Keeping A Computer Cool

[Michael W]

I have a basic, old Pentium 3 desktop which in addition to the power supply fan has two pairs of small internal fans for each of the two hard disks. In my apartment to avoid....er minimize....'aircon boxing' with my girlfriend the air conditioning is only turned on intermittently, usually only after my t-shirt is thoroughly sweat-soaked. This I've growned used to and I certainly appreciate the savings on the electric bill, but I wonder if I shouldn't be doing something extra for my computer. I'm particularly becoming mildly concerned about the next few months ahead when BKK really starts to boil.

Anyway, are there any additional cooling precautions people take for their computers such as directing a small external fan towards it or keeping the aircon on, etc.?

[Florin]

The Pentium3 shouldn't have any problems, it is a pretty low-power, cool PC by today's standards...just make sure you have a decent fan on the CPU itself and you should be fine.

[Wolfie]

Generally i just use a big desktop fan and take the side of the case off, point the fan directly into the box and use at full speed.

Using the internal fans noise as a guideline the internal fans have to work a lot harder without the additional fan than with it.

Of course, i could be totaly screwing it and slowly 'cooking' my puter

[Crossy]

I assume you're not looking at expensive upgrades (it's a PIII after all).

Get a good CPU cooler, the biggest heatsink that will fit in the space available although you may be limited for choice for a PIII.

If your case has additional apertures for fans, fill them (with fans). Fans are cheap (around 50 - 100 Baht) 12V ones usually shift more air than 5V ones, most come with disk drive power connectors so getting juice for them is not a problem.

Shift as much air as you can through the case, look at the airflow and have fans blowing in at the opposite end to ones sucking out.

Vacuum any accumulated dust out of the case on a regular basis, shifting loads of air will dump crap inside.

Watch where you put your PC, no direct sunlight, air all around.

All common sense really.

Finally, your CPU will look after itself and shut down if it does overheat so the worst that will probably happen is lost data when it dies.

[Michael W]

I should add that the computer case is, right now, at best only modestly warm so at least there's no obvious indicator of a cooling issue there. The only things that seem to be running warm are the small DSL router/modem I keep on top of the case and the power supply for the external speakers plugged into a power strip.

[hanifax]

I should add that the computer case is, right now, at best only modestly warm so at least there's no obvious indicator of a cooling issue there. The only things that seem to be running warm are the small DSL router/modem I keep on top of the case and the power supply for the external speakers plugged into a power strip.

I recommend JEDI-COOL in Pantip Plaza in Bangkok they are specialist in this field located next to lifts from ped-bridge side 3rd floor you can get good quality for fair price.

[Firefoxx]

The basic principle of computer cooling is air flow... which boils down to keeping a constant stream of air going in and out of your computer. You also consider that the hottest components of your case will be the harddisks (which will fail prematurely if not cooled), the CPU, and the graphics card (if it's middle-to-high end). You will notice that there are usually fan mounts in the front of the case, in front of the harddisk bays, and in the back, behind the CPU area. Since hot air rises, the logical setup would be to have a good intake fan in the front (or two) and one exhaust fan in the back. Since the PSU above the CPU also has an exhaust fan (albeit weak), it will also help. You should have sort of a balance between the intake and exhaust, so that a constant flow is set up, always drawing in new cooler air and drawing out the heated air.

From what you described, you might want to add another exhaust fan in the back.

Some cases are really screwed up in terms of air flow... I've seen several "Gview" cases which have a funnel that covers the CPU... and the case fan attached to this funnel draws air *out* of the case, which is idiotic considering that CPU fans draw air downwards to the CPU. There are also cases in which the fan behind the CPU is set to intake... so you've got the PSU exhaust fan directly above it spewing out hot air, and you've got this fan drawing it back in.

The "open case+desk fan" option sort of does the job, but CPU cases aren't meant to be left open. Not only is there the problem of accumulating dust, the components are also exposed to the environment and anything in it (pets, kids, coffee, etc).

[charlesfrith]

I have a basic, old Pentium 3 desktop which in addition to the power supply fan has two pairs of small internal fans for each of the two hard disks. In my apartment to avoid....er minimize....'aircon boxing' with my girlfriend the air conditioning is only turned on intermittently, usually only after my t-shirt is thoroughly sweat-soaked. This I've growned used to and I certainly appreciate the savings on the electric bill, but I wonder if I shouldn't be doing something extra for my computer. I'm particularly becoming mildly concerned about the next few months ahead when BKK really starts to boil.

Anyway, are there any additional cooling precautions people take for their computers such as directing a small external fan towards it or keeping the aircon on, etc.?

My Pentium III has been glowing red for years and I just bought a cooling platform for it to sit under. I'm so stupid. I should have bought it straight away. Performance is up and I feel I can leave it switched on permanently. I got the cooler from Panthip. 4 floor I think. 300 Baht. I'm such a chump for not buying the first one I saw in 2003.

My poor Laptop has been putting up with abuse. I am guilty of neglect!! The cooler plugs into a USB port to power it. I thought this was counter intuitive but it's working beautiful.

I have a basic, old Pentium 3 desktop which in addition to the power supply fan has two pairs of small internal fans for each of the two hard disks. In my apartment to avoid....er minimize....'aircon boxing' with my girlfriend the air conditioning is only turned on intermittently, usually only after my t-shirt is thoroughly sweat-soaked. This I've growned used to and I certainly appreciate the savings on the electric bill, but I wonder if I shouldn't be doing something extra for my computer. I'm particularly becoming mildly concerned about the next few months ahead when BKK really starts to boil.

Anyway, are there any additional cooling precautions people take for their computers such as directing a small external fan towards it or keeping the aircon on, etc.?

Whoops. Mistook you for a Notebook user. Es Tut Mir Leit!

[idlemeister]

I am always suprised just how robust a desktop is. I have had one running under a hot tin roof with no aircon for a couple of years with no issue in worse than bkk conditions. The comments about sweat are more likely about humidity which Printers hate, the paper is likely to constantly jam if you dont keep it sealed and out of the humidity. CPUs run happily at 50 degrees and more.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Anyway, are there any additional cooling precautions people take for their computers such as directing a small external fan towards it or keeping the aircon on, etc.?

My poor Laptop has been putting up with abuse. I am guilty of neglect!! The cooler plugs into a USB port to power it. I thought this was counter intuitive but it's working beautiful.

On a laptop you can get a build up of dust, I always have a can of compressed air to shoot through at the fans, and it always dislodges dust around the processor. It's also handy for cleaning the keyboard too.

[meadish_sweetball]

Due to recent shutdowns by my CPU from overheating, I just opened my laptop (with a P4 2.8) to find the copper exhaust flanges all clogged up with black gooey fluff. Used cotton buds (took about 25 of the little buggers, it was that dirty inside) to clean up the worst of it and now it runs ok again. From now on will open it every month and clean up.

[tavarich]

I have an external fan that plugs into the USB. It blows air under and over the laptop. This with the internal fan has helped to keep it nice and kool .

[FlyingDutchman]

I live in Holland and there is NÒ heat (exept mid-summer) but I've got three hard disks in a rather small case. I use a big-tower 12v.fan inside (it's thàt big, I can almost use it as a normal fan). It hardly makes noise and together with the standard cooling, this will surely do the job. See if you can make another hole in your case and put in front of it a little piece of nylons/panty (ask your girlfriend, she's got loàds of old ones). This will keep away the dust and gives it more air floating around. If you got lots of dust, you can even 'pack it into nylons'; they will catch loads of dust. Naturally you must take a nylon that shows it's holes and stretch it a bit, do not pack it in 'socks' .

Good luck !