Hello there, quick question. What is the most effective way to cool down my entire system? I'm looking to just buy two 120mm Arctic cooling fans and some Arctic Silver 5 for the CPU, (possibly a new heatsink for the CPU aswell). Will this be adequate enough for my computer? Thank you for your time.

What case do you have? What motherboard? What are current case and core temps? Did you build the machine...someone else build it? Without some details the generic advice is to shut it off. Skip

The case i have is called Xtyling. The exact model is in the link below. http://www.dcwshop.co.uk/product_in... The motherboard is a P5N-E SLI, the current temps are too high in my opinion, especially the cores. The CPU idles at around 40-45 and the cores are considerably higher then this. My 8800GT idles at around 60, some say this is normal and some say it isnt. I don't even want to put the system under any stress until the temperatures are reduced. The computer was built to my specification not long ago. http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/...

fewer, larger fans is usually better than more, smaller fans. My last home-built rig had 6 80mm fans and it was noisy as hell. my current machine has 3 120mm fans, and is cooler and quieter. air flow can play a large role too - typically you want air being sucked in the front (fans blowing inward) and the hot air being blown out the back or top of the tower. Most fans will have a little arrow in the plastic, indicating which direction the fan spins and which direction the air flows. use compressed air to dust out the inside, make sure your HSF and PSU are dust free (don't vaccuum, use compressed air). the other thing is that you really won't know how effective your cooling is until you stress your rig. Your idle temps are a bit on the high side, but if they only increase a few degrees under load you've got no problem. But they may also jump way past what is acceptable, and you'd need to work on cooling it down.

Thank you for your reply UpandComing. My current case allows two 12cm fans to be placed, one in the front and one in the back. I was thinking of fitting one 80mm in the front and 120mm, apparently this is best for airflow? I just need something that will greatly reduce my current temperatures and generally be effective. I cleaned my system out a few days ago and temperatures greatly improved, but i still feel they are to high and i don't want to risk putting the system under any substantial pressure just yet until cooling is in place. I've also ordered some Arctic silver 5 which should hopefully help the CPU.

"The CPU idles at around 40-45 and the cores are considerably higher then this" Your CPU is a Q6600. Since you didn't list the core temps, what is idling at 40-45C? Post the core temps, that's what we need to know. "My current case allows two 12cm fans to be placed, one in the front and one in the back" All you need is a 120mm rear exhaust fan, the front fan is unnecessary. "My 8800GT idles at around 60" Every 8800GT seems to have a different cooling setup, so it's hard to nail down what is normal. From what I've read, mid 50's seems to be fairly common. Some idle in the 40's, some in the 60's, so I'd say you're in the ballpark. The max safe temp is well over 100C (125C?). "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction