Where to start with cooling?

[HarlequinGod]

I'm running on a Compaq Presario 6320, with a Radeon 9250 128Mb AGP card. It's just recently starting freezing up a bit, and I think it may be overheating--MBM 5 shows a CPU temp of 77 C.

It's got a CPU fan, and one fan in the back of the case. For what it's worth, MBM 5 shows the CPU fan RPMs to be around 4000.

The computer has plenty of room around it for free airflow, and the room itself is cool (probably 20 C?--not sure).

I'm looking at the bewildering array of fans, thermal compounds, cases, etc., and just don't know where to begin. Should I get a newer/better case? If so, what should I be looking for? It's been ages since I used to build my own computers--probably 8 years or so--so would any mid-tower case work? Is a new case even needed? Is there something else I should be looking at first?

Any help would be appreciated.

[onespeedreed]

Check at the link below for maximum temperatures for your cpu.
More cooling will extend the life of your computer substantially.

Many cases have a place for another fan in the front-bottom. Have it blowing inwards and the fan at the back of the case blowing outwards(not the psu fan). You will notice a huge difference with this setup. I've been running an Athlon Tbird like this for years and they run notoriously hot.

Drilling more holes or enlarging existing vents helps if the case is very restrictive. The best place for vents and another fan is right in top of the case but don't spill coffee on it!

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/conten...=maxtemp.shtml

[HarlequinGod]

I opened my case, and there's plenty of room to put in a fan; are they typically fairly easy to install? I'm fairly comfortable poking around inside my computer, but as I said before, it's been ages since I built one from scratch, and I don't know what sort of power connection they require or what sort of connector I should be looking for on my motherboard.

[curtybob]

First, make sure that it is indeed a heat issue causing the stalls. Open the case, aim a common housefan into it. Turn it on and give it a good hard run. If that happens to fix the problem, There are a few very cheap ways to improve the airflow in the PC.

One way is like onespeedreed said.... make a nice vent in the front. Several sites around about "modding" a case vent into your PC. Or you could go the route I did... watercooling.

Seriously, there are products you can buy that will place a fan right under your video card to help get some air to it, and a higher performance heatsink for your CPU wouldn't be that big a chore or kill the bank.