650TX fan facing Radeon = overheating cause?

Unhyper · #1 09-10-2010, 10:22 AM

I recently sent a Corsair 650W in for RMA due to overheating and malfunctioning. I am waiting for the new one to arrive, but in the meantime I am somewhat concerned as to whether my setup contributed at all to the old one's failure. My machine's a HP Pavilion p6510y. When I install the Corsair PSU into the case, the PSU's fan is pointing down right towards the graphics card, which is a Radeon HD4850. There's maybe around 3 inches of space between the Radeon's fan and the Corsair.

Before the Corsair failed completely, it had started shutting the system down automatically. I'd leave the machine idle and come back to it turned off. The PSU would also heat up the top and side of the case so much I couldn't touch it with my hand. Soon after, it failed entirely.

The PSU was around 3 years old, so maybe it had reach the end of its life. But my concern is this: is there an issue with the Radeon's fan and the bottom fan of the Corsair being so close to one another and facing one another? Do they counteract one another and cause overheating? Or is the Corsair designed to use the bottom fan for intake and expel the hot air through its rear fan?

I just want to be as sure as I can be that the case didn't cause the overheating of the previous unit, so as not to let it happen again with the new one.

RAM GUY · #2 09-10-2010, 10:41 AM

The fan on the PSU is only designed to cool the PSU and it would suck in air and blow it out the rear of the unit. The PSU is designed to operate at its full wattage at temperatures of up to 50 Celsius, so if heat was the cause of the PSU failure then either the PSU was defective and over heating itself, or you did not have sufficient cooling in the case.

Unhyper · #3 09-10-2010, 12:04 PM

Can the running temperature of the power supply be measured through software?

If the GPU, CPU, and HDDs report normal running temperatures, then I've assumed the cooling was sufficient; if measuring the temperatures of those components is not sufficient enough a gauge of estimating how hot the PSU is getting, what measures can I take to determine whether or not the PSU is getting enough cool air?

RAM GUY · #4 09-10-2010, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unhyper

Can the running temperature of the power supply be measured through software?

If the GPU, CPU, and HDDs report normal running temperatures, then I've assumed the cooling was sufficient; if measuring the temperatures of those components is not sufficient enough a gauge of estimating how hot the PSU is getting, what measures can I take to determine whether or not the PSU is getting enough cool air?

The PSU temperature can not be monitored through software. If you know that the other components were not overheating, then I suspect that the PSU failed on its own, and a replacement should resolve the problems.

sfried · #5 09-18-2010, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unhyper

I recently sent a Corsair 650W in for RMA due to overheating and malfunctioning. I am waiting for the new one to arrive, but in the meantime I am somewhat concerned as to whether my setup contributed at all to the old one's failure. My machine's a HP Pavilion p6510y. When I install the Corsair PSU into the case, the PSU's fan is pointing down right towards the graphics card, which is a Radeon HD4850. There's maybe around 3 inches of space between the Radeon's fan and the Corsair.

Before the Corsair failed completely, it had started shutting the system down automatically. I'd leave the machine idle and come back to it turned off. The PSU would also heat up the top and side of the case so much I couldn't touch it with my hand. Soon after, it failed entirely.

The PSU was around 3 years old, so maybe it had reach the end of its life. But my concern is this: is there an issue with the Radeon's fan and the bottom fan of the Corsair being so close to one another and facing one another? Do they counteract one another and cause overheating? Or is the Corsair designed to use the bottom fan for intake and expel the hot air through its rear fan?

I just want to be as sure as I can be that the case didn't cause the overheating of the previous unit, so as not to let it happen again with the new one.

I have just installed a Corsair 650TX in an HP e8190t. Judging from your description, you might have installed the PSU with the fan in the wrong direction. In my unit, the PSU is mounted at the top of the case. If you look on the inside of the case you should see venting holes drilled above the PSU unit. There is a space between the ceiling of the inside of the case and the actual case cover. Along the sides near the top there are vents that allow air to be drawn into the PSU unit and the air is the expelled through the back.
I understand the confusion, because if you mount it with fan facing down (towards the grahics card), all the lettering on the PSU is upright.
However the original HP PSU comes mounted with the fan up against the top.
Again, I am assuming that our cases are similar.
If you had mounted it with the fan facing into the case, the PSU would have been drawing the warm air coming off the internal components and trying to use that to cool off.
Good Luck

Unhyper · #6 09-18-2010, 08:36 PM

Unfortunately our cases are different; the PSU can only be mounted at the top, and with the fan down. The top cover of the case has no ventilation holes. The 'holder' for the PSU also is located right at the very top, leaving no space between the top of the case and the PSU.

I received the new PSU and so far it's been working well. It's not overheating, knock on wood. I think the previous unit had just finished its life cycle.

I did add an extra fan to the side of the case to draw in more cool air from outside the case just to improve ventilation, seeing as this case gets pretty cramped with all the cabling from the Corsair, and passive ventilation may not be quite enough.

All in all, so far so good, and Corsair really came through.

sfried · #7 09-18-2010, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unhyper

Unfortunately our cases are different; the PSU can only be mounted at the top, and with the fan down. The top cover of the case has no ventilation holes. The 'holder' for the PSU also is located right at the very top, leaving no space between the top of the case and the PSU.

I received the new PSU and so far it's been working well. It's not overheating, knock on wood. I think the previous unit had just finished its life cycle.

I did add an extra fan to the side of the case to draw in more cool air from outside the case just to improve ventilation, seeing as this case gets pretty cramped with all the cabling from the Corsair, and passive ventilation may not be quite enough.

All in all, so far so good, and Corsair really came through.

I was just now going to repost. I saw this video (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...roduct=4003107) from HP on installing a PSU in my model at it clearly show the fan facing down!! I think I will be calling support to check get an answer. My fan was definetely facing up when I changed it. It is possible that it was installed incorrectly when I recently had my motherboard replaced by HP.

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9/20/2010

HP has confirmed that the fan should face into the chasis to help exhaust the heat inside the box.