thamaestro
Disabled
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2002
- Location
- Colorado, USA
As we know, the component's temperature in a PC is a function of various factors, but it is always added on top of the ambient air temperature. This is why we have the °C/W rating for heatsinks. (ie:
temperature = (c/w(rating)*watts+ambient) etc...)
What if one were to cool the ambient air in the case, as opposed to directly cooling a handful of components?
A brute force option, i know...
This approach would have quite a few advantages:
1. UNIVERSAL COOLING
I want to cool the CPU, GPU, North-bridge, HDD's, etc...
This way, i don't have to have a waterblock for every stinking component. If you've ever done a DIY project, you know the less complicated, the less things could go wrong. (Keep It Simple Stupid)
2. MINIMAL CONDENSATION
Condensation can only occur if the ambient air is colder than the solid surface. There are freakishly few chances that this could occur in this setup: the main one being when the compressor shuts down( but still, -30 degree air can't hold any dangerous amount of water...)
3. SAFETY
The Ambient air has enough 'thermal capacitance' to keep the components alive for quite a while in the case of a catastrophic cooling faliure.
4. STABILITY
The air acts as a temperature buffer between the vapor change components and the CPU... Meaning, no freakishly huge variations between idle temps and workload temps.
I guess the question i can't figure out is: how cold can i get the air?
I'm guessing around -30 °C, but i really don't know.
I figure it's gotta be below freezing point (how else would my freezer get its name?).
This approach has difficulties in the area of insulation... i figure i can cover the inside of my ANTEC file server case with neopreme easily enough... And the case has to be airtight, but not entirely. If I just cover every crack with neopreme or closed cell foam, it shouldn't be a problem...
I plan on using the 80mm fans that came with the case to mount on the hypothetical evaporator coils, to keep the air inside moving around.
The compressor would be inside the case (next to the PSU) and the condenser coils would be hooked up outside through some convieniently cut holes.
WHADDA YA THINK?
If there's some reason this couldn't work, tell me before i spend too much money...
temperature = (c/w(rating)*watts+ambient) etc...)
What if one were to cool the ambient air in the case, as opposed to directly cooling a handful of components?
A brute force option, i know...
This approach would have quite a few advantages:
1. UNIVERSAL COOLING
I want to cool the CPU, GPU, North-bridge, HDD's, etc...
This way, i don't have to have a waterblock for every stinking component. If you've ever done a DIY project, you know the less complicated, the less things could go wrong. (Keep It Simple Stupid)
2. MINIMAL CONDENSATION
Condensation can only occur if the ambient air is colder than the solid surface. There are freakishly few chances that this could occur in this setup: the main one being when the compressor shuts down( but still, -30 degree air can't hold any dangerous amount of water...)
3. SAFETY
The Ambient air has enough 'thermal capacitance' to keep the components alive for quite a while in the case of a catastrophic cooling faliure.
4. STABILITY
The air acts as a temperature buffer between the vapor change components and the CPU... Meaning, no freakishly huge variations between idle temps and workload temps.
I guess the question i can't figure out is: how cold can i get the air?
I'm guessing around -30 °C, but i really don't know.
I figure it's gotta be below freezing point (how else would my freezer get its name?).
This approach has difficulties in the area of insulation... i figure i can cover the inside of my ANTEC file server case with neopreme easily enough... And the case has to be airtight, but not entirely. If I just cover every crack with neopreme or closed cell foam, it shouldn't be a problem...
I plan on using the 80mm fans that came with the case to mount on the hypothetical evaporator coils, to keep the air inside moving around.
The compressor would be inside the case (next to the PSU) and the condenser coils would be hooked up outside through some convieniently cut holes.
WHADDA YA THINK?
If there's some reason this couldn't work, tell me before i spend too much money...