Would an aluminum case help me to get my temps down?

[TUK101]

I have a Celeron 800 that I cannot always keep stabile at 133 fsb. I have a good copper based hsf, and plenty of air flow, but I cannot keep this thing stabile when the temps outside get really hot. When it is cool in the house, no problems stabile as can be. So.....my question is.... would an aluminum case help me to maintain stability? How good of luck have you out there that have bought them had? They are supposed to act as a big heatsink since the dissapate heat 3 times faster than steal.

[Thelemac]

*Moved to "Cooling"*

[William]

there is a debate going, if it does, it is going to be in the neighborhood of 1C difference. Good airflow is what is needed to keep a case cool.

[JetMech]

I work with Heated aluminum everyday and can tell you beyond any shadow of a doubt that alum give up heat very fast. Much faster than steel. Let's say we have maximum airflow in the case and we have a blast furnace going on in that case, ie: P4 cpu, rdram, video chip, northbridge. and hdds. The air picks up the heat and the exhaust fans attempt to vent it to the outside. While this is happening the molecule in the steel case are absorbing some of the heat. What is the absorbtion rate of sheet steel x thick compared to aluminum x thick. X being that thickness necessary to form a quality case. Now the question: how fast does each metal transfer heat to air? I'll answer that question with a question. Have you ever seen a steel heatsink. The aluminum case is a large heatsink that could not hold heat no matter how hard it tried. The only factor that I can think of that would slow down the heat wicking capabilities of aluminum over steel is the quality of the aluminum. The grade used for a case would have to have a given amount of hardness which is ratio of aluminum/copper mix tempered at x degree for x amount of time. To make a long story short? A system running in an aluminum case will always run cooler in the same environment than a steel case. Now. Is the difference worth the price?

[batboy]

Jet is correct, but so is William. The amount of extra cooling an aluminum case does is maybe only a couple degrees from what I've seen. Doesn't justify the extra $150 in my humble opinion. Lots cheaper ways to improve cooling with what you got.

[Warlord2]

if you have the money sure buy the case. it looks cool and cools better=]

[KeyboardCowboy]

for the amount you would pay for a alum case, you could install a sick air cooling or water cooling system, for the money, the increase in preformance is marginal at best, personally i have the money to buy an alium case but i don't and whould not buy one unless it was in the range of other cases, simply because it's not that much of an improvement for a large amount of money

[JetMech]

I think the market will soon kill steel cases except for elcheapo stuff that neither of us would touch with a ten foot pole. Supply and demand right now has the price up. Our refusal to pay the high price coupled with our positive feelings about them should convince manufacturers to lower prices. Also the increased number of companies making aluminum cases will help.

[TUK101]

Originally posted by JetMech
I work with Heated aluminum everyday and can tell you beyond any shadow of a doubt that alum give up heat very fast. Much faster than steel. Let's say we have maximum airflow in the case and we have a blast furnace going on in that case, ie: P4 cpu, rdram, video chip, northbridge. and hdds. The air picks up the heat and the exhaust fans attempt to vent it to the outside. While this is happening the molecule in the steel case are absorbing some of the heat. What is the absorbtion rate of sheet steel x thick compared to aluminum x thick. X being that thickness necessary to form a quality case. Now the question: how fast does each metal transfer heat to air? I'll answer that question with a question. Have you ever seen a steel heatsink. The aluminum case is a large heatsink that could not hold heat no matter how hard it tried. The only factor that I can think of that would slow down the heat wicking capabilities of aluminum over steel is the quality of the aluminum. The grade used for a case would have to have a given amount of hardness which is ratio of aluminum/copper mix tempered at x degree for x amount of time. To make a long story short? A system running in an aluminum case will always run cooler in the same environment than a steel case. Now. Is the difference worth the price? Exactly!!! And that is really what I am trying to find out........is it worth it to fork over between $100 and $200 to get the extra cooling. I am so close to stabile right now with my 800 Celeron@1066 that I guess that I am getting desperate. Guess that maybe it would just be cheaper to just buy a faster processor lol.:cool:

[William]

you can use that $150+ you would spend on an aluminum case to build an incredible water cooler that is going to give you much better temps.

[It_The_Cow]

Have you tried burning in? It's free and it's doing wonders for me right now. A little more and I'm sure I'll hit 930

[Thelemac]

Right...it helps cool the case a bit...but it's nothing along the magnitude of a heatsink. It's not really in contact with a heat source other than the air. Which is why it will help a little bit, but probably not much more. If you were looking for a new system and wanted something that would give better cooling, was light, and was relatively easy to mod, then I would definately recommend it. Since this isn't your plan, I would suggest maybe getting a fan or two and cutting some holes in your current case.

[The Overclocker]

i recon you are just looking for an excuse to buy a nice case, the best way to keep the cpu temps dow is to watercool it, but if you feel you need a new case, get one