Directing air out the window::

[sfleuriet]

My computer (pictured below) is set up on a desk next to my window. The computer with 2 case fans, HSF, and 2 psu fans makes a LOT of heat- It heats my room up so much, that sometimes its 10-15 degrees F hotter in here than in the rest of the house. No joke. I'm wondering if there would be a good way to redirect all that hot air OUT THE WINDOW! That would really be nice... If theres any ideas or similar things done before in the past, PLLLEEAASE inform me!

http://img151.echo.cx/img151/7306/12yp1.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img151.echo.cx/img151/104/28uw.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img151.echo.cx/img151/696/31oa.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

[entropy]

Meh, you could make a tunnel of sorts, but that'd be stupid. I think you've got other problems. A Celeron 2.5? That shouldn't make that much heat. I've got a 2.8c @ ~3.2c and my heatsink is only mildly warm to the touch. Also, same video card and a powersupply that's way hotter than it should be and my room doesn't get much warmer. Make sure you don't have a huge dust buildup anywhere... get compressed air and get everywhere you can. Inside the PSU, too, because that'll knock off quite a bit of heat, or at least it did for me. Strange that you've got that much of a heat problem...

Edit:
Reverse that side fan. It should be blowing in, not out. And have you got a relatively balanced set up? Like, for every out, do you have an in?

(Holy crap dude, organize your case! Stuff wires behind the mobo tray, in the corners, anywhere! That's ridiculous. You've got no excuse for that ;D Take a few hours and figure something out - that's what I did. Much cooler case temps, and all-around nicer look.)

Aim for something similar to this (my case). Normally I'd clear it out more, but since I got that lighted IDE cable, I just had to stick it out there. Ignore the dust - I'm out of compressed air. Bah. SHORTY! I think the attachments button is borked :confused:

http://img55.echo.cx/img55/3225/case8sv.jpg

[TheGr81]

Haha entropy, he does have and excuse. His case isn't huge like yours. :)

I will have to disagree with you though. My computer heats my room up quite a bit. (And as you know, I've got the same processor as you do, and a 9700 Pro) And now that summer has arrived, it's no fun. (but thankfully A/C is coming soon.) Anyway, my computer's PSU recently died and so my computer was out for like a week. The day after it died it was quite easy to notice that it was my computer's fault that my room was warmer than most of the rest of the house.

I got a new PSU and a new case (only temporary) and now, not only does my computer run cooler (thanks to bigger/more fans) but my room isn't as warm as it used to be. I think the rain is heping with that, though. This case isn't a whole lot bigger than my old one, but it was a lot easier to hide the cables. (It was kind of a pain though since I don't have SATA or smaller IDE cables, just the big ugly ribbons. :-/ )

I would post a picture but I don't wanna jack pilot's thread...

EDIT: Pilot, I think entropy's suggestion of some kinda tunnel is your only real choice, but it's prolly not worth it. I agree with entropy though, you may try turning the side fan around.

[sfleuriet]

lol yeah a tunnell or tube was something i was thinking of. I don't have dust build-ups, and compressed air is not near as good as a good ole trusty computer vaccum. No sense blowing the dust around when u can suck it right up!

I can't have my case much more organized- theres cables that are short and have to run directly across the motherboard. I wish it did look better though lol. I have no motherboard tray, and (like TheGr81 said), i have a much smaller case. That might ultimately be what I need to replace..

I had no idea the case fan needed to be blowing in. It came that way. I fill fix that in a few minutes!

I don't have balanced airflow... after i change the side fan, the two fans in the back will still be blowing out. Should I change the other case fan to be blowing in too?? OH! I also forgot- I have a little PCI Slot blower- Blowing out obviously, but thats only enough to cool the one PCI card its next to.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions! Keep them coming

TheGr81 - I dont mind if you post the pic of ur case at all. It will probably help me- thanks

[sfleuriet]

wow- i switched the side case fan around, and while cleaning up (some) i think i found another problem. My video card stock heatsink is pretty hot to the touch. I'm not sure exactly, but I doubt it should be that hot. Or maybe are they supposed to be hot? But its just a little bit hotter than my CPU heatsink.

[Donut]

Someplace, (I can't find it right now) I saw a ducting mod to exhaust hot air out. I believe it was designed to vent into the dead air space in interior walls.

Why couldn't you do something similar with some flexible dryer hose at Home Depot. Run from the back of the case out the window.

[TheGr81]

Video cards normally do run hotter than a CPU... I'll post a pic later, gotta go!

[sfleuriet]

right- that is what i was invisioning. Something like that, but I'm not sure how I would get it out the window. I'm not about to leave the window open all day, cut a whole in the wall, or in the window. lol

heres another pic of my case:
http://img299.echo.cx/img299/4162/10009599tg.jpg

and heres a possible problem area. The psu fan is blowing out, the cpu fan is blowing down, and the red case fan is blowing out:
http://img122.echo.cx/img122/856/10009609yl.jpg

Video cards normally do run hotter than a CPU... I'll post a pic later, gotta go! oh ok great- thanks

[entropy]

You might try putting that PCI exhaust right under the video card. It may or may not help.

Your case isn't all that much smaller than mine :-/ The only thing I can see, just by looking, is a tad less room on top. I don't use that anyway. Anything you can, you should stuff behind. Obviously if you have short wires, you can't, though.

Maybe I'm just the odd-man-out here. I mean, in the winter, if I go to sleep with the door and windows closed, and the computer folding (100% cpu usage), and then go to school with the same conditions, I can come home, open my door, and feel maybe a 4-5* F difference. Almost 24 hours of load. Weird...

[sfleuriet]

yeah that is pretty weird. And in fact I am moving the PCI blower under the video card right now. :D

ok all done- PCI blower is under the video card, and the side case fan is blowing into the case. Maybe another problem are those two case fans. They are PowMax brand LOLLLL.... I think I need to replace those. If someone could find me some, thatd be awesome. I need 2x 80mm fans. I would like RED led lights in them, they need to be semi-quiet, and blow more air that the PowMax fans.

[GrayFox]

Gah that will probably make it worse it will force the fan to spin slower by pulling the air the opposite way.

IF your worried about heat just buy a Zalman VF700-Cu ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118117) or ATI Silencer 1 Rev. 2 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186128)
Btw those chips are rated to go to 110C before they will die and I doute its going above 65C when your gaming.

edit: also if you wanted to throw in some vantec tornado's ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999612) in your case im sure your all temps would drop right down



edit: Links added

[sfleuriet]

ok the pci slot blower that i have is 75% worthless. It blows next to no air, so I reeally doubt it will interfere with the vid card fan.

im not really worried about the video card cooling. I didnt know it was supposed to be hotter than the cpu (i guess it makes sense b/c i have a celeron), so I'm sure its fine.

ok i think im going to get 2 of these fans - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835129238

[sfleuriet]

heres what I'm looking at getting two of these fans http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/aerocool-xblaster.html

Total (with shipping) from SVC: $20.03

thats very expensive... and to make matters worse for me, eBay is a lot more expensive!! Theres only 2 auctions for these exact fans- that amazes me.

[entropy]

Eh. A lot of people will disagree with me here.

You don't need a fan controller. At all. If you want more airflow, get faster fans. It's a trade-off. More airflow usually = more noise. You want less noise, deal with less air and therefore more heat. My brother got a nice one, spend $50 on it. Never saw the point in it...

[sfleuriet]

lol i guess the only reason i'm looking at it is so i can lower them down at night and make less noise. But you're right- that would just make it hotter. I'm thinking about just buying the 2 fans right now. I'll edit that post

[profdlp]

You're on the right track with the way you have the fans now.

Picture this: Cool air is sucked in at the side, it blows directly on the CPU/Video Card area and gets heated up, then the rear fan and PSU fans suck it out the back. If you can add another fan blowing in at the front of the case (nearer the bottom is probably better) you'll have a nice draft coming in the side and front, then exiting the rear.

I've fooled around with a lot of case fan configurations and this one is best for most computer cases. :)

[entropy]

Well, if you want it to turn it down at night, by all means get it. Don't let what I say influence you, as I rarely know what I'm talking about ;D

[sfleuriet]

Cool air is sucked in at the side, it blows directly on the CPU/Video Card area and gets heated up, then the rear fan and PSU fans suck it out the back. If you can add another fan blowing in at the front of the case (nearer the bottom is probably better) you'll have a nice draft coming in the side and front, then exiting the rear.
thats exactly what gray told me to do- you guys are on the same wavelength. He's going to help me try to figure out how to open the front cover of my case. Then I might add a fan in there.

Well, if you want it to turn it down at night, by all means get it. Don't let what I say influence you, as I rarely know what I'm talking about
Lol i take your advice and i do agree with you. but i disagree that you rarely know what you're talking about :p

[Leonardo]

Waste heat from a CPU will be the same for any given work load no matter what you do. The only differences you can make are 1) increasing the efficiency of heat removal, and 2) directing the hot air to a desired location. Pilot, if your parents would permit: run a dryer hose from the rear of the computer (exhaust fans) out the window. Plug the gap in the window with fiberglass insulation. It would look tacky, but it would work. I would only do that though when you are home. An open window is an ivitation for burglary.

[sfleuriet]

Leonardo- yeah - it would look horrible, and i dont think i want to do that.

ok heres my update. I opened up the case, took some akwardly-placed screws out, and removed the front cover. I then took the powmax red led case fan from the back of the case and moved it to the front. I had to move the hd back one hole so the fan would slide up in there. Its a verrry tight fit with minimal clearance, but luckily nothing hits the fan blades. All seemed well, so I went back to my room and booted. The fans moved, and the front fan didn't hit anything. Looked great. While I was adjusting a wire in my heavily-cluttered case, my knuckle seemed to have slipped- right into the spinning blades of the cpu fan! There was a lot of blood on my finger, and damn it still hurts like a bitch! :thumbsup:- My finger!

I think I'll order those 2 80mm Aerocool X-Blaster fans when I get the extra money. Here are some pictures to document the mod:

http://img81.echo.cx/img81/5417/19er.jpg


http://img81.echo.cx/img81/1026/26pd.jpg


http://img81.echo.cx/img81/7577/33uw.jpg

also i vaccumed a bunch of dust up :D

[GrayFox]

If you got a dremel cutting out that these should make a diffrence all it does it restrict air flow

(btw make sure to not cut out the holes for the screws too if you do that :p

[sfleuriet]

If you got a dremel cutting out that these should make a diffrence all it does it restrict air flow
hmm that is a very good idea


(btw make sure to not cut out the holes for the screws too if you do that :p
hahaha.. i can SO see myself doing that and crying :bawling: :D

also.. the way u edited that picture- it makes my fan.. things look like a rack of female objects where babies like to feed from. :thumbsup:

[TheGr81]

Here's a picture of my new case. I really was surprised at how much cooler my system runs now with the bigger fans. This case is also much more quiet than my old one. It looks great at night too. :thumbsup:

[sfleuriet]

ooo baby the thermaltake tsunami!!! i love that case so much.. i'd sure love to have it

[TheGr81]

Lol, it looks better than it performs! Oh well I guess that's why my new system will take it's place inside this case.

[sfleuriet]

how much did you pay for it and whered u get it?

[TheGr81]

Right here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133132). Newegg got it to me a day ahead of schedule. :thumbsup: Gotta love it. :)

[sfleuriet]

oh you did get it from newegg. neato! they have the best price on that case. Well if you could take some more detailed pictures that'd be cool. eventually, probably like for this christmas or next year for my birthday (feb 2006), I want to get a new case. It'll most likely be a Thermaltake, and I've always liked the Tsunami and Soprano.

[TheGr81]

Ygpm

[sfleuriet]

ygpm2

[Flintstone]

Just a comment, but one that helped cooling while at the same time reduce the noise on all of my boxes, is to remove the stamped portion of the case that acts as a grill or protective covering over the fans. Do it with a Dremel or tin snips (if you can do it with a tin snips, you might be able to get away with doing it without emptying out the case) and replace it with a wire grill as you can see on the power supply. This will allow more airflow for any fan and it's the restriction that the stamped grill creates that causes a great dela of the noise you hear when the fans are running. Also, Pilot, if you intend to put intake fans in the front of your case, this is a modification you almost HAVE to make as the "grills" built into your case appear to be almost "opaque" to air flow.

Flint

[JChretien]

meh then i have a lot of snipping to o heh
And i agree with the need for cable organization. Pilotwings, you can do WAY better than that rats nest cant you? Oh and if you're REALLY worried about your GPU getting too hot, be like me and slap a CPU heatsink on there :D Excuse me but the picture is sorta big -_-

[sfleuriet]

Flintstone- I might try tin snips or something like that.. i do need to get those out of there to allow more airflow- yes. thanks

meh then i have a lot of snipping to o heh
And i agree with the need for cable organization. Pilotwings, you can do WAY better than that rats nest cant you? Oh and if you're REALLY worried about your GPU getting too hot, be like me and slap a CPU heatsink on there :D Excuse me but the picture is sorta big -_-
ok would everyone please quit dissing my unorganized case?! lol i know it looks bad, but i dont have time to do it and most of it just wont fit in the case any other way. For christmas I think i'll be getting a new case, and then I'll organize it then when i move it to the new case.

[Leonardo]

Just make sure that new case isn't as disorganized as the present one! Oh, sorry, forget I said "disorganized". ;D

[sfleuriet]

ahhh lol

ok fine its a piece and it looks like hell- i get it ;D

[sfleuriet]

well when i do get a case, would zip-ties be the easiest way to unclutter everything?

[entropy]

That works. Or, like I did, stick 'em behind the mobo tray, and duct tape them in place. Also, for quick and easy ghetto sleeving, black (or color of your choice) electrical tape works pretty good :D

[sfleuriet]

i might stick it behind the mobo tray (if the new case has one) or do zip ties. I really don't wanna do electrical tape. That stuff is soooooo sticky and really makes a mess if i ever needed to move things around and take the sleeving off.

Does this Thermaltake Tsunami have a mobo tray? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133132

[Leonardo]

Most hardware stores have little hook and pile ('Velcro) tabs that are perfect for bundling cables. They come in different colors, and are easy to remove and reposition.

[sfleuriet]

like velcro cable ties basically.. yeah i could do thaat, but i think zipties would be more descreet, would hold better, and the velcro ties seem to snag on things and make the cable wider (cuz its wrapped around it a few times)

[Leonardo]

You know what you're talking about. The nylon cable ties are technically better, but the colorful velcro ties look really nice. Yes, if it's a tight case, and every organizing advantage counts, you're best of with the cable ties.

[Fides]

Also you might want to consider this:

http://www.thermaltake.com/purepower/w049atx12v/w0049atx12v.htm

This PSU is great it gets the air from inside your PC and cools it down a bit. It made about a 5 degree difference in my room. And Believe me from 85 degrees to 79-80 is a big deal. I have been thinking about the whole exhaust out the window, or escape into the attic. Also keeping your room door open is better because closing it becomes harder for the hot air in your room to circulate in through the A/C. Not to mention not as much cold air will get in as well.

[sfleuriet]

i have a similar psu (w0014), and I do keep my room door open. We recently got our entire AC, vents, and ducts professionally cleaned out ($600 worth of work), and its made a decent improvement.

[aspire.comptech]

http://svc.com/8025-clear-4led-red.html
these fans will do you much better

those other ones you wants are as loud as a hairdryer]
these ones will be quieter than your cpu fan

also you can now afford to buy 4 to replace all the fans and fill in the two front fans