzz seriously hampers your heat sinks and fans. Use a can of compressed air, a computer brush vacuum attachment (less than $10), or a minivac (between $5 and $15) to get the gunk out.
[2] Bundle your cables with tie-wraps to make sure that they don't block the flow of air.
[3] If your PC is still too hot, add more fans. Check the Web sites of Zalman, EndPCNoise.com, and Quiet PC for selections. Grab the largest, with the highest rpm, that fits in your case. Quiet fans are spec'd at 30 decibels or lower.
[4] Last but not least, the excellent and free SpeedFan places a configurable temperature monitor in your system tray.
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