How far over ambient is good for air-cooled CPU?

[Godfodda]

My air cooled 866 @ 1066 (almost back up to 1100!) is currently running at 8C over ambient after my recent Dremel and fan work. What is a good difference between the two? And is it probable that the CPU temp could reach ambient (without "extreme" methods)?

FYI, ambient has been running 15-20 here lately.

[Hoot]

The key word is "extreme". Without extreme effort, the only way you will hit ambient is if you turn the PC off. There will always be resistance to the movement of heat from the core to the HSF. As long as there is resistance, there will be a difference of temperatures. An example of what I would call extreme is using a Peltier device to actively pump the heat. That can get you at or below ambient quite easily, for a price.

Hoot

[Godfodda]

Originally posted by Hoot
The key word is "extreme". Without extreme effort, the only way you will hit ambient is if you turn the PC off. There will always be resistance to the movement of heat from the core to the HSF. As long as there is resistance, there will be a difference of temperatures. An example of what I would call extreme is using a Peltier device to actively pump the heat. That can get you at or below ambient quite easily, for a price.


Got it. As far as plain old air cooling goes, though, what's to be expected? Including tweaks, I mean... such as ducts and anything simliar, but excluding peltiers.

I'm happy (for now) with sub-30s, but I am interested in pushing this thing as low as I can go with air. I'll switch to pelt/air or even pelt/water sometime in the future... not ready for that yet, though. How close can I expect to get without these means?