Question using Alpha heatsink

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ONEshot
Posts: 257
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2004 11:37 pm

Question using Alpha heatsink

Post by ONEshot » Tue Jul 20, 2004 5:32 pm

I was planning on making a computer like this:

PSU ducted to outside.
120mm Globe fan taking air out.
Arctic VGA silencer
OPEN front intake (From negative pressure)
Alpha heatsink with fan pulling AWAY from the heatsink DIRECTLY into a duct to the outside.

My concern is this: The air that i'm going to be pulling through the Alpha heatsink is going to be the warm air from the case, right? Is this really a factor? Because ... Other heatsinks work the same way, sticking warm air from the case DOWN onto the heatsink. So I'm not sure if this will hinder performance.

I got to thinking that maybe the reason why the Alpha heatsink performed so well in the SPCR test platform is because its all open air; none of the heat from the HDD and Memory is being integrated into the air going into the Alpha.

Any thoughts? Feel free to talk to me about the open front intake as well, because i'm just not sure if I'll have enough negative pressure in the case to make that work well enough.

hydroxyhydride
Posts: 40
Joined: Fri May 21, 2004 10:49 am

Post by hydroxyhydride » Tue Jul 20, 2004 9:13 pm

Well the idea behind the exhaust-ducted system (cpu duct and vga silencer) is that the internal case temp should remain failry close to ambient. This is because the heat from the hottest components doesn't get a chance to circulate and raise temps. So while the CPU temp will probably not be as low as in an intake duct, it will probably be better than without any ducting at all.

Of course the actual perfomance will be dependent on the details. You'll still want to make sure that there is adequate force feeding in air to cool your hard drives, memory, and other components. Establishing negative pressure with a nice, unducted exhaust would be one way to go about this.

I've always wanted to try this theory out but I'll probably be playing with intake ducts as my heatsink is of the blow-down variety.

ONEshot
Posts: 257
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2004 11:37 pm

Post by ONEshot » Tue Jul 20, 2004 10:29 pm

Thanks a lot, you made a lot of sense. I guess that seals the deal, pretty much. Unless my stupid mercurial mind decides to go with the SP-94+intake duct. AHHH!!!!

hydroxyhydride
Posts: 40
Joined: Fri May 21, 2004 10:49 am

Post by hydroxyhydride » Wed Jul 21, 2004 12:37 pm

Glad to be of help :D
I'm still pretty new to this too. Be sure to report back and tell us how the project works out for you. I'm kind of curious to learn whether it is better in practice to figure out which fan configurations work best in an exhaust ducted system. (Intake fan blowing in, extra exhaust for more negative pressure, etc).

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