[trueimage]

Hey - I'm running this with OpenELEC and my temps were about 150F/140F (GPU/CPU).

I changed the BIOS fan setting to 30% / 100% and that didn't help much. I opened it up, took off the cooler, removed the thermal pads and put on the Arctic Silver MX-4. Temps still aren't coming down.

Any advice would be great.

Ambient is probably about 24C (~76F).

[trueimage]

Intel Atom D2700 says 100C is max operating temp
nVidia GT520 says up to 80C is "normal"

nothing to be worried about?

[thesavvymage]

As long as the temps are under the max, its fine. Those little boxes have very inefficient cooling and the chips run hot. Only way to get it lower would be to have a bigger heatsink and a bigger fan, but those cant fit in something as small as the zbox

[JP55]

I also have an ID80, and wanted to like it, but it also ran hotter than desired, usually between 55-65 C. True that an Intel has a max temp of 100, and nVidia slightly higher > But Intel's rated life of a chip is based on an average temp of 55.C., anything above will shorten its life. At about 80.C. SpeedStep (EIST) normally throttles a chip, but Atoms don't have that and artifacts will happen. Nutshell > cooler is better.

I did a few case mods on mine to improve ventillation, then went the next step and made a new heatsink from some inexpensive ebay parts, including a low speed 8010 fan. I now love my little box, and enjoy all temps (CPU, GPU, HDD) right around 40.C. I posted a few pics in the Zotac forum, you can find it by searching ID80 Temperature.

Another thing about that little Zbox, the Atom and NM10 chipset have a TDP of only 10 watts, the nVidia 520M has a TDP of 17 watts, and it is the tail that wags the dog. The Atom does not speed step (or throttle), but is is so small it does not need to. The GPU however does toggle between 2D and 3D modes, with (core, mem, & shader) clock swings of about 250%. This can be checked using CPU-Z, GPU-Z, or HWMonitor. The key to keeping the Zotac cool is to keep the GPU in 2D mode most of the time. Play with the nVidia settings and monitor behavior with the apps mentioned.

Cheers - JP

[schumi2004]

Why not link to it directly? Couldn't find topic you'r talking about, at least not with images.

[p750mmx]

Are there different revisions of this ID80? I don't have any problems with (to) high temperatures and I have the fan settings in the BIOS in such a way that the ID stays silent.
I use it with W8 because of Netflix and this little one is capable also of displaying Real (Full) 3D when using TMT5 (Google). Program starts slow (its still a Atom D2700 that does the job), but 3D plays without any stutter. CPU speeds keep well around 30% so no cooling issues while playing 3D video. That temperatures are around 55-60°C doesn't worry me at all, it's well within specification so what seems to be the problem?

If the MOD for the ID80 is done with this fan then there will be a hole in the side that wasn't there in the first place?

[JP55]

Me again, Responding to the last 2 comments about my ZBox mods...
1) The link to the zotac forum post is here: http://www.zotacusa.com/forum/topic/1014...entry35225
2) No, don't use the evercool 8010 fan (EC8010LL05E) it is 5VDC. I searched 8010's on eBay, and get the lowest amperage, lowest speed 12 volt fan i could find. Its about 0.15 amps, and between 2000-2500 rpm. Similar to specs of an Evercool EC8010LL12X or ...L12X (which I could not find to purchase)
3) I'm new to this forum, and am finding it difficult to post photos (of my box) to it. If your serious about cooling your ID80 or ID84, try to find my post on the zotac forum, or email me at [email protected] .

[Dougie Fresh]

If you want a PC that runs cool (close to ambient) then mini-ITX or smaller is not for you or be prepared from some modding/expense/noise. I warn people about this all the time. 55C for a tiny box is fine, especially with what amounts to netbook components which are designed to run in a harsher environment.

That said, if you're into seeing how cool you can get a little box and find that challenge fun and want to help others, that's "cool" People just don't start freaking out.

[p750mmx]

Me again, Responding to the last 2 comments about my ZBox mods...
1) The link to the zotac forum post is here: http://www.zotacusa.com/forum/topic/1014...entry35225
2) No, don't use the evercool 8010 fan (EC8010LL05E) it is 5VDC. I searched 8010's on eBay, and get the lowest amperage, lowest speed 12 volt fan i could find. Its about 0.15 amps, and between 2000-2500 rpm. Similar to specs of an Evercool EC8010LL12X or ...L12X (which I could not find to purchase)
3) I'm new to this forum, and am finding it difficult to post photos (of my box) to it. If your serious about cooling your ID80 or ID84, try to find my post on the zotac forum, or email me at [email protected] .

Pictures are only visible for registered Zotac users I guess, I can't open them, so no pictures for me

[Slack]

But Intel's rated life of a chip is based on an average temp of 55.C., anything above will shorten its life.

My thought is,,, what is that rated life? ?
Will you or any XBMC user ever get close to it, or the de-rated version of it before the whole ZBOX is in a landfill.....Moore's Law and all.