I never paid any attention to the temp. before. Since I changed the ram from 1 GB to 4 GB (only getting 3) and discontinued the integrated media and installed a video card to this Dimension 4700 I felt like I was sitting in a oven. I downloaded Speed Fan and Cupid HWMonitor I had 70C (158 deg F), I thought that was a little too hot. Anyway I got a stand a mounted the tower on it to the side. I opened up the side and have a small fan blowing through it, I now have CPU @ 48C (116 deg F) AND HD @ 31C (87 deg F). I have always kept the inside blown out so it is as clean as when I got it. Is this going to a good temp. for now? I am not worried about it being open because no one will touch it.
On another note, sometime I would like to get away from the Dell. Can you suggest a combination ie: case, mobo/cpu etc. that I can maybe start trying to gather probably a piece at a time. I am on social security disability so it might be a little slow in getting together. I would like to get something that will last a while and upgradeable, also I can probably use some of the hardware from this dell that I have added. I have been looking through different hardware sites and it is mind boggling with all the stuff out there. I have a friend that has a computer repair business that will help and he told me to look for ATX AND 775 socket also intel base. I have tried but there is just too much stuff. I don't do anything fancy with a computer, minor games like casino and pool, a little experimenting, just trial and error stuff. I think the quad stuff will be a little on the expensive side I don't know. Any suggestions that I can look into will be appreciated.

Hello richardmc,yes 70c is a little hot,but now you have your temps in check and pretty good by the way.. They're many add ons you can do to keep your computer cooler,one and the cheapest is what your are doing now..... Also it would help a lot if you could give an amount of money or budget you would like to stick to,it would help our hardware guru's in giving advice...............

There is really no budget. I would just like some things to aim for, and order 1 or 2 when I can.

Okay lets say under a thousand but I will have to pick it up when I can.

OK,so i am going to open this thread so it will get more attention.....thanks for your patience..

bump!

Hi Rich!

The graphics card can usually handle temperatures up to (and sometimes exceeding) 100°c, so it really depends on what the PC was doing at the time that temperature was taken. If the GPU was fairly idle at the time, then 70°c is a tiny bit hot. You would normally expect idle temperatures to be closer to 60°c.

The maximum temperature of your Pentium 4 is 67°c, so your other temperatures are.. not too bad. It really depends on how good your airflow is inside your PC. If the heat is left to accumilate inside the system, then temperatures will rise fast.

I do like Dell systems here, unlike America, the support over here is second to none. Although, not personally a big fan of the Dimention series and Dell's are not made with expandibility in mind. A Geforce 8400 requires more power than the standard PSU that comes with a Dell, and will also generate a lot more heat than a standard Dimension desktop can get rid of. The 4700's leave no room for additional cooling either. You would have to sacrifice the plastic exhaust that covers the CPU, and clips onto the rear fan, to help get rid of the GPU heat (at the risk of increasing CPU temperature). However, you can buy better cooling for your CPU as well.

As for your future upgrade, it really depends on your budget and if you have the money to spend right now, then I can post some links if you like. There's not much point otherwise, with technology constantly changing, they may not be available 6 months down the line. I would suggest saving all of your money until you have enough to buy everything, instead of buying things in bits and pieces too. Prices drop all the time too, so your more likely to get more for your money when you can afford it.

I'm quite fond of the i7's at the moment, so again, previous CPU's drop in price as more newer models are released. The newer i7's come with 8 cores!!!

Buy from reputable brands, rather than the cheapest you can find. You don't want your PC crashing on you every 5 minutes! The PSU is the foundation of your PC. Good brands include OCZ, Coolermaster, Antec to name a few. Should have a 12v rating of 20 amps to support a Geforce 8400, but if your likely to upgrade that card at any time, you might want something more powerful.

I can't imagine buying anything other than ASUS for a motherboard, but others generally considered good quality include XFX, Foxconn and Gigabyte. Memory is important too, Kingston, Corsair and Crucial are all very good.