XP 2600+ 333FSB temps

this is for my newly built computer. running with stock speeds and after windows loads, MBM 5 shows about 35C case and 40C for the cpu. the bios shows about the same temps. is this normal or is the case usually warmer?

im wondering what fan directions are best. i have two bottom case fans (pic) in exhaust and was wondering if i should switch them or have one in each direction? also, my heatsink fan is blowing towards the heatsink, should i reverse this? i dont know if this is supposed to blow cool air (from where?) at it or if i just set it up backwards... the window is also removable if anyone thinks i should do that.

i've noticed that the heatsink on my 9800pro card is warmer to the touch than my all copper cpu heatsink (when im not gaming). could this be from a weak thermal grease connection or something else? thanks to anyone who answers even a few of these questions

the case fans are fine.and leave the cpu fan facing towards it.it blows cooler air from inside the case onto the heatsink and everything.and those temps are awesome.i wish i could get that.mine seems to run 46c on the cpu and like 40 in the case

just played a few rounds of battlefield and i got about 52cpu 42case

oh and those were o'c'd temps to 2.3 GHz

Those are fine temps, particularly for an oc'd amd. Case temps might be a bit high, but the cpu temps are fine, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Have you tried reversing the bottom fans? You may want to consider trying both configurations, and seeing what is best. If you really want cool temps, a medium to large (80mm or greater) side intake fan in combination with a blowhole works really well. I actually wound up doing a bit of drilling with my old case to get it cool enough, until I found one with a side intake 92mm and a top blowhole 92mm. Coupled that with a 120mm rear intake, and the load temps are about 42C 3.0 GHZ @ 3.6GHz (Northwood core), case about 28C. She may not be quiet, but she's pretty fast
The new case came with the side fan as exhaust, and in most systems the rear fan is exhaust also. I tried it that way, and I found it to be much cooler with the fans reversed.


HTH
Detrifuse

The main idea is to get air to flow through the case. aka cross ventilation. You want to get cool air in the case and blow out the hot air. And you need the ehaust from the CPU to flow out. From the picture, it looks like there are fan mounts behind the front bezel in front of the 3.5 inch drives. Maybe you could add a fan there to blow fresh air in the case and keep the other fans in exhaust. Bottom line is you need to get the hot air away from the CPU and out of the case.

OTOH, your temps aren't that hot so you could just let it be.

thanks for the tips people. i have another question, is the hot air that's blown out of the psu mostly its own generated heat, or is that also an indication of how hot the computer is? reason im asking is cuz the psu's intake (i think), on the inside of the case, is directly above the heatsink

If he added a fan in the front and left the bottom/side ones exhaust, then the cold air from outside of the case brought in by the front fan would be sucked out of the exhaust before it circulated well... Imagine what the air would do, taking into account the fact that heat rises, and be willing to try more than one fan configuration until you find one that works. In my old case I actually had to tape up a vent to get the air to do what I wanted (it was a rather non-standard fan config that required more than a little drilling).

Also, yes, the power supply generates a LOT of heat. I like the newer PSU's intake above the processor area, because it draws the relatively cooler case air through the PSU, which generates the largest amount of heat.
Feeling the exhaust air SHOULDN'T be a good indicator of how hot the computer is, the bios readings handles that.
I say shouldn't, because the power supply exhaust will always be quite warm, and the case exhaust should generally be very close to ambient. This, however, is not a good indicator of the CPU or GPU temps as those are strongly affected by the amount of heat that went into the heatsink as well as overall case airflow. You could have cool exhaust and still be overheating, and warmish exhaust but be moving enough heat away from critical areas.


HTH,
Detrifuse

well there's one more thing... i dont actually have the normal exhaust in the back of the case. just the two fans at the side, and the heatsink fan which can moved like SO , and SO my temps have increased a bit, now, running just this one IE window for the forums it's 52C cpu and about 41/42C case. my cpu is overclocked to 2.3GHz (dont know what that is in AMD's rating terms) and at 100% load (playing a new game Far Cry?) it tops out at around 58Ccpu and 46C for the case (playing the new game and then exiting quickly to look at MBM 5). i currently have the left side fan (one closer to the rear) in intake and the one towards the front in exhaust, from which there is slightly warm air coming from the case. and my heatsink/movable fan is blowing towards the heatsink still. drilling doesn't seem like an option to me, but maybe another fan if i cant set these up right. i can also remove the window, if it doesn't disrupt the airflow in a bad way.

side comment: i left an almost empty bottle of water on my case above where the psu is, and the water is in little droplets all around (inside) the bottle now, cuz the cap is still on

Maybe the fresh air would be sucked out before it circulated, maybe not. If all fans are in exhaust, where does the fresh air come from? Air flow is better if you balance the push in with the suck out.

Use the cable ties to bundle up your wires so air can flow better inside the case.

I have 1 inlet fan on a constant speed, 1 exhaust fan that is temp controlled and my CPU fan is temp controlled.