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Will my room temp affect my upcoming build?

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Anonymous
Homebuilt system Expert

Heya guys (and girls?),

I've been lurking around these forums for the better part of a year and recently decided to register. I'd like to offer my thanks to all of the active members, as I've definately learned a lot and have (almost) developed the confidence to attempt my first build.

Here's a question if you don't mind:

My computer room is a poorly insulated add-on to the house and temperatures very wildly with the seasons. In the winter, fall and early spring, room temps range anywhere from 59 - 70 degrees F. (I can imagine that the lower end is great for the computer, even if it isn't so great for me!) However, in the late spring and summer, it isn't uncommon for the room temperature to stay around 80-84 degrees F. I've even seen the room hit 86 on really hot days!

Do you think the higher range of temps will have a negative affect on my upcoming build??? I hope to do at least some moderate overclocking.

Partial build details, if needed, are: Antec P182, E6700 (or X6800 if processor if prices drop low enough), EVGA 8800 GTX (Super Clocked), 2 WD Hard Drives (150 GB Raptor & 320 GB Digital Caviar), Zalman CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler, etc., etc.)

Thanks for any input you can offer!

More about : room temp affect upcoming build

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It will have an effect on your overclocking. It may not be apparent at all, but if you get your rig to max stable speeds in the winter, when summer rolls round you might find it completely unstable.

I'd sort your O/C out in the heights of summer, then it'll be peachy all year round. Alternatively, just get used to changing it :) 

yeah it will have huge affect even if you go water cooling as you will be pushing warmer air over the Hs/rad thus reducing the cooling affect i would suggest stock in summer then OC in the winter.

NB it will have less effect if you decie you want to phase change or something rediculous like that

It will affect your OC, but to what degree is the question. I've stopped my OC at 3.2 on a 6300 cuz my case is near the furnace vent.

HOWEVER, the best thing you can do is:

1) get a top-end air cooling heatsink
2) get good case fans and airflow through your case
3) keep TAT or CoreTemp open during the hot months and keep an eye on it

I recently did a review/comparsion of a few heatsinks with 85F+ ambient temps, stock and overclocked.........and the results show that you can keep safe CPU temps if you have a good heatsink and case airflow.

It's in the Cooler section of Tom's, take a look:
http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/Cool-Quiet-HSF-...

I suspect the 9700 will do even better than the Noctua since my focus was also on QUIET. If you don't mind some noise, there are some great air heatsinks out there.
Anonymous
Homebuilt system Expert

Thanks for the information and suggestions. I guess I'll stick to attempting any OC'ing in the summer and test for stability then. Maybe if I get really comfortable with it, I'll change the settings with the seasons, but I don't really see that happening.

Thanks again!
Anonymous
Homebuilt system Expert

Thanks for the link to the article, Skyguy. I skimmed over it (I'm at work right now and can't read the whole thing) and it looks very informative. I'll definately check it out in more detail later. I am still undecided on what heatsink I'll be using, but was initially leaning towards the Zalman 9700. I've also been reading some good stuff about the Tuniq Tower (I think that's what it's called) and could go that route as well.

Hey, I noticed you're in Ontario. I'm right across the bridge in the Detroit area. :) 

-J.
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