Overheating Issues in Antec ISK 300-150

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yamato

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Jan 3, 2013
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Hello everyone,

A few months ago you guys helped me to build a fairly basic SFF PC with an Antec ISK 300-150, an i3-3225, and the stock Intel cooler. It worked great for a while (and still does for the most part), but recently I've been having irregular overheating issues.

I typically idle around mid-30 C, and when playing SC2 it will get up to 60 C. Sometimes, though, it gets to about 67 C, which is when it freezes up and I have to turn off the PC.

Any ideas on how to fix this issue? I already have two 80mm case fans going full blast at all times, so it seems that my only options are:
  1. Get a new CPU cooler
  2. Get a new case
  3. Stop playing SC2
I would prefer to avoid the last one, so what would you guys recommend? Thanks for the help!
 
I don't think ivy bridge will freeze up at 67C. Have you tried running it with case open, in an air-conditioned room with a fan blowing at it. If it still freezes, it's something else.
 
Ya 67 isn't that high. I would look at the PSU being an issue.
 
It might be power, but that CPU is only rated at 55 watts. It's not a lot of heat generated. I would look at the ram sticks. Try each one, one at a time and see if the problem gets worse (like PC won't boot).
 
Oh, interesting - thanks for the thoughts guys! So, maybe it's not an overheating issue? What happens is that I'll be in the middle of a game, and suddenly the screen will freeze, the speakers will play some kind of repeating buzz, and of course no input does anything other than force powering off the computer by holding down the power switch.

It could be a RAM issue, but it's never once happened to me outside of SC2. I'll try alternating the sticks though and let you know how it goes.
 
Ok, alternating the sticks doesn't seem to do anything catastrophic. I'm going to run a memtest though to double check.

Edit: memtest seems to be fine. Any other thoughts?
 
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Run a program that monitors your psu's voltages. Then reproduce the problem and check if the voltages were out of tolerance at the time.
 
Right now, the built-in PSU for that Antec is probably the least well-built part in your case. Do you have a spare PSU to plug in and see if that stops the freezes?
 
Do you have a lot of excess stuff plugged into it? External hd, backlight kb...

Lots of little things add up so if you do, try unplugging all the unnecessary things.
 
It might not be overheating, it might just be heating up and causing the voltages to go out of tolerance. If so just RMA the case and get a new one.
 
Screes said:
It might not be overheating, it might just be heating up and causing the voltages to go out of tolerance. If so just RMA the case and get a new one.
Click to expand...

Antec has a 3 year warranty on the case as well as the PSU.

My vote is to add another 80mm exhaust fan on top, in the blank spot between the PSU fan and the fan that comes with the case. I had similar issues with my own ISK 300-150 build, culminating in the RAM dying. Turns out the RAM is in a dead zone with no airflow. I put a cheap 80mm 1500RPM Enermax fan (picked it up at a Fry's B&M on sale for $4) and had no further issues. System even ran cooler with the stock fan turned down all the way, than without the second fan and the stock fan turned up.

It was a PITA to install the second fan, however. It is in a little plastic holder. You have to totally disassemble the system, remove the motherboard, then remove the PSU before you can get the holder out.
 
Ok, so it looks like I can't reproduce the freeze right now with the box open, even with running Prime95. Also, strangely my HWMonitor doesn't like to show the 12V voltage:
8jRx5Dj.png


But I can see it in the Asrock utility:
gCBfLWx.png


And actually, I do have two 80mm exhaust fans already. Adding the second fan definitely decreased the frequency of the freezes, but it still does it occasionally.

How else can I measure the voltage? If I leave it alone, do you guys think I am risking damage to the rest of my build?
 
I would like to chime in and say that I have a first gen core i3 CPU in the same case with no add in card. Recently my computer also started randomly rebooting itself!

I suspected the CPU was overheating and replaced the stock intel heatsink with an aftermarket one but still the same thing! And bummer, the new heatsink didn't really fit and I had to ditch my 'useless' DVD drive.

Also tried swapping the memory out for different sticks, still no luck.

It seems to be random - sometimes I'm in the XBMC home screen, sometimes I'm watching a movie, sometimes I'm just surfing the web listening to music.

I suspect the power supply is the issue as well. If I'm going to replace it I may as well go with a picoPSU.
 
yamato said:
Ok, so it looks like I can't reproduce the freeze right now with the box open, even with running Prime95.
Click to expand...

Maybe run the same software that caused the freeze, aka SC2. Since SC2 will tax your integrated graphics more, who knows, it might be the IGP overheating. It's still hard to believe that overheating caused the crash, though I won't say it's impossible.

On another note, there's not many heatsink replacements that work for the ISK series with that power cable overhanging the CPU. I got the ISK310-150 myself.
 
cowsgomoo said:
Maybe run the same software that caused the freeze, aka SC2. Since SC2 will tax your integrated graphics more, who knows, it might be the IGP overheating. It's still hard to believe that overheating caused the crash, though I won't say it's impossible.
Click to expand...

Yes, I actually ran SC2 as well for quite a long game without freezing. The idea that it is the PSU causing the issue is making more and more sense, but without a way to really measure it or even necessarily a reliable way to reproduce the freeze it seems that unless there is a larger risk of damaging other components, I might be better off just leaving it?
 
yamato said:
Yes, I actually ran SC2 as well for quite a long game without freezing. The idea that it is the PSU causing the issue is making more and more sense, but without a way to really measure it or even necessarily a reliable way to reproduce the freeze it seems that unless there is a larger risk of damaging other components, I might be better off just leaving it?
Click to expand...

But your test with the case open seems to indicate that temperature is the problem, either with the CPU, ram or motherboard or PSU. If you don't mind running with the case open for a while you can do so.
 
Could it be the PSU overheating? I know it's a dc-dc type, passive, but if it's failing, like a typical PSU, it would be subject to overheating too, no? lol I have no idea. I'd test with a spare psu while trying to keep it mostly closed.
 
EnzoFX said:
Could it be the PSU overheating? I know it's a dc-dc type, passive, but if it's failing, like a typical PSU, it would be subject to overheating too, no? lol I have no idea. I'd test with a spare psu while trying to keep it mostly closed.
Click to expand...

It's a normal PSU with its own cooling fan.
 
cowsgomoo said:
But your test with the case open seems to indicate that temperature is the problem, either with the CPU, ram or motherboard or PSU. If you don't mind running with the case open for a while you can do so.
Click to expand...

That is true. I would leave it open, but my desk environment is not very...controlled, so I'm not really comfortable leaving it open for any length of time.

I think for now I will just close up the box and leave it, since the freezes are fairly intermittent and it seems like there is not a serious risk to the rest of the box. If it begins happening more frequently, however, do you guys have ideas as to how I could replace the PSU?
 
yamato said:
If it begins happening more frequently, however, do you guys have ideas as to how I could replace the PSU?
Click to expand...

Have you looked into the PSU vents to see if it is dusty? Maybe blow out the dust?

On mine the fan runs super slow and never seems to spin up no matter how hot it gets. Maybe replace the fan with a higher RPM fan?

Alternately, if this problem developed over time and is most likely the PSU, consider an RMA. It has a 3 year warranty.

There are no exact replacement PSUs available on the market. The closes ones are Flex ATX style (AKA "short" 1U). Those "fit" in the space, but have only 40mm exhaust fans plus are not set up for the external power plug.
 
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