GA-X79-UP4: Motherboard temperature reasonable?

[winsyrstrife]

Hello,

I wanted to get some opinions on my motherboard's temperature.  It hovers around 48c idle, tested in AIDA64 and HWMonitor.  I believe the main reason for this is my eVGA GTX580 video card, that is in PCIEX16_2.  The #1 slot could not be used, since my Zalman CNPS11x cooler is simply too large for both devices to peacefully co-exist.  So the 580x is is sitting in PCIEX16_2 right over the X79 heatsink.  I haven't owned this mobo for more than 3 days, so I'm not sure what should be considered a safe threshold.

Also, what heatsinks are you all using with your GA-X79-UP4, that allow for a video card in slot 1?

[shadowsports]

Stock cooling air, and I have a GTX660 FTW Sig2 twin fan in my first PCIe_x16 slot.

Still rolling on Asus & SandyBridge here, but I wanted you to have a baseline for comparison purposes.

48c at idle seems a bit high for MB temp...  z68 or x79.

My low temps are achieved by airflow through my case.  What kind of case do you have?  Granted if you have something hovering over a passive heatsink, its going to run hotter that the rest of your rig. 

My case has 200mm front and top fans and a 120mm for exhaust, notice that they run at 700RPM or less.  I don't even hear them running most of the time.  They spin up if needed as do the fans on the 660, but you have to push it hard.  I don't think the MB ever goes above about 44c.  I've never had a reason to use anything except stock air, but if you want to OC, I'd do a nice water cooler which will give you the space for the card.  Case is everything as well.  The higher volume of air the cooler the MB will be, and as you can see, you don't need screaming fans to do it.         

[autotech]

Shadow is right that does seem high. Had a DFI back in the day they always ran that hot. I like gigabyte much better with proper airflow in your case you should see temps closer to shadowsport's.

[winsyrstrife]

I have an old as the hills Thermaltake Armor VA800 black. I do have some airflow issues due to my Enermax Galaxy 1000's generous connectivity options and my case having no cable routing management.  I've never had issues with the setup (been through 3 motherboards and 3 processors - upgrades), but this is the first with a setup putting the vga directly over the chipset.  Normally, my motherboard temps have been in the 35-38 range.

I'm planning on buying another case, but the particular one I want isn't available yet.  Below are stats of my PC in a, for the most part, idle state.

[autotech]

I would look more at getting a different cpu cooler first so you can move card up. That would save you on the case.

[shadowsports]

Agreed.  Start with the easiest solution and work your way up from there.  A modern MB typically has 3-5 sensors.  Its up to the manufacturer how the temps are reported, either as a cumulative avg or the value of the highest reading.

Cabling, do what you can to increase airflow through the case.   

[dmdilks]

I have that board and I run the ZALMAN CNPS10X OPTIMA 120mm. This one really gives you little room so if you want to remove the card you can. You can use a Cooler Master 212. It is even tightener.

[dmdilks]

Here are my temps:

[winsyrstrife]

Thanks for the replies. I've ordered a Zalman CNPS9900MAX.  That gives me about 1" of breathing room between the CPU cooler and the video card.  I'll reply again once everything is in place.  Meh...gotta remove the motherboard again so soon, and crud I forgot to order more thermal compound...

[dmdilks]

It should come with the Cooler. You really don't need a lot on compound. What you have on the cooler take it off and put it on the CPU. That should be enough.

The compound is only there to fill in the cracks on the metals. If you put on too much. It only end up on the edges of the CPU.   

[autotech]

I have that cooler and it is huge. On both my board the heat sinks from the north bridge or south bridge get it the way of installing it so I went with the 9700 Zalman.

[winsyrstrife]

Thanks for all the info and suggestions.

With my new Zalman CNPS9900 Max, I can now place my video card in the first slot.



Pretty much no space, but it works.  Here are temperature stats.