Case temperature, cooling and noise issues with my g/c and MoBo

[McGraw]

See my sig for most of my spec.

Further pertinent info as follows:

Graphics Card is a heat pipe version.
Stock cooler.
Tagan 480W PSU.

When I first bought my system I was very happy with it. To be honest I still am but I'm having issues with my graphics card, temp monitoring and noise.

It initially had a £20 Pentium IV 300w PSU. This turned off on its own on Saturday morning so I immediately replaced it.

I also put an Audigy 2zs in at the same time.

My ambient case temperatue is probably very high. I say probably because I don't know for sure. Motherboard Monitor doesn't support my board. I have no system fans, my case is quite cramped with wires and doesn't have much front ventilation.

I think this is causing my card to artifact quite badly now. FS 2004 flashes up big artifacts every second or two. When the Audigy wasn't there and it was the 300w psu it needed downclocking ever so slightly to remain artifact free. I didn't mind this because it was very rare and I knew it could be improved with better airflow. It has never been overclocked because the first time I ran ATI tool the problem presented itself.

Do you think I'm right? Should I just RMA the card? I'm thinking of pulling all the PCI cards out, putting my CPU back to stock speeds, taking the side off and testing it with a room fan blowing on it and all the house heating off.

Also, while I'm on the subject, I am very impressed with the overall noise my system isn't making apart the drives. Without any drives plugged in it is basically silent. When drives are plugged in it makes a high pitched whine, just like my office PC is doing now. They are almost inaudible when actually reading/writing apart from the Raptor which is slightly louder.

So, my questions.

1. Should I look to put in a case fan solution to improve the graphical artifact situation? Any particular make/model recommendations?

2. What program will work with my MoBo to help me monitor CPU/ambient temps?

3. There are a lot of cables unused in my PSU and it is not modular. What can I do with them to improve airflow?

4. Bearing in mind I have 3 hard drives and only one 5.25" bay free, what can I do about the hard drive noise?

5. did I overreact by immediately replacing the PSU seeing as the new one may be contributing to the case temp?

Thanks very much for any help whatsoever.

[Bifta]

What card are you running? If it's an ATI you might be able to see it's temps in settings/advanced/overdrive. As for using a £20 PSU, you were lucky, a PSU is the one item in your case you should NEVER skimp on so it was a good move buying the Tagan.

download everest to monitor temps http://www.lavalys.com/

[McGraw]

I'm using omega drivers so hopefully they will have a temp monitoring facility.

I've already got Everest, I didn't realise it monitored temps.

Cheers.

[Ramrod]

majorgeeks has a few temp monitor utilities.................

Originally Posted by McGraw

I'm using omega drivers so hopefully they will have a temp monitoring facility.

I've already got Everest, I didn't realise it monitored temps.

Cheers.

Look for overclock in computer in the older versions,on new version its computer sensor