# Power supply warm/very warm to touch...



## randy22 (Dec 19, 2008)

hey, I have an OCZ StealthXStream SXS700 700 Watt power supply. i just noticed that the back of the case is warm/very warm to the touch, and the air coming out is pretty warm as well, and the sides of it are very warm as well. Should i be alarmed?


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

Heat is the enemy of all electronic circuits and is the cause of eventual failure. Having written that, the difference between hot and very warm are relevant and it is hard to say whether you should be alarmed.

In my opinion, any power supply very warm to the touch is something to be concerned about. None of my four desktop power supplies are much above room temperature; but, that is partly because I always use an Antec power supply with a wattage rating approximately double the system's rated requirement and I run all my systems with their sides removed. (There are other very good brands; I just happened to have gotten good buys on these Antecs.)

Rule of thumb: The lower the temp, the longer it lasts.

Good luck!


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## Compiler (Oct 11, 2006)

All PSUs generate heat, there is nothing wrong with that.

That is what the fans are for, they exhaust the heat out of the case. The CPU, video card and hard drives all generate HEAT.

They've done thermal imaging of computer cases, and you can see how the heat flows.

A little heat is a non issue... a HOT PSU is a problem.

Any well made case doesn't need to have its cover off. The air vents are designed to move air inside the case.. otherwise drives get hot and the computer becomes more like a radiator.


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## randy22 (Dec 19, 2008)

well...i guess i also failed to mention we have no AC in this house, and we live in NC, temps are about in the 90's right now, and the average ambient in the house is about 84-94 during the day, and 78-84 during the night...


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

That's only minimally relevant. If one of mine were in an un-air-conditioned room, their temps would still be slightly above room temperature.


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## randy22 (Dec 19, 2008)

i took the side of my case off and put my floor fan in front of the side, and everything has really cooled down...it seems i need more fans...i have 3 in there, but i'm going to take 2 out and replace them with higher performance fans...how should i do the fan setup? like how many should i have exhausting and how many should i have bringing air into the case? my case can hold 5 fans...


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## Ditchster (Jul 23, 2009)

randy22 said:


> hey, I have an OCZ StealthXStream SXS700 700 Watt power supply. i just noticed that the back of the case is warm/very warm to the touch, and the air coming out is pretty warm as well, and the sides of it are very warm as well. Should i be alarmed?


Please before you go any further - can you go to this site and download pc wizard and then, after installing, run a temp check on your hardware and post the results here on this thread: http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php


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## randy22 (Dec 19, 2008)

i don't run Windows...i Run Fedora Core 11 "Leonidas"...


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## Ditchster (Jul 23, 2009)

Here is a link to another forum site thread (Linux) who have several apps mentioned which can monitor system temps (although a couple give approx?? readings - what ever that means). Because i am not a Linux user i would appreciate if you could read the said thread and choose which app is best for you.


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