Newbie computer builder

[paco83]

I am planning to build my first computer soon, and i've been doing a lot of researching about cooling, because i also plan to try my hand at overclocking for the first time. I've been reading all the articles i can on overclocking/cooling ect, and i have 2 questions. First of all the case i'm looking to buy has 4 points to mount fans, 2 high in the back, 2 low in the front. The articles i've read say always exhaust from the top, but won't that draw air away from the HS&F? If the top 2 fans are used to draw in cool air from the outside and blow it into the case and practically right over the HS&F won't that make it more effective? My second question is what tempurature does the average non-overclocked factory cpu run at? Thanks for all your help.

 

[paco83]

Another question i just thought of, does anyone use peltier's and HS&F or are peltiers used only in water cooled ssystems?

 

[Hawk]

Hot air naturally rises so it is best to pull that air up and out rather than fight physics and try to force that hot air down. Bring cool air in low and past the heat source to pick up that heat and deliver that air out through the top. Also you want to try and maintain positive pressure inside the case which will help keep dust and dirt out. Temps vary but you want to try and keep it below 45 C full load for extended period of time. P4s usually run a littele cooler on air than does AMDs in my opinion. Hope that helps.

 

[mbentley]

Hot air naturally rises so it is best to pull that air up and out rather than fight physics and try to force that hot air down. Bring cool air in low and past the heat source to pick up that heat and deliver that air out through the top. Also you want to try and maintain positive pressure inside the case which will help keep dust and dirt out. Temps vary but you want to try and keep it below 45 C full load for extended period of time. P4s usually run a littele cooler on air than does AMDs in my opinion. Hope that helps.

one thing about cooling is that what works for one person will not always work for another. using positive case pressure will raise my idle case & processor temps about 10 F. just try different setups and do what works best for you.

 

[Jkasmann]

Very true, it can vary.....generally keeping the intake and exhaust cfm as close to each other as possible is the best plan, with slight positive pressure if you want to keep dust out (but dont go overboard on it, just a bit of pos. pressure is needed). But like mbently said, try it and see, since it varys from setup to setup.

Pelts for the most part are only for water cooling systems (there are a few exceptions but from what ive seen using them with air isnt really worth it).