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Building Your Own Air Chiller
Several people have taken the time from their busy day to submit the how-to make an air chiller story that's currently running on OCMod.com. Me, I think that if I open my case the magic pixie dust that runs my computer will fly out, and my bad hardware karma will ruin my machine, but hey, maybe you'll have better luck then I.
No self-respecting geek would run a piece of computer equipment with all the cover components installed!
IMHO, a heat exchanger and some non-conducting fluid is probably the "best" solution. (There was an article a while back on cooling via oil and an air conditioning unit, but the link was very dead, the last time I checked.)
Alternatively, find a material that semiconducts at extremely =HIGH= temperatures, and stick your computer into a vaccuum flask.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
What they *should* teach in school is that "than" and "then" are not homophones. If you pronounce them properly they do not sound the same.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Sounds like you're talking about room air conditioners in your real world example. I learned the hard way that the condensation actually takes place in the "indoor" half (where the air gets chilled)and has to be properly channeled, through gravity and/or suction created by the "outdoor" half of the fan, through the separating wall to the "outdoor" half (where the heat removed from the chilled inside air is released into the great out of doors, which, I suspect, is why summers seem hotter than they did years ago-more air conditioned spaces=more heat pumped into the outdoors).
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Ever notice how those same computer gods like to wait until you blow all your current disposable income on a new part for your computer before they break one of the old ones?
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
For the most part they do suck.
There are always exceptions though. The public school that I attended was very good. The students were competitive about grades (it was cool to get good grades). Hell, there was even a group of Japanese who visited to see how we were getting such good results.
I learned BASIC in 7th grade (12-13 years old)and assembly language in 10th grade :) That may not seem like a big deal to some of you uber-nerds, but consider what 10th graders are learning in their "Computer Classes" at most schools these days. Microsoft Office, maybe? Corel Draw? How to use a search engine to find the best warez? :P
There is no excuse for ignorance though. If you want to learn you can find a way, especially in the USA. There are public libraries all over the place (in which I used to spend a considerable amount of time, I might add :).
Condensation? I still think that would be a major problem in something like this. You'd get water in the case. But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
JoeLinux
OK, well points 1 and 3 are well taken, but in a closed system point 2 is kinda moot - that is, there won't be a problem if the system is completely closed, as there won't be any open flame, and if the oil gets beyond its smoking point, you have bigger problems with the system.
Still, points 1 and 3 kill the idea completely anyhow (though I wonder how fast a solvent it is - if it is a good solvent, why did people immerse thier motherboards in it - ignorance?). So, the idea would be to get a fluid with as high a specific heat as water, non-flammable, non-conductive, and doesn't act as a solvent. Fluorocarbons are an answer, but most aren't very environmentally friendly, and none are very cheap. I am thinking something like Fluronert might work - but all of that gets into a realm of of chemical workings that I don't understand.
Distilled/de-ionized water could be used instead - less conductive, anyhow...
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Case Fans
Why do people always go with the 12 volt fans? There exist same size (as well as larger) "muffin"-style fans that run on 110-115VAC, many pump 100-200 cfm (I had one that came from a DEC mini computer powersupply - had to mount it on a board to keep it from blowing away when I was playing with it). Sure, they would be extremely loud, but think of it - you can easily get that computer center droning noise you know you've always secretly wanted...
Coolant
Instead of water, why not pump mineral oil through the system? People have immersed thier systems in circulated mineral oil, but that is messy. Use a gas tank pump to circulate the oil (the pumps are designed to resist the solvent power of harsh chemicals, like gasoline). You might not get better cooling than water (don't know whether you would or not), but you wouldn't have to worry about leaks shorting your machine out, since the mineral oil isn't conductive (else why would people immerse thier machines in it).
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Three reasons:
Mineral oil has a much lower specific heat than water. You need to circulate a lot more of it to get a given degree of cooling.
Mineral oil is flammable.
Mineral oil is a very good solvent. Goodbye to any plastic parts. (And to your rug if you spill any. And imagine the effect on the building.)
The Cray II was cooled with a clear liquid - a fluorocarbon, I think. They also had a debubbling gadget in the room near the computer. Looked like an enclosed fountain made of plexiglass. Very artsy. The two Cray IIs I saw had very distinct fountains, which made me wonder if they were distinct artworks - at least at first.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Gee, a homemade air cooling device is pretty cool, but if you're going to do it yourself, why not spend your time making the most kick-ass cooling system you can? There are several places that sell kits, and lots of good information. If you're going to make your own cooler, at least do it in style!
-Ted
1. get really long extension cord 2. go to north pole 3. overclock!
Indeed... there must be a more worthy (And physically rewarding) pursuit than sitting around a supercooled machine gettin' fat.
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J'ACCUSE!
Sounds more like a grounding problem to me.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Personally, I believe that the computer gods smite you if you put the cover on after installing hardware before you even test it.
If you want to be really sure that new card will work, you'll not screw it in completely until you know it is fully functional.
They will punish you for your audacity, and you will find that you *accidentally* knocked out your IDE cable when you were mucking around in there. You will not know until you get the non-system disk message.
Be fooled not. It was the computer gods, and they are laughing.
Me, I think that if I open my case the magic pixie dust that runs my computer will fly out, and my bad hardware karma will ruin my machine, but hey, maybe you'll have better luck then I.
Funny, my comp at home doesn't work with the case on! I swear! I think it has to do with the CD-ROM player, since I also removed the screws from it.
When I put the screws back in my CD-ROM and/or put the case back on, I get all kinds of trouble, but without them everythings fine. I suspect something to do with heat...
SDMI: Finally! Music that won't rip or burn! Brought to you by the fine folks at RIAA.
Some users overclock their computers so that they can run SETI@home or other distributed clients faster. This irresponsible behavior can not only damage that user's computer, but can provide flawed data that could possible ruin the entire distributed project. Please, I urge you, don't follow the herd, don't overclock your computer. If performance is that important to you, go with the reliable solution and buy a faster machine.
-atrowe: Card-carrying Mensa member. I have no toleranse for stupidity.
Yeah, the small chapel at MIT is surrounded by a moat with vents that blows air into the chapel cooled via this method. From what little information I have seen on the net about this school, I gather they are far from poor white trash. Too bad they didn't let me go to their school or I could have demonstrated this effect.
Great! Now we'll be able to torment CowboyNeal with supercool tubes running across his head, giving him a major ice-cream headache!
Caveat: The site is /.'ed, so I'm basing my comments on interpretation of what others said and on the signal free original story.
Now the guy who did this little thing has *got* to be white trash (I speak as one of the chosen myself) When I was growing up this thing was called a swamp cooler and was used to cool cars and homes in the deep south.
These things are suprisingly effective at cooling you down, and are still used in the poorest parts of the south (central Florida panhandle, f'rinstance)
Brant
Brant
Argle. Bargle.
Oh, and just to ensure a (0: Offtopic) mod, if you've never done it before, I highly recommend spending a day browsing /. at -1. My personal desire is to see 2 threads - everything at 4 and 5 for when I'm thinking, and all the 0 and under for when I want a good chuckle during a long and boring work day.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.