Air Conditioning for the case

[stevel114]

I have approached this subject before but didn't get a very good response. I have found a component http://www.coolworksinc.com/iceprobe.htm that I am going to get that should allow me to duct cool air into the front of the case and cool everything inside.This is not so much a method to OC everything but my experience with electronics has always been to keep everything as cool as possible for a stable environment. I've always noticed the link between the case temp and the CPU temp. The CPU is always higher, but the lower the ambient case temp the lower the CPU temp, IE ... in a air conditioned room that is set very low. The parts that would be needed are the ice probe, a 3 quart thermo container (igloo), radiator with fans, pump, shroud for radiator and duct. My main goal is to cool the compents inside but be as non-invasive as possible to the case. I upgrade alot and do not want water cooling parts in the way. Plus the risk of a leak is always looming. I'll post pictures of the project as soon as I get the ice probe. Comments or suggestions are welcome.

Current system:
Athlon Barton +2500 OC'd to +3200 w/200 FSB
512 OC System PC3200 matched dual channel memory
Dual 80 GIG SATA drives running Raid 0
Geforce FX 5600 Ultra OC'd
Asus Nforce2 Deluxe MB
Antec Case with 550 Power Supply

 

[Night718]

um u might wanna reconsider that.....
if the air coming out of ur AC is cooler than that day's dew point ur gonna end up with condensation in ur PC which is a MAJOR no no

 

[mechBgon]

Have fun with your project Personally, my Antec cases are running within 1C-2C of room temperature using very quiet low-rpm 80mm case fans, so unless your ambient temperatures in your room are very high, it hardly seems necessary. But don't let me rain on your parade, experiments are fun

 

[jswjimmy]

umm i think its to hevvy

 

[fredtam]

Leave cooling design to the professionals. You will notice that on water cooled and vapochill systems there is contact with the cpu allowing the heat to be absorbed by the cooler water/refrigerant and moved to a device that in return removes the heat from the water/refrigerant and returns it again to absorb heat. You may realize a small decrease with your setup but thats it. Yes the air in the case will be cooler but that air is not going to absorb the heat much faster. I have a near 20c temperature between the system temp and cpu temp which is plenty of room to promote heat transfer and plenty of fans removing the heated air from the case. Yesterday the a/c went out and ambient temps increased to 90f and system temps increased only slightly and cpu temps did not rise at all because the case air was still lower than the heatsink temps allowing heat tranfer to the air and then that air being expelled by the fans. You would be much better off just designing your system so that plenty of new air is brought in, a highly conductive heatsink is in place to remove the heat from the cpu, exhaust fans are there to remove the heated air and that this progression of airflow is maintained as efficiently as possible by making sure your fans are not fighting each other and tidy cabling. Otherwise consider water or phase change cooling.

 

[User1001]

its just a simple peltier.

 

[fredtam]

Originally posted by: User1001
its just a simple peltier.

Except from what I understand he wants TEC for the entire case rather than pulling the heat directly from the cpu.

 

[mechBgon]

As best I understand it, his plan is to have the peltier cooling some water, which is then pumped through a radiator in front of his case's intake, to pre-cool the air that's going into the case.

 

[Outlawv6]

will this make the room temps rise as well? or not really?

 

[fredtam]

I guess I phrased it wrong. I understand that he is using a chiller type setup but decreasing the intake air temperature is not going to cause a great difference in cpu temp. Like he said he upgrades a lot and the components are designed to run stable at temperatures far higher than the average room temp. Odds are he wiil upgrade long before any stability issues arise and the dew point issue is a valid point. Don't try to re-invent the wheel.

 

[Brian48]

I'd say stick with conventional heatsinks that use large, low rpm 80mm fans like the slk-800 or ax-7, and invest in a real window A/C for your room. Best cooling solution I've made this year. A typical, low cost 5000 btu unit usually runs between $75-100. Picked up two this year and popped them into my two rooms that have PC's. The feeling I got was "Man, what took me so long?". Couldn't believe I was spending all this cash to keep my PC cool while I was sweating my balls off all this time.

 

[stevel114]

Thanks for all the info, my main goal was to just bring down the temp in the case by 15 to 20 degrees. No major drop. I live in Hawaii so it is usually somewhat warm. Luckily in live in Hilo (one of the cooler area's to live) so it's not to bad. Average temp here is 70 at night and 82 during the day. My case since I put the Barton and Nforce2 board in is actually doing very well, case temp input is 84 and output is 90. The CPU runs at 107 degrees. No load temp of course. Still that's pretty good. Condensation is something I'm going to watch for. I've got as many fans as I can put in the case plus a Swiftech CPU fan. Not really quiet but a very good frag machine. Thanks again.