Harry,
Everythings else said before +...
Did you say what temps you get with the side panel off?
If you get a big drop in temp then you do have a lack of circulation in
the case.
The front fan may be rotating too slow for example.
Check the mounting of the Heatsink on the CPU. It is common to get poor
coupling between the heatsink and the CPU especially when too much heat gunk
is put on. I would recommend going to the arctic silver web site
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
and read their installation instructions. Observe the model of heat gunk
hyou have - there is AS 3 and AS 5. AS 5 with Pentiums is put on a bit
different - ensure you note the instructions for the correct CPU.
One of the most important things in mounting a heatsink is to press down and
the AS site says "
Once the heatsink is properly mounted, grasp the heatsink and very gently
wiggle it slightly clockwise and counterclockwise one time each if possible.
(Just one or two degrees or so.)"
Now that means a very very small wiggle! (Milli Wiggle is that latest term).
The thing to avoid is twisting, sliding, or otherwise tearing the surface of
the gunk as that creates non contact areas --> hot spots --> system crash. I
had a CPU that ran stoney cold, but if I printed to my Epson printer the
temp would go through the roof - that was the cause.
So take your time and try re-mouting the CPU - getting a near transparent
film of heat gunk on the CPU is the trick.
Lastly:
The best temps I have seen for stock systems are those in cases with side
ports and a tube straight to the heatsink fan. The fans are slow and quiet
and because they can suck in cold air (can't get colder than ambient)
straight onto the heatsink with no drag, best resulst. The fan on the case
side may be more hindrence than help if it pushes slower than the heatsink
fan sucks - I think it acts like a valve blocking flow if there is a
mismatch.
- Tim
))