PC cooling
 

My computer runs nice and cool now, even with it overclocked 20% from a 2.4c P4 upto 2.88 GHz.

Member Drew and I are going to test this new fan called the Card Cooler.
There are 3 pages in the above article.
The thing is huge, but is real quiet.

I'll record the stock temp in my case of the mobo and P4, then record it afterwards too with the fans in place.

That is one wicked looking fan(s).

http://www.thetechzone.com/reviews/c...r/P7220091.JPG

As you can see below, this unit is as big as your mobo almost.
It should really keep the rig cool.

http://www.thetechzone.com/reviews/c...r/P7220095.JPG

Yeah, I have one in my machine. It is the (original) model with the fans side by side. I love it. I've had it for about two years:

https://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7393/CC_front.jpg

I don't overclock, but when I play games, the extra cooling really helps. I have a ton of fans in my computer. Not counting the CPU fan and one fan on my power supply, I have a total of 9 fans. I only have two that run all the time. But, when I need to cool the machine for games, I am able to turn the rest on using a fan controller called the DigitalDoc5. It allows up to 8 fans to be controlled (on or off). It also has 8 temp sensor leads to be placed anywhere in our outside the machine. In addition, it measures your voltages to make sure the power supply is not going bad.

Anyway I've rambled, but the Card Cooler is pretty nice. I highly recommend it.

I look forward to seeing the numbers.
I could use a cheap cooling system for the summer.

Also, I've dropped out of the gaming world (last addiction was counterstrike 4 years ago), but wouldn't mind hopping back onto something every now and then. Any good recommendations? I'm into Simulation and FPS or a combo of both.

Scofro, though I haven't played it in a while, my gf and I would always have fun with Ghost Recon.

As we both have Macs, we never did manage to get online to play, but for a small LAN group the missions can be super fun.

It's more a simulation FPS, and often, it's pretty irritating because one shot and you're usually dead.

I always liked co-op rather than last man, but to each his own.

corey,
have you considered h20 cooling?

Scofco,
try call of duty. Sweet game.

Perhaps in the future Bud, if Boeing ever calls me back.
Water cooling is big time $$$.

Here's a new product from Zalman.
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/fro...ex-wat-29.html

http://www.frozencpu.com/images/prod...x-wat-29_6.jpg

The unit sits outside the tower, and the tubes are fed in from a PCI slot in the rear.
With the radiator outside the box, you have better cooling.

I could adapt this to my case with ease.

Oh by the way, the company Andy ordered the two fans from for us screwed up.
He sent Andy only one, and not two, and that one had an invoice in it for a guy in CA. :roll:

The guy in CA. got the two meant for Andy and I.

thats an awesome h20 setup. $300 :mad2:
i'm trying to steer away from pc mods. :cry2:
the more i read about hardware; my pc gets outdated fast. :ignore:

Yep, the next big thing here is the new PCI Express.
Way faster than 8x AGP, and will end up replacing AGP video cards and other stuff.

I'm having fun moddin' my PC though, very relaxing and rewarding.

Hey Corey - if you enjoy modding your PC (and I already know you love modding your 4Runner) you ought to give watercooling a try. The ready made kits that are out there can and do run into the several hundred of dollars, but you can put together something yourself for easily under $50.

The Zalman tower is nice, but it's main benefit is that it is completely silent (no fans). They also have a silent case out (it runs north of $1000) but has absolutely no fans in it, not even for the CPU/video card/power supply.

But if you want to talk watercooling, let me know - I'll show you how you can get into it for not much money. And it's VERY satisfying.

~Bill

You can always buy used water cooling equipment.

re:
 

What do you guys use as a temp guage. I am curious to see what my Pentium 4 3.0 runs for a temp. I never hear the fans.

I use the ap that came with my Asus P4P800 mobo
http://www.pnw4runners.com/temp2/overclocked_temps.jpg

I also have a better ap, but I don't have a screenshot of it now, and I'm heading out the door for some Thia food :D

By the way, Andy got the two fans today from the guy they went to down in CA.
I'll install mine within a few weeks and compare temps.

Depending on your system, you can download motherboard monitor and monitor things such as CPU speed, Fan RPM, temperatures, and voltage levels. Most systems are able to perform this, however some (many Dells, though not all) are not. And some motherboard makers have utilities that allow this. Again, though, not all. And this measurement may be slightly inaccurate.

There are also devices that you can put in a drive bay to measure your temperature. These are preferred, as they do not use system resources to make their measurements, and tend to be very accurate. The only problem is that you have to remove your heatsink/fan and insert the probe next to the core of your CPU, which can be intimidating for some.

~Bill

hey, here is a cheap water cooling system :D

seriously, a lot of attention is paid to fans these days. a good copper heatsink can go a long way towards cooling a chip and will conserve space in your case -- which improves airflow, another facet of cooling which is frequently overlooked. if $ is no object, then hey, go for that H2O system, you can water your houseplants too!

Not true, in fact, many PC vendors are in the process of implementing or evaluating water cooling solutions. Unfortunately the newest round of processors is simply putting out too much heat for air cooling solutions to work. Intel and AMD both went to copper cooling for their OEM heatsinks a while back, but their processors are putting out more and more heat. Even Apple is getting into watercooling.

Reference here and here.

Additionally, depending on the method of watercooling you use, you can easily decrease clutter in your case, take up less space, and reduce the temperatures of other components in your case. With a copper heatsink, air is normally blown down onto the heatsink. The air, after passing through the heatsink, is much warmer than the rest of the air in your case, heating up your case. Additionally, the air flow is not very orderly - the air hits the sink and goes in every direction, causing little vortices and whirls in the air, messing up efficient airflow.

In a proper watercooling setup, you have a much smaller block sitting on top of the processor (mine is just over 1/2 inch high) and not much larger than the processor area itself (mine is smaller). Compare this with a 2 to 3 inch high copper heatsink (not including the fan, which can easily add another 1-2 inches). And that doesn't even consider the 3 to 4 inches in length and 3-4 inches in width of my old heatsink.

I know watercooling may seem counter-intuitive. We learn from a young age that water and electricity don't mix. The fact is, the military and academic circles have been using watercooling for their processors for years. The fact is that distilled water is not highly conductive (my motherboard and video card both survived a leak - and of tap water). The fact is that water cooling is far more effiicient than air cooling. And, the fact is, that it is likely that when you buy a computer system 3-4 years from now, it will most likely be water cooled.

~Bill

bill- i agree w/you, water cooling is the "best" based on several categories except at least one -- which is my point -- cost.

I'd have to agree with you on that point. Low end air cooling will only set you back $5-$10, and water cooling certainly cannot compete with that. A common misconception is that watercooling costs hundreds of dollars to get into, though. This is not the case. While a top end pre-fabbed water cooling system can certainly run into the hundreds of dollars (and phase change cooling - big buck$), a low end water cooling system can be set up for about the same cost as high end air cooling. And it will cool much, much better.

You forgot to mention - the other category that watercooling looses in is simplicity (and big time). It's not difficult at all to slap a TIM or thermal paste, then a heat sink. But with water cooling, you have your waterblock, your tubing, your waterpump, your reservoir (maybe), and whatever you use to remove heat from the water. But that's where the endless tweaking, dreaming, and planning come in to play.

Me, I like to tinker and mod stuff. Cars, computers, furniture - it doesn't matter. I have my setup with an evaporative cooler that cost about $20 to build, and will handle nearly any heat load I can throw at it.

~Bill

there is also another cooling option which is even cheaper and simpler than hsfs -- mount all your components to exotic hardwoods and hang 'em on the wall! (which is what i did).

Heh, I'd like to see that. Got a picture? :cam:

ask and ye shall...
http://www.brooksweb.org/images/comp.jpg