Where to put case sensors?

[pibrahim]

Howdy chaps,

Have purchased the NZXT Lexa case which has 3 sensors for the CPU, HDD and 'System' (which they say you can use for the GFX card) temperatures.

My question is how and where exactly do I put these sensors? Do I just leave the CPU one dangling above the heatsink? What about the HDD one? I haven't the foggiest where they should go TBH!

Any advice would be much appreciated =)

[grievingexistence]

put the CPU under the heatsink, and on top of the CPU, just lay the case down on its side and use gravity to keep it in place while you put the heatsink on. Just tape the HDD one to the top of a harddrive.

[Panama Red]

DON'T try to put the cpu sensor between the cpu and the heatsink. Just tuck it under the edge of the heatsink as close to the cpu as possible AFTER you've attached the hsf to the mobo/cpu. Putting the sensor on before the hsf is attached can allow improper contact and an overheated cpu.

[pibrahim]

So, to clarify:

CPU - attach heatsink first and then try and get sensor as close to CPU as poss.
HDD - tape onto top of HD. Seems fairly inaccurate though...?
And for the gfx card? Which part of the card do I attach the sensor to..?

[doctorgonzo]

Depending on your video card, you can attach the sensor to the GPU heatsink like you do for the CPU. However, not all video cards make this easy.

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by pibrahim So, to clarify: CPU - attach heatsink first and then try and get sensor as close to CPU as poss. HDD - tape onto top of HD. Seems fairly inaccurate though...? And for the gfx card? Which part of the card do I attach the sensor to..?

Cpu - yes
HDD - yes, near the center
GFX - also under the cooling fan much like the cpu. May have to tape it in place too.

[Stuey]

For "system" you can also leave the sensor near the PSU or any random place to take a measure of the ambient case temperature.

Your motherboard may already have a sensor by the CPU which can give you a more accurate representation of the temperature, but I assume that these sensors have a readout which will be more convenient for you than checking the mobo utility or bios.

I'm saying this because the sensors you're adding may give you a readout that ranges from slightly to extremely misleading. Try them out first and compare the readouts with your mobo utility or check the temps in the BIOS. If they're close enough, leave the sensors where they are. If there's a large difference in readings, make note of the difference or try repositioning the sensor.