Mythbusters

April 27, 2010 Frank Bennett Editorials, System & Components, Uncategorized 15

Wow!  This was unexpected, but here I am again getting on the front page! So, what can TollhouseFrank do to top his last article on the myth of defragmentation improving HDD access times (which will hopefully run again in the future)?

This time THF, as I’m known to friends on the forums, needs YOUR help!  From everything I’ve heard from the content editors, my article was one of the best received in the short history of the new Overclockers.com Front page.  Because of this, I was recently asked if I could start a series of articles based on busting “myths and wives’ tales” of the computer world.

I agreed that I would help out and do a series of articles based on this, hopefully once a month so I have the appropriate time to test each myth.

This is where you, the reader, comes into play.  As Mike Rowe does for Dirty Jobs, I’m here to ask for submissions to help make this proposed series of articles a reality.   If I choose your submission, be prepared to get involved!  I’ll make sure that I test your myth or wives’ tale and may even ask for your input on additional testing methods.

Just submit your ideas below or send me a message directly on the forum!

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TollhouseFrank

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#1 Apr 27, 2010

For those that post a submission, please be advised ahead of time, anything that is potentially dangerous/harmful and or going to cost a lot of money (seeing as how i just got layed-off work) is probably out of the question.

But, I will consider any and all requests, and it might surprise you as to what resources I have available to do some myths.

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J
JET-WTF

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#2 Apr 28, 2010

Submission cost...

Sorry to heare about you getting laid off... So i submitted one thats free to test and do.:welcome:

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TollhouseFrank

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#3 Apr 28, 2010

thans jet!

So far, i am trying to reply to every suggestion (they get e-mailed to me) and let people know I got them... but i have one of them that keeps bouncing back saying unknown recipient... so if you are reading this and sent a suggestion using an @gmail.com account.... and didn't get a response from me.... trust me, i tried... but our google overlords aren't letting my e-mail throughj

***edit***

some things I can still do despite 'cost'. I have a very good friend that has what is probably comparable to a small warehouse of older parts and computers. There are things I can do (which he'll gladly help with... he loves doin strange experiments on the gear he has) thanks to that.

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4GHZ_or_bust

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#4 Apr 28, 2010

The suggestion I sent in about PSU (can't remember if I spelled my user ID correctly) could be done for free if you could find an older PC like 486's or early Pentium. The PSU just needs the 110/220v switch, set it to 110v, turn off 220v outlet using circuit breaker, hook it up to 220v line, set up camera(s), throw the breaker on, watch the fireworks.

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TollhouseFrank

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#5 Apr 28, 2010

The suggestion I sent in about PSU (can't remember if I spelled my user ID correctly) could be done for free if you could find an older PC like 486's or early Pentium. The PSU just needs the 110/220v switch, set it to 110v, turn off 220v outlet using circuit breaker, hook it up to 220v line, set up camera(s), throw the breaker on, watch the fireworks.

we like sparks flying.

However, i really need to look at it a bit more in depth to see if it qualifies as a 'myth' or a 'what would happen' test.

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neonblingbling

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#6 Apr 29, 2010

Just a quick idea:

Water loops:

"Water has to go slowly though the system so it will absorb the heat from the components/let it disperse to the radiator"

Perhaps it could be tested by varying velocity of water through the system, and measuring temperatures at different points? Before/after pump, before/after CPU, before/after radiator.

This seems to be a fairly common question for cooling. Maybe it'd be nice to have an 'official' article to point people to.

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Avatar of Niku-Sama
Niku-Sama

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#7 May 03, 2010

^to add to the water thing^

mabe check various things to see what liquid or additive and what ammount cools the best.

like antifreeze in cars is best at 50/50 but in a computer ots only being heated on one side for a short time (compared to a car) so mabe less or more will make it more efficient.

$4 jug o coolant
water your already paying for (or well water [free])
$2 measuring devices (cups ect)
probally have a water cooling rig some place there.

i wish i had a friend with a ton of old parts, i need a bunch of old hard drives, preferable death clicky hard drives with working motors, dont want to destroy good drives just for some motors, got a few ideas.

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j
jszipsp

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#8 May 26, 2010

add to the wwter thing

u mean using substances with varying thermal capacities and heat absorption rates just an example ... an extreme one
mercury would absorb more heat faster than water
but thats not a myth its kinda a fact-test that idea can be calculated

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m
mbigna

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#9 May 26, 2010

I always wanted to know if there was any truth to the assertion that 'burning in' a CPU brings any better reliability or increases overclocking potential.

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King107s

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#10 May 26, 2010

How about running a computer submerged in highly deionized water? The premiss being that deionized water does not conduct electricity and thus should not short out the computer. You would have to use a fanless system though as the resistance of water would probably overload the fans.

I think this would work but only for a short amount of time because the water quickly starts absorbing ions from everything that it is contact with including carbond dioxide from the air.

So if there was a way to have a sealed system with no air that continuously recirculates over ion resin beds I bet it would work.

I have an 18.2 mega ohm DI water system in my lab....

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