Controlling Computer Temperature
We run three modern computers on our network here at the Bruig that are located in less than ideal environments. Elevated temperature slows performance and shortens lifetime so I decided to investigate and control temperatures without spending a lot of money. I've found a few successful strategies that result in CPU and hard drive temperatures of about 30C, motherboard temperatures about 35C and video card temperatures of about 55C that will keep the Bruig's machines fast and long-lived.
Hardware
I build my own computers and have found a few vendor components that I prefer due to cost and reliability. All of my cooling work is specific to my machines and the components used.
I use Intel socket 478/775 processors, Corsair memory, ASUS motherboards, Antec mid-tower cases and Nvidia video cards in all my computers. I have had great results cooling these components with Zalman CPU and video card fans, Antec case fans and iStar hard drive heat sinks.
Heat Sources
The video card seems to be the greatest source of heat in the case after the power supply (which has it's own cooling fan). Video cards like to operate above 55C and unfortunately must be installed in a manner that makes heat removal difficult. These cards sit low in the case, upside down which holds heat load in the case. The CPU and memory are also significant heat sources, operating above 30C and above 50C under load. High speed/capacity hard drives also add heat load to the case usually running above 30C.
In an well ventilated, ideal environment these temperatures can be acceptable but if case airflow is poor due to overhead bookcases and such, it is necessary to augment OEM cooling strategies.
Dust is present in every environment and acts as an insulator on fans and components. It is critical that you open your case at least twice a year and carefully vacumn away accumulated dust from case intakes, intake filters if present, fans, heat sinks and wherever else you may find it. At least once per year, blow dust out of the power supply, fans and heat sinks as vacumning won't get all dust out of components.
Investigate Computer Heat Load
Just adding more fans or bigger fans is not necessarily productive. You need to establish airflow and negative pressure within the case to facilitate heat load removal.
First, make sure the case has adequate air intake of cool room air. Provide a few inches of clearance around all case air intakes so the machine can draw room air. Also make sure that hot air can escape the rear of the case and not get recycled back into the machine. If hot air is trapped under a bookshelf then use an external fan or vent to move the hot air elsewhere.
Next, install temperature monitoring software such as Speedfan to determine what temperature your computer components are operating. Use the available log files generated by the application to research temperature over a period of time to determine cooling opportunities. This will keep you from fixing problems that don't exist.
Improving Video Card Cooling
Most video cards have OEM cooling fans that do a reasonable job cooling card components. However these fans don't do well removing heat from the case. Often you can improve heat transfer out of the case by adding a PCI slot fan under the video card or adding a variable speed case fan to increase airflow through the case.
In one of my computers, I installed a 120 mm variable speed case fan in the case OEM location then added a 80mm variable speed case fan under the video card by removing the case PCI slot covers and fabricating a cover plate with holes to vent hot air. This approach keeps my video card below 60C even while playing BF1942 for hours in the non air conditioned workshop in August.
If the video card fan and heat sink look undersized and appear to be ineffective then consider adding an aftermarket assembly. Zalman makes wonderful all copper heat sinks with a variable speed fan that moves lots of air without too much noise. Make certain that the Zalman unit will fit your video card and that you have adequate slot space then carefully install this fan assembly. You will notice the improved temperature and performance stability!
CPU Cooling
All CPUs have OEM heat sinks and fans that often do an adequate job keeping your CPU alive and performing well. Pentium 4 and newer CPUs run at elevated temperature and will slow down and fail if not cooled.
I have added Zalman copper heat sinks with variable speed fan controllers to all my computers. These units provide a large surface area to dissipate heat of the CPU, memory and the motherboard as well. The variable speed allows you to balance cooling with noise and tune the cooling for seasonal differences.
The only downside to these units is that they are heavy and can damage the motherboard when the computer is moved. So great care must be taken if you move the computer.
The Zalman CPU fan keeps all my CPUs operating at about 30C tyically and under 50C under heavy load in non air conditioned spaces. The CPU never bogs down under load due to overheating and will still be running when obsolete.
Motherboard Cooling
Motherboard cooling is often overlooked and often is monitored as case temperature. It is not! Since all the computations must run through this component, it is important to keep all motherboard components, including memory, cool.
It is not unusual for motherboard temperature to run 10C above CPU temperature. This can lead to slower buss speeds, increased case heat load and component failures.
I use Corsair memory with heat sinks and use the Zalman CPU fan to keep memory and motherboard cool. I get stable motherboard temperature 5C above CPU temperature using this approach.
Hard Drive Cooling
High speed/high capacity SATA hard drives run hotter than the old IDE drives. Microsoft operating systems and internet use punish these drives when the computer is on (and here at the Bruig all machines are on 24/7 365 days a year).
I use the iStar aluminum heat sink to dissipate drive heat and keep temperature at or below 30C. The massive, one piece aluminum sink wicks away heat as air passes from the front of the case in a 5.25 inch bay and is ejected from the case, principally by the power supply fan. I prefer to keep an open slot between drives to help the iStar do it's work.
Case Cooling
The power supply and case fans must maintain a negative air pressure in the case to help CPU and video fans do their work. Test for negative flow by resting your hand on case air intakes. You should feel a draw on the part of your hand touching the intake. If you feel nothing, then you need to increase case fan size or speed.
You want to pull air from the case, not push air into the case. I've found that case input fans typically only cause turbulence in the case and work against your CPU and video card fans.
Antec make great double ball bearing, tri-speed fans that you can adjust to meet your needs. These long life fans are relatively quiet, cheap and reliable.
Miscellaneous
The bundle of power cables in the case are useful but can seriously impede case air flow. I've found that it is helpful to re-bundle cables and move them out of the airflow when possible. SATA drives vastly improve airflow by eliminating the big flat cables and you can further improve air flow by tucking those unused power cables behind the 3.5 inch drive bays.
Get rid of any components that are not being used such as modem cards and floppy drives. These components use power, generate heat, collect dust and restrict airflow.
Disconnect unused USB devices. USB devices use power, generate heat and shorten computer component life.
Conclusion
Spending a little time investigating your computer, keeping it clean and cool will pay off by extending the life and maintaining the performance of the machine that we've all grown dependent on. Technology has stalled and we can expect that the computer we now have will be viable for a number of years. You can protect that investment with some due diligence maintenance and about $100 in material.
Note:
I have no connection with the vendors noted in this article other than I am a long time faithful customer who has had great experiences with these products. Special kudos to Antec, who have delivered gold star customer support for years.
Hardware
I build my own computers and have found a few vendor components that I prefer due to cost and reliability. All of my cooling work is specific to my machines and the components used.
I use Intel socket 478/775 processors, Corsair memory, ASUS motherboards, Antec mid-tower cases and Nvidia video cards in all my computers. I have had great results cooling these components with Zalman CPU and video card fans, Antec case fans and iStar hard drive heat sinks.
Heat Sources
The video card seems to be the greatest source of heat in the case after the power supply (which has it's own cooling fan). Video cards like to operate above 55C and unfortunately must be installed in a manner that makes heat removal difficult. These cards sit low in the case, upside down which holds heat load in the case. The CPU and memory are also significant heat sources, operating above 30C and above 50C under load. High speed/capacity hard drives also add heat load to the case usually running above 30C.
In an well ventilated, ideal environment these temperatures can be acceptable but if case airflow is poor due to overhead bookcases and such, it is necessary to augment OEM cooling strategies.
Dust is present in every environment and acts as an insulator on fans and components. It is critical that you open your case at least twice a year and carefully vacumn away accumulated dust from case intakes, intake filters if present, fans, heat sinks and wherever else you may find it. At least once per year, blow dust out of the power supply, fans and heat sinks as vacumning won't get all dust out of components.
Investigate Computer Heat Load
Just adding more fans or bigger fans is not necessarily productive. You need to establish airflow and negative pressure within the case to facilitate heat load removal.
First, make sure the case has adequate air intake of cool room air. Provide a few inches of clearance around all case air intakes so the machine can draw room air. Also make sure that hot air can escape the rear of the case and not get recycled back into the machine. If hot air is trapped under a bookshelf then use an external fan or vent to move the hot air elsewhere.
Next, install temperature monitoring software such as Speedfan to determine what temperature your computer components are operating. Use the available log files generated by the application to research temperature over a period of time to determine cooling opportunities. This will keep you from fixing problems that don't exist.
Improving Video Card Cooling
Most video cards have OEM cooling fans that do a reasonable job cooling card components. However these fans don't do well removing heat from the case. Often you can improve heat transfer out of the case by adding a PCI slot fan under the video card or adding a variable speed case fan to increase airflow through the case.
In one of my computers, I installed a 120 mm variable speed case fan in the case OEM location then added a 80mm variable speed case fan under the video card by removing the case PCI slot covers and fabricating a cover plate with holes to vent hot air. This approach keeps my video card below 60C even while playing BF1942 for hours in the non air conditioned workshop in August.
If the video card fan and heat sink look undersized and appear to be ineffective then consider adding an aftermarket assembly. Zalman makes wonderful all copper heat sinks with a variable speed fan that moves lots of air without too much noise. Make certain that the Zalman unit will fit your video card and that you have adequate slot space then carefully install this fan assembly. You will notice the improved temperature and performance stability!
CPU Cooling
All CPUs have OEM heat sinks and fans that often do an adequate job keeping your CPU alive and performing well. Pentium 4 and newer CPUs run at elevated temperature and will slow down and fail if not cooled.
I have added Zalman copper heat sinks with variable speed fan controllers to all my computers. These units provide a large surface area to dissipate heat of the CPU, memory and the motherboard as well. The variable speed allows you to balance cooling with noise and tune the cooling for seasonal differences.
The only downside to these units is that they are heavy and can damage the motherboard when the computer is moved. So great care must be taken if you move the computer.
The Zalman CPU fan keeps all my CPUs operating at about 30C tyically and under 50C under heavy load in non air conditioned spaces. The CPU never bogs down under load due to overheating and will still be running when obsolete.
Motherboard Cooling
Motherboard cooling is often overlooked and often is monitored as case temperature. It is not! Since all the computations must run through this component, it is important to keep all motherboard components, including memory, cool.
It is not unusual for motherboard temperature to run 10C above CPU temperature. This can lead to slower buss speeds, increased case heat load and component failures.
I use Corsair memory with heat sinks and use the Zalman CPU fan to keep memory and motherboard cool. I get stable motherboard temperature 5C above CPU temperature using this approach.
Hard Drive Cooling
High speed/high capacity SATA hard drives run hotter than the old IDE drives. Microsoft operating systems and internet use punish these drives when the computer is on (and here at the Bruig all machines are on 24/7 365 days a year).
I use the iStar aluminum heat sink to dissipate drive heat and keep temperature at or below 30C. The massive, one piece aluminum sink wicks away heat as air passes from the front of the case in a 5.25 inch bay and is ejected from the case, principally by the power supply fan. I prefer to keep an open slot between drives to help the iStar do it's work.
Case Cooling
The power supply and case fans must maintain a negative air pressure in the case to help CPU and video fans do their work. Test for negative flow by resting your hand on case air intakes. You should feel a draw on the part of your hand touching the intake. If you feel nothing, then you need to increase case fan size or speed.
You want to pull air from the case, not push air into the case. I've found that case input fans typically only cause turbulence in the case and work against your CPU and video card fans.
Antec make great double ball bearing, tri-speed fans that you can adjust to meet your needs. These long life fans are relatively quiet, cheap and reliable.
Miscellaneous
The bundle of power cables in the case are useful but can seriously impede case air flow. I've found that it is helpful to re-bundle cables and move them out of the airflow when possible. SATA drives vastly improve airflow by eliminating the big flat cables and you can further improve air flow by tucking those unused power cables behind the 3.5 inch drive bays.
Get rid of any components that are not being used such as modem cards and floppy drives. These components use power, generate heat, collect dust and restrict airflow.
Disconnect unused USB devices. USB devices use power, generate heat and shorten computer component life.
Conclusion
Spending a little time investigating your computer, keeping it clean and cool will pay off by extending the life and maintaining the performance of the machine that we've all grown dependent on. Technology has stalled and we can expect that the computer we now have will be viable for a number of years. You can protect that investment with some due diligence maintenance and about $100 in material.
Note:
I have no connection with the vendors noted in this article other than I am a long time faithful customer who has had great experiences with these products. Special kudos to Antec, who have delivered gold star customer support for years.
posted by lugh lampfhota at 9:47 AM
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