Sorry if this is in the wrong section, but it seemed to be the best place to put something like this in.

I have a slight problem. My computer overheats. Yes, this isn't saying much, but I believe it's due to the fact that I simply don't have enough airflow going through my case to sufficiently cool the computer. I have one fan on the CPU, and an outlet fan on the power supply on the side facing towards the front of the case (as opposed to facing towards the bottom of the case where the actual hot components are). So, not much ventilation.

I'm considering buying a new case, but I really don't want to shell out the money for that, and getting a new side panel with a fan or a hole to place a fan is out of the question due to the weird dimensions/construction of my case. At the moment my computer doesn't overheat, but that's because the side panel isn't there. All the components are exposed, and this is something I really want to avoid.

So, would it help any to drill holes at equally spaced intervals into my side panel, in a shape that would allow me to mount a fan on it and use those holes as a sort of vent?

And just for the sake of discussion, what are some of the more ingenious or cheap or strange cooling solutions people have seen and/or actually tried out there?

Modding the case as you've suggested may prevent the ventilation the computer needs to prevent overheating. I have heard of cases of people suspending systems in machine oil and building computers housed within a freezer unit though frankly I find the idea to be excessive. A well designed case is all that should be necessary assuming you don't overclock components.

Well, the cheapest way is to remove the side panel and aim an electric fan directly inside your CPU. but how did you come to the conclusion that your CPU overheats? what exactly did you notice? i've left my CPU on for a days on end, longest was one week, and mine never overheats.

I wouldn't recommend leaving the side panel off, even if you aim a fan at the CPU. Other parts of the computer need the airflow that is created by the closed box with vents + fans. For the same reason I wouldn't go and drill holes in the side of the case.

Do you have a build up of dust in the case or on heat sinks?
Is the heat sink for the CPU properly attached with a good amount of thermal paste (or a thermal pad)?
Are there a lot of cables (that could be tied back) blocking air flow?
Are all the fans running correctly?
Is it possible to upgrade the fans to more powerful ones?
In the BIOS can you set the fan speeds to be higher?
Are the fans blowing the right way?

By overheating, do you mean the computer runs hot, or does it actually run hot enough to cut out?

I'm sure lack of airflow is the problem because my computer only overheats when the side panel is on. And to make it overheat I simply have to play a game for about ten minutes or so, something that would cause the CPU and graphics card to run more than they would if all I was doing was browsing the Internet or opening up a word processor. This occurs regardless of how much dust there is in the computer, since it happened immediately after I took a can of compressed air to the inside of the case and removed my CPU can and blew out all the dust stuck in the heatsink. And there was the "recommended" grain of rice size of Arctic Silver thermal paste put on my CPU before I put the fan back on. Cables are tucked out of the way of any components, towards the sides of the case, and all the fans are running (not that there are any besides the one on the CPU heatsink and the one inside the power supply that I can't control anyway). And no, there are no controls in the BIOS that would allow me to set fan speeds higher.

Should I take off the CPU fan and reapply thermal paste a little more liberally? Or should I just get a new case that actually has a side-panel fan built in to expel heat from inside the case?

EDIT: Also, I know my CPU overheats because whenever my computer has shut down all of a sudden, I usually find an LED lit up on my motherboard that lights up whenever the CPU temperature gets too high.

pomorales

all the fans are running (not that there are any besides the one on the CPU heatsink and the one inside the power supply that I can't control anyway).

Do you mean that you don't have any other fans in your case other than the CPU and PSU ones, or do you mean that they are the only ones you can't control and you have case fans?

A side panel with a built in fan should not be necessary, I was always under the impression that the best way to have a case setup, is to have most/all the air intakes on the front and all the exhaust vents on the back. Of course separate ducts for the different heat producing parts of the computer is even better.

Maybe reapplying the thermal paste could help, If you have some spare paste you might want to try that.

Has your computer always overheated like this?
And are you overclocking?
Is your CPU fan pushing air towards the heatsink, rather than away?
(for most heatsinks it's better to blow air into it)

Amusingly the only time my (old) computer has ever overheated was when I was running only Word (not sure what happened). Actually that wasn't the only time, I has a PSU fan fail, the thermal cut out didn't activate and it caught fire though that was a long time ago.

Liberally applied thermal paste will cause issues. The amount you've specified as having used is correct.

It sounds to me like there is nothing drawing air through the system so even if component fans were run at a higher speed the air itself is unable to escape (or circulate) without the side off and as a result heat is unable to disipate. I still maintain additional ventilation and maybe a fan or so to assist airflow through the case would be beneficial.

What Deepdragon says is probably true, that by adding a fan on the side you will probably screw up whatever airflow was intended for your case, however if you're sure airflow is the problem then it's already messed up. Also heed Hatesyou's warning. Adding more thermal paste is a common mistake, more then the recommended ammount causes the thermal paste to act as an insulator which will compound the problem.

I think the cheapest route as you say would be to add a fan to the side however consider that this will probably make your computer much more noisy due to the fan vibrations reverberating through the side panel. It will also probably suck a lot more dirt right into your components. If you're going to go that route, you might as well use a 120mm fan instead of the standard 80mm. You can also get rubber grommets in the plumbing section of home depo to reduce some of the vibration. All in all that should cost less than $10, but a decent case from like Antec would cost you $60 so I'd think about how much your solutions are going to end up costing. There are other more hardcore ideas I have but those add up in cost since the craft store usually isn't cheap

Also if you live in a hot enviornment, then taking the side of your case off and pointing a fan at it may actually be your only option without replacing some of your actual pc components with something cooler like an Athlon64 or Intel whatever-its-called

Since you have exhausted many different possibilities that may be causing your computer to overheat, why not just buy a new case? I recommend the Cooler Master Centurion 5 in your situation because it provides excellent ventilation as the entire front panel is made from mesh. It only costs $50 from Newegg and comes with a 80mm intake fan and and 120mm exhaust fan. I'd recommend buying another 120mm fan to put in the front to pull in more air.

However if you really don't want to drop the cash for a new case, these are my ideas on some possibilities for what's wrong with your computer. In your BIOS, are there settings for at what temperature your computer will be automatically shut off at? It may be set way to low. Monitor the CPU temperature in the BIOS and see if the CPU ever hits the auto-shutdown limit. Another possibility is that the temperature sensors on the motherboard could be malfunctioning and causing your computer to shutdown.

Oh, my computer isn't overclocked. I actually keep the bus speed short of what was intended for my processor (133 Mhz as opposed to 166 Mhz for an AMD Athlon XP 2800+) so that the whole system is a little more stable after this whole thing started. Other than that, my CPU, RAM, and video card are at their normal settings.

The more I read this the more I'm thinking that getting a new case would probably be the best thing to do. And DeepDragoon, yes, all I have is the CPU fan and the PSU outlet fan (if you want to count that as a fan). A bad configuration to begin with, looking back on it.

If you can underclock the bus, you may be able to reduce the voltage as well. I wouldn't drop more than a point or two though. silent pc review has some articles about underclocking / undervolting that I've had a good deal of success with. Might be worth a read for you.

pomorales

all I have is the CPU fan and the PSU outlet fan (if you want to count that as a fan). A bad configuration to begin with, looking back on it.

That's most likely your problem.

Does your case have brackets to mount an intake fan in the front of the case, and possibly an exhaust fan at the back, as if it does that's what I would do. And it would most likely be a lot cheaper than buying a new case.

If your current case doesn't have brackets to mount the fans (all cases should), then you would have to buy a new case.

Your computer is overheating because there is no airflow, the CPU fan is simply blowing hot air onto the heatsink. Computers should always (ok some don't have to, e.g. very low power computers) have a flow of air passing through them.

If your worried about the noise the site fluxbox posted above has some very good fan reviews and overall knowledge of how to quieten your computer.

Even if you buy a new case you'll have to buy (they may come with some cases) the fans.

The more I read this the more I'm thinking that getting a new case would probably be the best thing to do.

I used to leave the side panel opened and now, with a new case + side panel closed the temperature is less high !
I bought an Antec Slk 3000B and i'm satisfied with it.
My cpu (FSB 166 -> 180 : 2250 Mhz) & vga are overclocked and there's no problem.

My friend has 7 fans on his, including a medium sized house fan. the thing runs at like 50 C...

If your case has mounting brackets buy some fans, if it doesn't work then buy a new case.
You should be able to use the fans you bought in the new case anyway, so no wasted money.

Make sure to put the side panel back on if you add some fans, otherwise they won't help as there still won't be air flowing through the case.

This way it will save you time (installing a fan(s) is easier than taking apart and rebuilding the whole computer) and money, if the added fans keep the computer cool.

Hofodomo01

My friend has 7 fans on his, including a medium sized house fan. the thing runs at like 50 C...

7 fans is probably a tad excessive, though my old computer had 5 (2 case, 1 CPU, 1 GPU, 1 PSU) and at one point there was another fan for the hard drives, my current main computer has 1 fan, and runs at around 42 degrees C, it is quite slow though.