Overheating

[johnestan]

I'vs just set up my first freenas system. Here is my components

The CPU: AMD A4-3400 2.7Ghz
The Motherboard: ASRock A75M-ITX
The RAM: Corsair 4GB DDR3 1333 Memory
The Case: APEX MI-008 Mini-ITX $49
The CPU Cooler: Scythe Kozuti Low Profile CPU Cooler
Boot drive: 4GB Sandisk usb
Media Drive: 2TB Toshiba

I set the 2TB HDD as a ZFS volume and did a single share over CIFS to test it out. Everything worked great. I was able to access the system from my desktop and laptop, and was streaming 720p video to my HTPC. But when I went to go check on the system several hours later it was burning up. The PSU and the HDD were almost too hot to touch. Could someone please help me troubleshoot. I thought about trying a UFS volume as it would be less computer intensive. THanks in advance.

 

[pirateghost]

I am using that case for one of my HTPCs in the house. I would bet it is the lack of airflow in that case. I affixed an 80mm fan to the air vent on the side of the case to alleviate heat issues in mine.

The PSU sits right on top of the CPU and has very little airflow going through it. your cpu is probably heating up the PSU.

 

[jgreco]

If it was idling for several hours and "too hot to touch", UFS vs ZFS will make zero difference. You've got a 65 watt CPU in there and all told the thing probably consumes up to 100 watts. Think of sticking a powered on 100 watt light bulb in a tin can and let it sit. What happens?

Strongly suggest you look at your thermal engineering. Your case probably has insufficient airflow, and likely other issues too. Assuming you didn't stick a CD/DVD in the 5.25" bay, try opening that bay up and seeing if there's any airflow through the case. Cases that are marketed as "silent PC" are generally colorless euphemisms for "easy bake ovens". Looks like you found a good one. If removing the blank for the 5.25" bay seems to help, then I suggest you may want to look at a 40mm fan bracket for that 5.25" bay and some quiet 40mm fans. You probably don't need a lot of airflow, but enough to stop the bake.

silenx makes a nice 14dBA fan that can be stuffed on a 5.25" fan bracket, something like this one which also comes with (louder) fans.