Cooling a Computer

***aeromed202*** · June 22nd, 2009, 16:17

My set up area gets pretty hot in the summer and I want to keep this rig's guts nice and cool. What options do I have? Would a bigger power supply help by needing to work less hard for the given load? Fans?

***Willy*** · June 22nd, 2009, 16:44

I use a case with plenty of airspace and extra fans to pull air in and push it out. Also the biggest cpu fan I can find. Old school and can be noisy, but it's worked on this old comp for seven years now.

***aeromed202*** · June 22nd, 2009, 17:06

Yeah I kinda prefer fans, simple, easier to install. But it's probably a no brainer to upgrade the power supply first. If I add a fan can I cut holes and put it where it will do the most good? Is there a problem splicing it into an existing fans power wires? Anybody who has done this have any tips?

***OBIO*** · June 22nd, 2009, 17:14

My number one tip for keeping a comuter cool is to keep it clean. Shut it down, unhook it, carry it outside, take a clean, dry tooth brush and get all the dust out of the nooks and crannies, use some electronics cleaner to blow the dust out of the case, clean the fans. NOTE: when cleaning the fans, do not allow them to free spin with the spray...fans are only rated for a certain RPM, and allowing the spray to spin the fan blades could damage the fan and shorten its operational life.

Keep the wiring tucked out of the way of the fans. Free air flow will help carry cool air to the parts and hot air away.

The next time I am buy Radio Shack, I am going to pick up an 8 inch diameter server fan, cut a nice big hole in the side plate on my system, mount the mega-fan and run it off an independent 12 volt power supply. That should drop my system temps nice and low.

Before the ferrets came along, I used to keep the side of my system open to maximum heat escape. Since we let the ferrets out of their cage daily, and given their proclivity for getting into things, I figured that last place I want them getting is inside my computer. Nothing smells worse than an electrocuted ferret.

OBIO

**waco** · June 22nd, 2009, 21:12

I like a fan blowing in from the side onto the cpu, chipset and video card area. Plus a couple fans on the front of the case blowing in across the hard drives. All of this exhausts out the back case fan or top if the PSU is mounted on the bottom. Noisy but I alway use a headset for sound.

***Richard Westcott*** · June 23rd, 2009, 00:10

I have the same problem.

Obio is right, give your machine a good clean, I was amazed who much dirt was attached to the fans, I use a small modelling paint brush to clean mine. Getting to the graphics ard fan is difficult, mine is at the bottom of the tower and the fan is on the underside.

The side comes off my machine as well so I remove that on hot days and really hot days I set up a small domestic desk top fan and have that blowing in to the tower.

***OBIO*** · June 23rd, 2009, 02:08

When I cleaned my system yesterday evening, I actually pulled my video card out of the system to clean the fan and the heat sink...and am mighty glad I did. My card is toward the bottom of my tower, and the fan and heat sink face the bottom of the case, so it is really hard to get to. When I pulled the card from the system, I found that 1/2 of the heat sink was totally filled with dust and part of the fan shroud was filled with dust. It is now totally clean and open for max air flow. From now on, my video card comes out of the case for cleanings.

OBIO

**jhefner** · June 23rd, 2009, 11:28

I had a problem with my old computer where it would seem to "down shift" anytime you ran something hardware intensive like FS. I played around with drivers, anti-virus, and everything else; only to find out that the space between the CPU fan and the CPU was literally full of dust and lint. Apparently, the CPU was stepping down when it got too hot; a good cleaning, and the problem was gone.

-James

***aeromed202*** · June 23rd, 2009, 17:44

All good stuff, real meat 'n potatoes. I lost my MB and HD to dust/heat a couple years ago but was able to get most every file back. Since then I blow down the innards every so often. I was going to do just what Waco and Richard said, mount a big fan in the side panel and let the air blow out everywhere. I suppose I better power it separately too.

Ferrets? Got any pics of the rascals?

**CG_1976** · June 23rd, 2009, 17:59

Originally Posted by Richard Westcott

I have the same problem.

Obio is right, give your machine a good clean, I was amazed who much dirt was attached to the fans, I use a small modelling paint brush to clean mine. Getting to the graphics ard fan is difficult, mine is at the bottom of the tower and the fan is on the underside.

The side comes off my machine as well so I remove that on hot days and really hot days I set up a small domestic desk top fan and have that blowing in to the tower.

Geez i had to break out a Desk Fan and whip off the side off my tower today for the 1sttime in two years. My CPU temped at 65c. Its hotter then 102f in Green Bay. Someone give me snow and siberian cold please!!!!

**Ashaman** · June 24th, 2009, 19:40

Originally Posted by Trans_1007

Someone give me snow and siberian cold please!!!!

Come in Italy. It's about 18° C hereabout lately.

**PHo17** · June 25th, 2009, 00:26

Originally Posted by Ashaman

Come in Italy. It's about 18° C hereabout lately.

How can italians stand so warm climate? Here in Finland almost whole June has been around 10 C (50 F). Last "summer" here (in eastern Finland) was only one day when the temperature rised over 25 C.

They talk about climate warming?

Pekka

**CG_1976** · June 25th, 2009, 01:09

Nope i prefer 0 C.

**Fnerg** · June 25th, 2009, 06:04

Thanks for the thread. It reminded me to clean out the dust and reinstall a fan that I had been meaning to. My comp is running super quiet now.
Us Canadians get 10 months of cold, then 2 months of summer-maybe. We're in the middle of a heatwave right now and it's 30+ (94) at 9am. Even though it's unbearable around 2pm, I have to appreciate it while it's here. I just met some folks from Georgia last night who can't imagine driving in snow. They thought it would be cold here now, boy are they surprised.

**Ashaman** · June 25th, 2009, 10:07

Originally Posted by PHo17

How can italians stand so warm climate? Here in Finland almost whole June has been around 10 C (50 F). Last "summer" here (in eastern Finland) was only one day when the temperature rised over 25 C.

They talk about climate warming?

Pekka

You call 18° C warm climate? You should have been here in the incandescent summer of 2007. Not ONE blasted day below 38° C for two months straight, and most of the times WAY above. Oh, yeah, never forget a humidity level of no less than 66% (when it was low) that helped NOTHING.

By the way, I am talking about the temperatures here where I live. In the mountains. In a place renown for its mild summers and hard winters.

There was enough to off yourself to subtract from that torture here where I live, in 2007. In Palermo (I went there that summer to visit a friend, shortly) was enough to sell your soul for a ice cream in the night. At 09:00 in the morning was WAY worse than at 15:00 in my town. I had to run away from there or suffer a stroke. It seemed someone had moved Italy in the middle of the Sahara desert, climatically speaking, that summer.

Never been more grateful for conditioned air like that summer.