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CPU / Case cooling tip, Easy 2-3c temp drop!

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WyrmMaster

I'm a little teapot Senior
Joined
Dec 17, 2000
Location
Montana, USA
It got kinda hot today, so i fliped my delta from 7v up to 12 to deal with the heat. Next thing i knew my Case temps had risen 3c, thats not good. That got me thinking. So i turned my delta around so it sucks off the heatsink, and built a cardboard duct from the delta to my exhaust fan. Now all of my hot air goes straight out the back. CPU temps droped by 2 to 3 degrees, and my case temp stays the same when i kick up the delta. The entire project took me about a half an hour, maybe a little more, but best of all it was FREE.
 
As I have always said, "Experimenting is its own reward." ;D
Congratulations on a successful experiment.

Hoot
 
I was thinking about doing this myself, but you know what would look better and work probably better than cardboard? Corrugated plastic. I used this as a basic heat shield on my blown 5L Mustang a year and a half ago and it worked pretty good. It's nice and solid and you can cut slits into the one side of the plastic and create nice clean bends. The stuff is pretty cheap too, only like $5 for a big 6 foot sheet at a hardware store, I still have a few feet left, I may try this myself.

Shawn
 
can you still hear.

hmmm cardboard starts on fire easy. be careful
 
Cowtown (Jul 10, 2001 11:42 p.m.):
I was thinking about doing this myself, but you know what would look better and work probably better than cardboard? Corrugated plastic. I used this as a basic heat shield on my blown 5L Mustang a year and a half ago and it worked pretty good. It's nice and solid and you can cut slits into the one side of the plastic and create nice clean bends. The stuff is pretty cheap too, only like $5 for a big 6 foot sheet at a hardware store, I still have a few feet left, I may try this myself.

Shawn

Whenever possible, avoid using corrugated stock for an airway. It disturbs the airflow pattern, sometimes to a great extent. On automotive applications, things are more forgiving due to the volume of air being moved, but with HSF performance enhancement, every little bit of airflow resistance counts.

Hoot
 
If your worried about fire try this. I used a toilet paper tube for a small 60mm fan once. I thought about the fire thing too and found a easy fix. I was looking around my room and saw some fire retardant spray that I use on my model rockets. I sprayed the toilet paper tube with that and it worked great. You can find fire retardant spray at model/hobby shops or maybe even at a local department store in the toy section where the model rockets are.
 
Is that safe for the core to have the hsf exhaust the air rather than blowing on the hs?...if so I'll rig mine like that as well.

Sounds like a great idea...please let me know cuz if i can lower my temps by another 2 or 3 degress that will save me a few bucks on a new hsf.
 
Dell uses a similar type of thing on some of there desktops. My friends 866 has a duct from the heatsink right out the case. To bad there is only one fan on the case an nothing directly on the cpu, just the duct. I'll have to try your air duct idea with my 120mm case fan.
 
yakimushi (Jul 11, 2001 11:49 a.m.):
What difference would it make to the core as long as the heatsink stayed cool?

Ha Ha, very funny, what I mean is how can you keep the core cool when all your doing is drawing the heat with the fan through the hs and not blowing down on it to cool it...
 
Hoot (Jul 11, 2001 07:31 a.m.):
Cowtown (Jul 10, 2001 11:42 p.m.):
I was thinking about doing this myself, but you know what would look better and work probably better than cardboard? Corrugated plastic. I used this as a basic heat shield on my blown 5L Mustang a year and a half ago and it worked pretty good. It's nice and solid and you can cut slits into the one side of the plastic and create nice clean bends. The stuff is pretty cheap too, only like $5 for a big 6 foot sheet at a hardware store, I still have a few feet left, I may try this myself.

Shawn

Whenever possible, avoid using corrugated stock for an airway. It disturbs the airflow pattern, sometimes to a great extent. On automotive applications, things are more forgiving due to the volume of air being moved, but with HSF performance enhancement, every little bit of airflow resistance counts.

Hoot

No, no, this stuff is just like Cardboard in how it's made. It is only corrugated in the middle both sides are perfectly flat.

Shawn
 
MIKREN @ work (Jul 11, 2001 12:00 p.m.):
yakimushi (Jul 11, 2001 11:49 a.m.):
What difference would it make to the core as long as the heatsink stayed cool?

Ha Ha, very funny, what I mean is how can you keep the core cool when all your doing is drawing the heat with the fan through the hs and not blowing down on it to cool it...

Well in this case you are using suction to PULL the heat from the bottom of the HS where the CPU is up to the top of the HS and expelling it. This is the way most HSF were setup until not that long ago (maybe 1-2 years ago).

Shawn
 
Ive been running a duct for a long time now and i love it! allthough my air flow comes in from outside the case to the HSF, one thing ive found with the Delta you really need to do the silicone trick to help with noise and when installing a duct you must make sure that the duct does not touch the fan or you will be in for allot more noise from the vibrations, with my duct i feel I'm getting good results for a p3 running @1262 25C ambient\system and 27C CPU temps. My favorite part as was said ITS FREE :)
 
MIKREN @ work (Jul 11, 2001 12:00 p.m.):
yakimushi (Jul 11, 2001 11:49 a.m.):
What difference would it make to the core as long as the heatsink stayed cool?

Ha Ha, very funny, what I mean is how can you keep the core cool when all your doing is drawing the heat with the fan through the hs and not blowing down on it to cool it...

Dell does make excellent desktop computers and they have great service.
 
I tried the air duct trick but it raised my cpu temp by 3 degrees...could it be because I didn't have another fan at the other end of the duct.
It also slowed my fan speed a little. :(
Was I creating back pressure from the 2 elbows I had to install?

Maybe it's time to get myself another case, I don't think this little 18 incher can handle anymore o/c :)
Not bad though ...stock coolermaster, duron700@900
43c idle...2 intake's 2 exhausts especially with the voodoo5 blocking air flow. hehe
What do you guys think of the duct problem ?
 
It could be not haveing another fan on the end of the duct. Just checking, your duct is for exhauset, not intake correct. I think the reason mine worked so well is i have good case airflow, so the bottom of the heatsink where air is drawn from is kept well supplied with cool air, and the duct makes sure that all of the hot air from my processor goes straight out the back of the case. All that it really does is keep case temps down, which in turn lowers CPU temp.

On a side note i noticed that the air out of my powersupply is cooler now, so that will probably improve my PSU's lifespan.
 
The deltas rpm might increase because of the suction, but it wont hurt anything. When i was using my FOP 32 i had an 80mm fan piggiebacked ontop of my YS Tech fan. Increased RPM by about 700, and droped temps slightly. They where both blowing down on the heatsink, but same basic consept.

I would recommend not sealing the duct up tight against the 120mm. The delta pushes 38cfm at max rpm, the 120mm probably pushs between 70 and 100 cfm. If it was sealed up it would slow the 120mm down significantly.
 
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