I was thinking....

[Grub]

I was thinking about case cooling the other day. I'm trying to lower my interior temperatures to get my cpu temperatures down. However, I loathe putting extra fans on my case. Extra fans = extra power consumption & extra noise. I want a silent solution so... Ever touch the top of your case? Its warm! What if instead of a normal plate on top of the case I put an array of heat sinks. That would help the heat get out of the case. Someone help me brainstorm. How would you get the most out of this configuration without comprimising the low noise quality? I'm thinking bout getting a bunch of short copper tubing and drilling matching holes in the top. Then insert the tubes into the holes and epoxy them in place. The hollow tubes increase the surface area exposed to the hotzone, and conducts heat out the top into the room. I could pinch the tubing closed at the top. OR Could I fill the tubes with a volatile liquid and make a heat pipe type of configuration? Both ends would be sealed. Help me out here guys.


Just because you're not paranoid, doesn't mean they're not watching you.

 

[bum_jcrules]

Are you trying to brainstorm a <b>low</b> power consumption on a <b>no</b> power consumption heat transferance system?

If it is low power, there are ways to minimize noise through sound dampening, channeling, low noise fans, etc.

If it is no power, then you will have to come up with better heat disipation designs like you were hinting at.

So let me know which you are looking for and I'll share some ideas either way.

<b>"If I melt dry ice in a bathtub, can I take a bath without getting wet?" - Steven Wright</b>

 

[Grub]

I was thinking of a no power design. I realize that the CPU fan and PS fan are necessary evils. I was just thinking about how the ambient temperature in the case directly affects the heat transfer of the cpu hs. Lower case temp= lower cpu temp which means I can lower my cpu fan speed. I was also thinking about this....My GEForce3 card has all the heatsinks and fans on the underside of the card. This must trap a considerable amount of heat. Also, the CPU is position very high on the MOBO...in the hottest part of the case (upper)...So what if I turned my case upside down. YOu would, of course, have to flip the HD and CD drives as well. THis would put the CPU down where the coolest air was. Also, it would flip the video card so the radiated heat was free to travel up. This would put the PS down there too, which is undesirable. Maybe I could relocate the PS somehow.

Just because you're not paranoid, doesn't mean they're not watching you.

 

[bum_jcrules]

I think that you have been thinking about this too much...

Could you flip the case... sure you could.

My first question is how many fans do you have venting air into your case? We should start here and not the other way around.

<b>"If I melt dry ice in a bathtub, can I take a bath without getting wet?" - Steven Wright</b>

 

[Grub]

Right now I have no fans blowing into the case. I just have the PS fan exhausting to the room. I don't want to add anything which makes more noise.

Just because you're not paranoid, doesn't mean they're not watching you.

 

[bum_jcrules]

Since you are not going to use fans.

You could build a conduit from outside the case to your CPU. The CPU would be housed inside a box and that would be vented to the PSU.

Basically the PSU would be drawing air to the CPU and that heat would be disipated up to the PSU.

Probably some form of cardstock for the box and dryer hose or some other type of tubing for the conduit. It will not be 100% air-tight but will serve its purpose.

You need flow to manage heat. Wether it is air, liquid, or some form of "heat-pipe" you need flow to move the heat. So with only using one fan in the PSU this is the only thing you could do.

Building a heatpipe to the PSU and using the fan in the PSU to cool fins on the heatpipe might work but now you are talking about a whole bunch of new problems.


BTW: What are you using to cool your CPU? Does it have a fan as well?

<b>"If I melt dry ice in a bathtub, can I take a bath without getting wet?" - Steven Wright</b>

 

[Grub]

I like the idea of a conduit to get "fresh" air to the cpu. That sounds like a better way to cooler air to the cpu heatsink than trying to cool the whole case down. It would probably muffle the noise of the fan somewhat as well. I think I'll try that as a first step. I'll let you know how it performs...thanks...

Just because you're not paranoid, doesn't mean they're not watching you.