Dynaverse.net
Off Topic => Engineering => Topic started by: Redshift the Kook on March 20, 2005, 12:48:07 pm
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Well I've recently bought an Athlon 64 939 3000+ CPU and motherboard and have been having fun overclocking it. I mounted a Thermalright XP-90 heatsink on it with a Vantec stealth fan to cool it down because it is supposed to be a very quiet fan. Unfortunately I've found it doesn't move enough air for me to get some super overclocking results.
So, while contemplating getting a high airflow Tornado fan, my attention turned to a nearby room fan, 8 pieces of A4 paper and some sticky tape...
(http://img59.exs.cx/img59/4438/gettofan019wf.jpg)
Note the close proximity to a window ensuring clean fresh air is delivered straight to my heatsink. And also to ensure my neighbours get jealous of my overclocking skillz. :o
(http://img141.exs.cx/img141/3416/gettofan025tm.jpg)
A closer look illustrating paper cone delivering air where it is needed.
(http://img141.exs.cx/img141/1976/gettofan046vg.jpg)
The underview shows a slight design flaw; the main powerloom from my PSU is distorting the paper somewhat but it's still good. This may be addressed in v1.01.
The results? I manged to reduce the CPU temperature by 4 degrees C when under full load running Prime95! And to think, all this benefit with only a noise level of 65 decibels. Forget water cooling when, for a couple of quid, you can have Ghetto Cooling! 8)
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Nice feat of engineering.
But it ain't ghetto unless you've got bangin' sound blasting back out the wide end of the cone at your neighbors!
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Not bad, certainly shows some creativity. I had once thought about taking the fan blower out of an old car and converting it to AC then mounting to the case door. But I figured that would probably be a little overkill. ;D
As for heatsinks and fans I would suggest checking out SwiftTech (http://www.swiftnets.com/) or Zalman (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-118-119&depa=0). I have a SwiftTech and have been very happy with it. If you do go with a SwiftTech heatsink you will also need a CPU fan to go with it. I have been using a Thermaltake Smart Fan II (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-999-111&depa=1), I've had pretty good luck with it. Some people don't like them because they can be a little loud but cooling has never been a problem. Hope this helps.
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Oh one other thing, if it rains make sure that you close that window. That fan will draw the rain right into your CPU and motherboard. I'd hate to see something like that ruin your day.
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Heh, thanks for the compliments but it was really just an experiment to see if a power blast of air would make a difference. It wasn't worth the hastle for just an extra 4 degrees C. Plus I think it was a fire risk. :police: I think that fan is good for moving air around a room but it seems to have a giant dead zone in the middle, most of the air was being flown out of the sides.
As for the heat sink advice thanks, I'll look into those. Here is a pic of the XP-90:
(http://img193.exs.cx/img193/5803/xp907jw.jpg) (http://www.imageshack.us)
It's pretty good but I need a better fan for it. After mounting it I realised through research I had put too much AS5 on the base so had to clean it all of and start again, lol. Seems to run 5 degrees cooler now.
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Like that mod, points for "Red Green" style! ;D
I'm most interested in the application of peltier cooling for PCs... (nice 'n quiet... just need to protect against condensation...).
heh, this article taught me a lot: http://www.dansdata.com/pelt.htm
I only know peltier coolers as used in liquid chromatography autosamplers... a more practical application for them I guess...
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It's pretty good but I need a better fan for it. After mounting it I realised through research I had put too much AS5 on the base so had to clean it all of and start again, lol. Seems to run 5 degrees cooler now.
One question. Was the chip fan blowing air towards the big fan or away? The two fans may have been fighting one another rather than complimenting each other. Hooking the big fan so that it blows into the normal case air inlet with the case properly sealed might be more effective.
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Both the big fan and the heatsink fan were blowing towards the CPU. I've noticed that added fans in a series doesn't always improve airflow significantly I guess because a second fan would only add to the airflow of the first if it spins faster. I'm still wondering about using other household appliances for cooling ideas, if only for fun. Maybe a vacuum cleaner on blow? :o :P
Good luck with using a peliter solution Bonk. You can yeild excellent results from them but you usually need a watercooling rig to cool down the hot side of the peltier or the heat just leaks back to the cold side. If you ever get one running I'd love to see some picks of it. :thumbsup: