SPCR

U guys should consider yourselves lucky for having even a moderately silent PC. For me, well, I can't even have a silent apartment

I built my PC 6 months ago using a SLK3700BQE case, a Pentium 4 3.2 GHZ w/HT, a Radeon 9800 Pro video card, and a Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu CPU cooler running at 12v (yes, 12v. U'll see why)

The problem is that I live in a small basement studio apartment, which is really noisy because I got a refrigerator a few feet away from my computer desk. Plus, summer is here and I have a fan running all the time (AC is not an option). Ambient temperatures in my apartment are about 85-90 F on average, and i'm sure they'll increase. I don't complain about the heat because the fan cools me down. But, as u might imagine, my PC runs really hot. I run a lot of CPU intensive software (games, video editing, SETI@home, programming, etc) and the CPU temperatures go as high as 70 C load. I have the stock fan that came with the BQE case, but i'm thinking of getting an Evercool 120mm because I want lower CPU temps.

Now, this is only temporary. When the summer is over, everything will be back to normal (except for the refrigerator). But I guess for now I don't have a choice.

Basically my goal is to lower the CPU temps. I don't want to spend a lot of money on fancy devices, i'm sure there are some ways I can lower the CPU temps. The only thing i've considered doing is running my PC without the side panel, but i've heard some people say that it is not safe. What can I do to cool my CPU? I dont' want to mod my case... unless absolutely necessary.

get air conditioning you don't want to mod your case, you don't want to spend money.. not much more you can do

as for running your pc without the side panel not being safe, as long as you don't stick anything into it, you should be fine.

another suggestion, if you know how refrigerators work, it's a bad idea to stick any heat sensitive devices near it. basically, to reduce the inside temperature it increases the outside temperature.

move the beer and moldy stuff out of the fridge, put your computer inside! drill a hole for your cables (fill with silicon) and you have a quiet and cool-running system!

If AC is not an option, you're going to have a relatively noisy computer, if you want to lower your temps. I'd try Evercool 120s at 12v, open up the grills, use wire types........place the computer away from the fridge, and not too close to the back wall. Consider not running 24/7, and avoid intense gaming.

If all that doesn't work, you may need a better CPU cooler......

I know there are some people on this forum from places like Singapore and Indonesia, where they probably have ambient temperatures like yours all the time. I wish I could remember their names....

I can't use a regular AC because it wouldn't fit in my window, which is about 1'x3'. Maybe an indoor AC would work, but they're really expensive.

I heard that a PC with the side panel off would be unstable because the airflow would be disturbed, creating really hot spots in small areas. Don't know if that's really true.

I will probably mod my case and install an air duct, which would suck air directly on the CPU. That would be my first mod on my new PC. I had an old Pentium III PC which I modded last year: installed a blowhole and a side fan. It worked, but I didn't think about the noise factor

I wish I could put my PC inside my fridge. Has anyone been crazy enough to try that? That would be a perfect solution for the heat and noise problems.

Ozkar wrote:I heard that a PC with the side panel off would be unstable because the airflow would be disturbed, creating really hot spots in small areas. Don't know if that's really true.

Give it a try and see if your temps decrease. If they do, that means you probably have poor airflow in your case. You'd be surprised how many stock cases have poor airflow (well, *I* was surprised, until I found SPCR and started modding my case ).

I've never heard of this "hot spot" theory before. I suppose if airflow is poor, you could get a pocket of heat around, say for instance, the area around your bottom PCI slot, but nowhere enough to cause concern. Really, the only parts of the computer you have to worry about getting too hot are the parts that actually generate heat -- CPU, video card, hard drive and PSU (and northbridge, if you're really paranoid).

here's a more helpful possibility (though i think techtv did once do a fridge based pc)

get a flexible dryer vent - some are six feet long! connect to the back of your case, put a powerful a/c fan on the other end, preferrably outside of your apt.

this solves a couple issues:
it'll be quieter, as the fan is outside
it'll be cooler, with the heat going outside

you can reverse direction of the fan when it's cool outside

sounds good...would it work? dunno

http://www.climatemaster.com/ResGeo.htm

No, I'm not kidding. Imagine one of these on a smaller scale for your computer.

hero wrote:http://www.climatemaster.com/ResGeo.htm

No, I'm not kidding. Imagine one of these on a smaller scale for your computer.

That would be a nice addition to my overheating apartment, but if I were to spend money on such a thing, I would rather move to a nice 2 bedroom apartment.

BTW, i'm curious, has anyone spent more money on cooling a computer than on the computer itself?

Surely ya'll are familiar with Bladerunner's Bomb, right?

try underclocking your pc a little. If you dont want to underclock, you might try dropping a couplle of voltages and seeing if it still runs smoothly.

Secondly, make sure your cables are well organised. Messy cabling never helps airflow.

griff

I never thought about the cabling. It's a mess inside my pc with all those cables. I'll try to organize the cables a little bit to see if it helps lower temperatures a little.

I have no experience or knowledge of water-cooling, but is that an option?

But that also is relatively expensive, so an indoor AC might be a better choice.

But... from your situation it seems you might be a little screwed :\

alglove wrote:I know there are some people on this forum from places like Singapore and Indonesia, where they probably have ambient temperatures like yours all the time. I wish I could remember their names....

Heh that would be me in singapore, well if I were you, I would seriously relocate that fridge, cos that thing is also giving out heat! You could also think of putting up wall partitions around your fridge, might be useful. As for your temps, are your case interior tidy and clean? You might want to check though, could be the cause of bad airflow or dust. If all else fails, sometimes you gotta bear with it, my 2500 usually runs 50-60, case around 35

I guess I'll just get that Evercool aluminum fan, organize the cables, and just wait for the end of the summer. If I get some extra money, i'll get the indoor A/C.

well as long as you already have a fan cooling you, get another similar one for your PC. take off the side panel and just have it blowing on low right at the mobo. your noise level is already high with a personal fan... adding another one won't make much of a noise increase. and that way you don't have to do any real summer / winter changes. once temps cool off, just put the side panel back on.

or be first in line for a desktop centrino (come on, release them already!)

I'd definately take the side of the case off. Point a room fan at it (I've done it before, it works wonders).

Stay Cool,
-Evan- (Florida)