Cooling... what happens if?

[Charlie Wilkes]

I have a nice, big server case from the landfill. It has six drive
bays up top, and the board goes down below in its own spacious cavity.

It has mounting brackets for a 92mm fan on the bottom front, and
another one above the PSU bay in back, which seems ideal for an
intake/exhaust fan combo.

However, I also like the plastic tube in my current case, which
directs air from a grill in the side of the case to the fan/heatsink
that cools the CPU.

What happens if I reproduce this arrangement in the server case, with
another 92mm fan between the case wall and the plastic tube? Will I
burn out the fan on the heatsink by ramming it?

And what happens to the aerodynamics of my case... with that flow
coming in from the side, would I be better off having two exhaust
fans? Should I mount a hood over the CPU and duct it to an exhaust
fan?

I look at these boxes with the colored lights, the mini-skyscraper
heat sinks with a supposed heat pipe... it looks like garbage for the
kids to waste their money on so they can show it to their friends.

I'm therefore interested in ideas about sensible ways of cooling a
system with components that may end up being overclocked. Noise I can
live with, up to a point.

Charlie

 

[Dude]

I'm therefore interested in ideas about sensible ways of cooling a
system with components that may end up being overclocked. Noise I can
live with, up to a point.

Charlie

cool beans!

I have a proliant server, it has 5 swap drives in it, they all work
it runs like a champ...

i decided not to upgrade mine because of the cost of the eisa cards the
mother board needs

it has 4 processors in it, each one is 200 mhz

it got really cold in the closet one night, by morning it had locked up
I quickly threw a heater on it, gave it about an hour, and walah!

Good Luck

oh! when i bought the proliant 6500, I also had the oppurtunity to buy
2 servers they were as large as a small refridgerator...I thought about
running my own ISP, but then i decided I should not do that to my cable
company...

Barry

 

[Bob]

I have a nice, big server case from the landfill. It has six
drive
bays up top, and the board goes down below in its own spacious
cavity.

It has mounting brackets for a 92mm fan on the bottom front, and
another one above the PSU bay in back, which seems ideal for an
intake/exhaust fan combo.

However, I also like the plastic tube in my current case, which
directs air from a grill in the side of the case to the
fan/heatsink
that cools the CPU.

What happens if I reproduce this arrangement in the server case,
with
another 92mm fan between the case wall and the plastic tube?
Will I
burn out the fan on the heatsink by ramming it?

And what happens to the aerodynamics of my case... with that flow
coming in from the side, would I be better off having two exhaust
fans? Should I mount a hood over the CPU and duct it to an
exhaust
fan?

I look at these boxes with the colored lights, the
mini-skyscraper
heat sinks with a supposed heat pipe... it looks like garbage for
the
kids to waste their money on so they can show it to their
friends.

I'm therefore interested in ideas about sensible ways of cooling
a
system with components that may end up being overclocked. Noise
I can
live with, up to a point.

If you can, just open the side of your case (and leave it open). If
it's really hot, buy a small desk fan for $10 (the kind you see at
Staples), put it on the floor and direct it into the computer.

 

[Charlie Wilkes]

If you can, just open the side of your case (and leave it open). If
it's really hot, buy a small desk fan for $10 (the kind you see at
Staples), put it on the floor and direct it into the computer.

That I can definitely do. That sounds like a good idea.

Then I can use an IR gun like they use at the transmission shop, to
check everything out and find any hot spots.

Charlie

 

[Mxsmanic]

I look at these boxes with the colored lights, the mini-skyscraper
heat sinks with a supposed heat pipe... it looks like garbage for the
kids to waste their money on so they can show it to their friends.

Yes, that's what it is. Colored lights and plastic windows don't do
anything to keep a computer cooler.

 

[Dude]

If you can, just open the side of your case (and leave it open). If
it's really hot, buy a small desk fan for $10 (the kind you see at
Staples), put it on the floor and direct it into the computer.

this is not how it works

the case cover is not just a dust cover

I AGREE, he can mount a fan to the box
but, the cover needs to stay on.

2 years from now, Charlie will appreciate that benefit

but sure...mount a nice strong fan to the box itself.

cut a hole and do an ext flush mount
or use the existing hole and make the fan suck airi from the unit

another consideration, honestly, you dont want it too cool
just like a car engine runs smoother after it warms up.

Barryman

 

[Charlie Wilkes]

this is not how it works

the case cover is not just a dust cover

I AGREE, he can mount a fan to the box
but, the cover needs to stay on.

2 years from now, Charlie will appreciate that benefit

Why? I can keep it clean with one of those little vacuum cleaners.

but sure...mount a nice strong fan to the box itself.

cut a hole and do an ext flush mount
or use the existing hole and make the fan suck airi from the unit

another consideration, honestly, you dont want it too cool
just like a car engine runs smoother after it warms up.

A car engine runs better hot because the parts expand and the whole
thing is tighter, with more compression, less play in the bearings,
less vibration etc. I don't think that model can be mapped to
electronic components.

I might use a bathroom exhaust fan blasting air into the case from a
side vent. These little computer fans stike me as being too light for
the task, whether they have ball bearings or magnetic bearings or
whatever.

Tom's Hardware recently tested a machine with the board submerged in
an oil bath.

Charlie

 

[Dude]

I might use a bathroom exhaust fan blasting air into the case from a
side vent.

I agree, it doesnt seem like enough. but those little fins really
transfer heat nice, Im sure you well know, a contact gel will also give
the heat sink a better connection with the heat source. but I've never
bought any.

I like you're practical idea. I had read up on my server, it highly
discouraged keeping the cover off, just for aerodynamic reasons of the
internal air flow...but cool is cool
right. Mine has a trip swith, if the cover is off, it won't boot,
unless I jam a pencil in the hole. (sorta like opening the lid on a
washing machine while it's spinning)

Tom's Hardware recently tested a machine with the board submerged in
an oil bath.

that's pretty wild, if that concept worked good (im fascinated)
then you could just cycle the oil and keep it at an even temp.

Charlie

post back when you attempt to install. maybe it's already running...

for mine, with 4 processors, I have Windows 2000 Server installed, it
has multiple processor support. When I pull up the taskman, I see 4
meters for the cpu. the load
is distributed evenly among them.

Installation was smooth and very rewarding personally, I had to
actually build my own *.oem file from "notepad. (in order for me to
insert the raid drivers at setup)

I hope nothing breaks on it anytime soon, replacment parts are rare and
expensive.
A no frills video card is several hundred dollars, based on the eisa
slots.

Later

 

[Hackworth]

I look at these boxes with the colored lights, the mini-skyscraper
heat sinks with a supposed heat pipe...

Hey! I resemble that remark.

I don't have der blinken lights, but I do have the mini-skyscraper cooler on
my Athlon 64 X2 4800+.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185125

This thing mounts vertically on the CPU and it's huge. BUT... it's quieter
than the stock cooler that comes with the CPU.

 

[Dude]

Hey! I resemble that remark.

I don't have der blinken lights, but I do have the mini-skyscraper cooler on
my Athlon 64 X2 4800+.

http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/exoticwoodcrafts_wood_case/index.shtml

here's some cool wooden cases

im sure you've seen these before
i've also seen wooden mice ! lol

yeppers

 

[Bob]

That I can definitely do. That sounds like a good idea.

Then I can use an IR gun like they use at the transmission shop,
to
check everything out and find any hot spots.

And if that don't work, you just phazer it. But don't use full
power as it will damage the floor

 

[Bob]

this is not how it works

the case cover is not just a dust cover

I AGREE, he can mount a fan to the box
but, the cover needs to stay on.

2 years from now, Charlie will appreciate that benefit

Odd... I've been running mine with no side panel for close to 6
years now. Oh, but I do maintain the components with air cleaner.
It's hard on me to be the exception (again).

 

[Dude]

Tom's Hardware recently tested a machine with the board submerged in
an oil bath.

Charlie

i opened one of my mid tower cases tonight and set a box fan right into
the side of it.
turned the fan on high...

the processor has been around 85 deg all day thats over 170f i think
(at it's core)

but now it's at 74c

cool!

so long as it's working, by whatever means is neccessary

 

[Dude]

but now it's at 74c

cool!

so long as it's working, by whatever means is neccessary

now it's down to 55 deg c

the machine was freezing up, whenever I put the processor understress
so far, it has not frozen any more

for a celeron 3 ghz intel says the max operating temp is 170F
or try to keep it under this

it's still coming down, now it's 53c

the motherboard in general has come down 8 deg c

i think im going to start an inhome business, designing cooling
systems!
hahaha

 

[Charlie Wilkes]

now it's down to 55 deg c

the machine was freezing up, whenever I put the processor understress
so far, it has not frozen any more

for a celeron 3 ghz intel says the max operating temp is 170F
or try to keep it under this

it's still coming down, now it's 53c

the motherboard in general has come down 8 deg c

i think im going to start an inhome business, designing cooling
systems!
hahaha

That's obviously a cheap and effective way to go... use big household
fans instead of little computer fans.

Charlie

 

[Mxsmanic]

but now it's at 74c

That's really warm if you have a fan blasting directly into the case,
and higher than some processors are designed to go.

 

[Mxsmanic]

That's obviously a cheap and effective way to go... use big household
fans instead of little computer fans.

I'm surprised nobody has designed a case with a huge 30-cm fan built
into one side, or something like that. It would certainly stay cool.