[Panny]

Has anyone done this? I'm thinking about buying another mini fridge (I need my current one for food of course ) and using it as a case. That would we far colder than using a CPU fan.

I mean the layout almost looks perfect. The tiny freezer could be where the PSU goes..etc. I think the only thing I'd really have to worry about is insulation when I cut out the side, Course I don't even know what a fridge is made of. Help please.

[Dfi-Boy]

you cold water cool your pc... punch 2 holes in the side of the fridge and run your rad in side the fridge with some fans mounted to it that might work ...

[Kasm]

I doubt that the mini fridge would beable to compete with the heat output of the system. Refrigarators' compressors are designed to only run in burst, not 100% duty cycle. The condenser on the back of the fridge would get heat soaked. However, to increase your chances of having this work I would mount the psu and harddrives, or any other source of heat that doesn't need really low temps out side the frig and drill a hole to let the wires in. Insulate these holes afterwards though. Also, go to the cooling section of this forum, they have an extreme cooling section that talks about this kind of stuff.

[Evil_Eye]

There is an entire thread about this in the extreme cooling section. It's a sticky as a matter of fact.

Here's the link: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=373263

[Scott9027]

Isn't condensation the real problem? I've seen people use office style water coolers successfully for a cooling setup. But placing the components themselves inside the fridge really wouldn't work.

[creepy]

Wont work. Basicly a fridge is made to take something that has "no heat output" (example: can of soda) and cool it to lets say 40ºF and keep it there. On the other hand your computer has a "heat output" for example its constantly putting out 150w. The fridge isnt made to keep up with with a "heat output". Its simply made to take a product, get it to a temp, and the product remains at that temp. Not to constantly keep on fighting a product to reach a certian temp. because the product cannot maintain its own temp and keeps on putting out heat for the fridge to fight against.

A way to look at it. Youre putting a heater in a fridge.


If this is a bit hard to understand let me know and ill explain alittle better. Im just in a bit of a hurry.

[techun]

it's like running a fridge with the door open

[threeme2189]

its like running a fridge with a friggin hot pc inside that will make the fridge get too hot!

[shellshock]

Originally Posted by threeme2189

its like running a fridge with a friggin hot pc inside that will make the fridge get too hot!

yep im agreeing wiht threeme. LOL

[krag]

moved to extreme cooling....

[someone1029]

what about a freezer???

[DarkVirusVx]

holy necro. Why search for this thread and not read any of the other threads on the subject?

Freezer are not meant to run there compressor all the time. With the heat in the there the compressor would burn out very quick.

People have done water coolers with mini fridges. Normally with a huge reservoir.

[Pf.Farnsworth]

Mini fridge wont work, not enough capacity, a computer as a whole produces a lot more heat then a mini fridge is designed to move.

Using phase change cooling to cool air to then in turn cool your pc is horribly inefficient as air makes a better insulator then conductor of heat. With the same compressor and a direct die or chiller application you would be able to reach temperatures much much lower. Consequently due to poor heat conductivity of air and the design of the evaps in small freezers and household refrigerators in order for this to work with air you need a very large compressor.

You can get a freezer that is large enough to handle the heat load (it would be huge) but its still a poor idea. Part of the reason the freezer would have to be huge, and I mean huge, is because the evap is usually not designed for high heat load and is usually a bent plate with inner channels. For this to really work it would be nice to replace it with a pipe radiator coil type evap like in air conditioning and put a fan on it. Really large freezers are actually made this way.

My problems with total encasement cooling (provided there is enough capacity) are:

-No need to cool everything as there is zero benefit and its just a waste of energy

-Wasting capacity on components that do not need it hurts your indirectly by not providing that cooling where it can actually help; cpu/gpu. Ie, with the same compressor (electricity consumption) you can attain much better results by using a more efficient method (direct die or chiller)

-Condensation problems as you would have to insulate every part of your pc

-Hard drives do not take well to temperatures around 0C and below as magnetic properties change with temperature.

Originally Posted by DarkVirusVx

Freezer are not meant to run there compressor all the time. With the heat in the there the compressor would burn out very quick.

Actually you can use a freezer and there is nothing wrong with running the compressor 24/7. The compressors in single stage direct die coolers; vapochill, prometia, custom units, etc, are no different and they can and do run 24/7 just fine. The only thing that can really hurt its lifespan is opersating temperature, so keeping the compressor well cooler is importent for long life.

Also for the record my retarded mini fridge in order to keep my beer and soda cold like I like it seems to run 24/7 for the most part, no problems so far.

[Aphex_Tom_9]

this topic comes up periodically, i really think if we graphed its frequency it would make a nice curve...
anyway, the answer is basically no.

[Pf.Farnsworth]

why would you revive this old beaten to death horse Aphex?

[GigaForce310]

Oh wow, a dead horse! I'm going to beat it with this large stick.

[Mycobacteria]

ohhh dont beat him up about it just let him try.... nothing wrong with giving it a go.

(do tell us your results)

[Pf.Farnsworth]

Why not just throw your computer of the roof of your house. The results are already known thats why, and there is no reason to try it.

No one is beating anyone up, op asked a question and it was answered. ...Except maybe me brutally beating Aphex with a huge salmon for brining this already resolved thread from long ago back up

[GigaForce310]

Nothing wrong with spending a lot of money on hardware only to have paperweights in a month. And for what? The performace won't be nearly as good or permanent as a chiller or direct die phase change cooling.

[Aphex_Tom_9]

Originally Posted by Pf.Farnsworth

Why not just throw your computer of the roof of your house. The results are already known thats why, and there is no reason to try it.

No one is beating anyone up, op asked a question and it was answered. ...Except maybe me brutally beating Aphex with a huge salmon for brining this already resolved thread from long ago back up

i'm sorry.


...oops