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How to Keep Your Computer Cool
ThinSkin writes "ExtremeTech is featuring a how-to article on keeping your computer cool by adopting an efficient airflow strategy for your PC case. The article goes into detail on what types of fans are optimal for your computer and your needs, where you should place them, and how to make your own fan mounts. From the article: 'With an efficient cooling strategy, there's no reason a case should ever grow so warm. Good airflow is critical to keeping your PC operating and extending the life of the components. Keep the air flowing!'"
And for the serious overclockers, we have low powered cryogenics coming down the pipeline. It turns out that Intel is considering the possibility of using Pulse Tube Coolers for the next generation of thermal management. (Hey Intel, you think that over 100 watts might be just a *smidge* much for a processor?)
:-)
While there's something to be said for this step being rather extreme, it might lead to the development of cryogenic computers. These futuristic processors could utilize super-conducting transistors and wires to improve performance and eliminate waste heat.
Kind of a weird thought, but there you have it.
Personally, I'd like to see Stirling or Pulse Tube Coolers replacing existing phase-change air conditioners. In the name of "energy efficiency", you can't buy a decent apartment AC and are forced to deal with putting one in every room. Stirling engines could provide better cooling for less energy! Now if we could just get the buggers mass produced to bring down the cost...
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
If you didn't overclock your computer to hell (in more ways than one) you wouldn't need so much cooling.
Don't run Windows.
Oh, you meant the other kind of cool. Nevermind.
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Is any of this news to anyone? Everything in this article is obvious and anybody who has opened a computer case before knows the crap contained in this 6-page article.
Why is it six pages? Why, of course, so that the GIGANTIC ads are displayed that many times. Take a look at the URL pointed to by the link that is the author's name... no surprise
In other news: sky still blue.
I should blow cool air into my computer and draw hot air out of it? Are you sure? There must be some other way!
There's 5 minutes I'll never see again.
keeping your computer cool by adopting an efficient airflow strategy
They seem to have not gotten the weasel terms memo.
Pair of sun glasses, a dark case, a divx rip of Pulp Fiction, Ubuntu and a seemingly infinite supply of of p0rn.
Now that is cool...
In the Slashdot moderating system, humourless based offenses are considered especially heinous.
Actually, they say your computer is much better off with its case closed. Airflow is actually quite important.
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Just leave the case open.
That may not be as good of an idea as you think. Cases todays are designed like wind-tunnels with the air moving from the front to the back. As the air passes over areas, it draws away the heat and is exhausted out the back.
When the case is off the PC, the wind tunnel effect is lost and most of the air is left standing. As a result, your ability to cool your system is actually reduced. This can lead to overheating and ultimately, failure.
If you value your computer, you'll get a nice large case with properly installed fans.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Air is essential for the Guild navigators to pilot their bitTorrents from one node to another.
If the Air does not Flow, bitTorrents will be impacted.
The Air must Flow!
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oh, and besides, those dust bunnies can get quite unruly at times, rabid almost, vorpal in their natures, if you will.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Yes, I have a friend or two.. .000000001 degree.
I told him I was a little concerned with my p4 running around 60C and hee tells me that when they test out the chips, they test them at like 100C.
Im not suggesting to run your CPU at 100C, but I don't think 60-70 is a problem.
There is, however, a segment of modders who will spend tons of money because they heard that brand x of thermal grease will lower the CPU temp
How hot is too hot? I've built a new P4-2.4GHz box arround a Shuttle Zen (quieter than a laptop), the processor runs arorund 65 degrees C, the case arround 50. How hot is dangerous?
Right. If you want to show off the innards of your computer, get case windows. And lights, if necessary. Removing the panel altogether will probably cause more problems than it solves.
In other words, never remove Windows from your computer.
er, wait. What site is this again?
Mods: Do you disagree with me? Go ahead and mod me down. Meta-mods will sort it out. Good luck!
I spent plenty of time with thermistors on the ambient air around components and even on the components themselves. Open case was always 5-10 deg C cooler.
If that's happening, I'd start by checking the case design. Many users have very dense cases with large bundles of wires inside. All these wires can obstruct the airflow and prevent the system from properly cooling. This is one of the reasons why I always purchase as large of a case as I possibly can. Full size towers are pretty hard to come by these days, but good Mid-Towers make for a nice compromise.
I don't know if it's a sign of a good case or not, but the last one I chose had an array of holes for dissapating extra heat while maintaining the airflow. You'd be surprised how cold my case is, despite the fact that it's in 5 year old stock condition.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
What's always troubled me about my system's cooling is that the temperature LCD's show a temperature quite different from motherboard monitor... My LCD's show around 55 degrees celsius under a full load, where as motherboard monitor sometimes shows as high as 70 degrees celsius. I don't know which one I should trust. The system is a Monarch Hornet Pro, so I expect it to run a bit toasty because of the form factor, but 50 sounds kind of low for AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton) with such little cooling and space fpr air to circulate, yet 70 seems pretty warm.
For me, one of the most important aspects of the design is making it so that the two cats in our house cannot block the fans, who for some reason love to lay up against the fans if they are accessible (such as where there are two fans on the side) or otherwise interfere or they can push other things off the rack to make them accessible.
They have been the cause of much hardware failure if there is any way they can stretch or squeeze into an opening that has a fan, often after I believed that the configuration now was catproof after reacting to a previous incident.
When it comes to rackmountable servers, I know that you need to get specialized cooling... When I got my 1U case, I put the system in (AXP 2400+), got a 1U fan and some silver heatsink compound for it, and tried it out, yet it overheats like mad.
It works completely fine with the top of the case off, but I'm probably missing some info someone more experienced would know. Of course, it may be either a design issue with the case or maybe the AXP just runs too hot for something like a 1U. Does anyone here have some tips for cooling systems like this? If necessary, I can provide details when I get home.
The last computer I built (and the one I am typing on) has a problem with heat, even though the inside of my case has good airflow. The problem is that this is a frankenstein box, and I was too cheap to buy good fans. So what I did was take both side panels off, and put a 20" Galaxy fan (about $11 at walmart) on the side, pumping air into the case. The air then flows out where the right side panel used to be.
I get temps between 100 and 120 fahrenheit, depending on whether I'm playing a 3D accelerated game or not.
Recently, due to a very dusty nightmare (I spend hours cleaning the dust out) I now have an air-conditioner filter duct taped to the front of the galaxy fan. I change it every few months.
My comp runs fine, but what about my ROOM?! I have central air cond, but my bedroom is the only room in the house that is boiling hot in the summer. As a power user who doesn't like turning off his comp, that sucks :P
Two things:
1. Open your window - if you need a screen on it, then get one.
2. Mount your PC so it's in the shade, with the exhaust going towards the window and the air intake coming from the shade.
3. Buy a box fan for your window, or put one so it pushes the hot air out.
4. Stop painting your room black when it faces south.
5. Put a large flat tray of water right after the box fan, so that the air moving towards the computer is cooled by evaporation. Make sure this does not result in condensation on your computer after 30 minutes at say 3 pm (hottest time).
6. If you can, buy louvred slats to cover your window and reflect out the sunlight but permit the airflow.
7. If you're not at home, make sure your computer has sleep mode - and use it. Most heat is generated by your monitor, so buy an LCD flat screen monitor (lower energy usage, lower heat generation, quieter).
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
You need a decent heatsink designed for 1U use, and a motherboard with 1U use in mind.
Motherboard considerations: The chip socket should be as recessed as possible considering the board standoffs, no large capacitors, as many right-angled cable connectors as possible, etc.
Also, the chip sockets have to be oriented so they are not obstructed by board components (such as filled RAM slots).
The heatsink has to be full of fins oriented front-to-back. Then you need to install an assload of 60mm fans, and some plastic or carboard airflow guides/hoods to force that air into and out of the CPU heatsink while bypassing everything else. A few of the remaining fans that don't funnel into the CPU cooling "tunnel" will be cooling the power supply on one side, and a few more for general MB/chipset cooling on the other.
You will absolutely need fans in the front and back, as close to the front and rear ventilation holes of the case as possible.
Also helpful are HSFs that are horizontally oriented designed for 1U mounting to various socket types... but they are rare.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
A heat pipe and a large radiator does passively via convenction what the stirling engine does forcefully for the extra 9W.
Not so. A heat pipe is passive because it merely equalizes the temperature. A Stirling engine can continue pumping heat far below the ambient temperature. As I said, right into cryogenics range.
The overall cooling effect is still limited by the heat transfer ability of the hot side, which is always some kind of radiator.
'Tis true. But the hot side can easily be enhanced with fancier metals, and larger surface areas. Basically, you could use the entire side of the computer case to cool your centimeter square microprocessor.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ....
Seriously, WTF dude? It takes 2 pages to describe where you should mount your fan? We need another how-to on how to cut a fuckin hole in your case? "Have some fans in the front and some more in the back"... well, THERE'S a fuckin gem! Christ, I never would have thought of that!! I thought I should go out and buy 20 fuckin 200mm fans and duct-tape them all in a GIANT FUCKIN STACK right over my CPU, creating a giant VORTEX OF DOOM sticking out the side of my case, and THEN I would vent that GIANT VORTEX OF DOOM back INTO the front of my case, to make sure I made appropriate use of my airflow, and THEN to make sure I didn't have any leaks I'd duct-tape EVERY FUCKIN HOLE in my case shut, including those wussy holes on the back, they're not for anything, right? And THEN, when I have my GIANT VORTEX OF DOOM running at FULL BLAST, with my tower jitterbugging off the edge of my desk due to the MASSIVE VIBRATIONS, and my cats are running for their lives lest they be SUCKED IN to the one dime-sized hole I left open on the front of my case (for my wires to run for my most awesome LCD panel dude!), and THEN, I would have the GREATEST COOLING RIG EVAR!!!! Mwahahaha!!!
But now, thanks to this in-depth, insightful article, I now know that, if I want to cool my case, I have to put FUCKING FANS ON MY CASE... and if I want a fan where there isn't a hole, I can either CHANGE MY FUCKING MIND, or CUT A FUCKING HOLE.
HOLY SHIT DUDE, I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT.
Thanks you Slashdot. I feel my intelligence being leeched out by the alien overlord editors as we speak. Your grand plan for DUMBING DOWN THE FUCKING WORLD is working great. Good job. I am a l33t h4ck3r now. Feer me, for I know the power of the FAN!!!
Please let me know when I can cast my vote for Kodos. Anything that queer slimy bastard can do to stop this story from being duped next week will make me very very happy.
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.