Some general questions about cooling

[RisseN]

Hi All,

My home office is extremely hot in summer so im looking for ideas for keeping my PC cool. Im not looking to spend a lot of money or go into water cooling. Just looking for some general lower budget ideas.

- One thing I want to do is get rid of any dust in my case since dust helps keep the heat in. Whats the best way to get rid of dust in your case? I read something about a compressed air can?

- I thought of adding another case fan since my case only has 2 fans (one at the front, one at the back). However when I opened the case it doesn't look like there is place for another fan. I've attached pics of where I thought a fan could be placed at the front of the case under the dvdwriter. But the panels are fixed in place - or do you just break them off?

- Ill also look at ways of keeping the office cooler because a standard fan doesn't do much. It ends up just blowing the hot air round the room.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Sinbad]

One times wall mounted split aircon unit.

 

[RisseN]

One times wall mounted split aircon unit.

Thanks Sinbad. I have an issue with working in air conditioned environments all day every day (I've just finished doing that for 8 years in the corporate world, looking forward to a change now that I will be working from home). I know it's probably not an issue for most people, I just prefer fresh air so I generally have my windows open.

So the main thing im looking for is to keep my pc cooler. (keeping the room cooler naturally would be a bonus, but just a side point to this thread)

 

[NomNom]

You should try to do a better job with the cable management, especially the cables by the hard drives since those cables are affecting the air flow from the fan in the front of the Pc. Otherwise you can just jerry rig a 120mm fan there and tie the corners to the cage with cable ties.

 

[Pada]

+1 to what NomNom said. Better cable management makes a difference.

Secondly, having a bigger case and one with decent air intakes & outlets also has a huge impact.

Thirdly, make sure that the heatsinks of the CPU & graphics card are clean.

Lastly, try to get the airflow going from front bottom to rear top.

What is getting hot in your PC?
If it is your graphics card, then try to place a front intake fan at the front bottom of your case if it has intakes there. I actually removed my brother's front USB & audio to make room for a dust filter and front fan, which made a huge different in his cheap case!

Like I also moved my 1x 200mm top fan to the bottom in my CM 690 II Advanced case, installed another 120mm front fan and removed the lower HDD bay to improve my airflow. Unfortunately you cannot hide your cables behind the motherboard try like you can do with a decent case. This is why we usually recommended better than just cheap R200 cases for mid-high end gaming PC's that's got components that get pretty hot.

 

[RisseN]

Thanks for the replies.

Ill see what I can do about my cable management. There's not much space to move anything around, but ill give it a try.

I already have two fans setup so that the air flows from bottom front to back top. Thanks, im glad that's correct

What's the best way to get rid of dust that's already in the PC? I read somewhere about a compressed air can that you use to 'blow' all the dust out. Not sure exactly what that's all about. Or can you just use a soft brush or something?

Thanks.

 

[PsyWulf]

Compressed air can short bursts,or i've used a vacuum cleaner set to blow

 

[RisseN]

Where's the best placed to get a compressed air can? At a builders warehouse I guess? Or do you get them at computer shops?

 

[chrisc]

I have an industrial blower which I use on every PC that comes in. If you can, pay special attention to the fins around the CPU heatsink, use a blower plus a paint brush with long fibres. I don't think you need any more fans, but as someone above said, tidy the cables with twist-on ties so they do not get in the way of the air-flow. Dangerous temps for the CPU are above 75 deg so even if it is 35 deg in the room, this is still 40 deg hotter.

Don't do what one friend did which was take it to the garage to use the tyres' hose. All kinds of muck came out the hose along with air and he had to disassemble the PC and wash it with meths

 

[Crowley]

Don't do what one friend did which was take it to the garage to use the tyres' hose. All kinds of muck came out the hose along with air and he had to disassemble the PC and wash it with meths

I take my PC to the garage once a month. Just a few bursts of air to clean the line before you start on your PC and you are good to go.

 

[HeftyCrab]

you can get a tiny 12v compressor for like R70-80 from midas.would that work?i think its designed to inflate cars/bike tyres. would work out cheaper in the long run.

also- someone on here posted an interresting article once about air pressure in the case + fans. something along the lines of there should be more air going into the case than out via fans.it helps keep excess dust out.if more air is going out than in (via fans) it sucks air/dust into the case through every hole to make up the diff. maby someone else can explain it better.

 

[Pada]

HeftyCrab:
I doubt that those compressors would work, because they don't push out the air fast enough. I may be wrong though.
I've only used those big air compressors / vacuum cleaners & paint brushes to clean my PC so far.

You're referring to having a positive air pressure inside your case. Like you said, there are lots of articles on the web regarding that.

IMO the best is to have a case with dust filters and to keep the case on the table or wherever there is little/no dust, unlike on the ground where there are lots of dust!

 

[chrisc]

I take my PC to the garage once a month. Just a few bursts of air to clean the line before you start on your PC and you are good to go.

Maybe if you make sure the air is clean, it should be ok. I doubt this guy did this, he probably just aimed the hose at the PC and squeezed the trigger. There was probably dirt in the compressor. It was at McGregor though..

 

[Mr Feesh]

+1 to what NomNom said. Better cable management makes a difference.

Secondly, having a bigger case and one with decent air intakes & outlets also has a huge impact.

Thirdly, make sure that the heatsinks of the CPU & graphics card are clean.

Lastly, try to get the airflow going from front bottom to rear top.

What is getting hot in your PC?
If it is your graphics card, then try to place a front intake fan at the front bottom of your case if it has intakes there. I actually removed my brother's front USB & audio to make room for a dust filter and front fan, which made a huge different in his cheap case!

Like I also moved my 1x 200mm top fan to the bottom in my CM 690 II Advanced case, installed another 120mm front fan and removed the lower HDD bay to improve my airflow. Unfortunately you cannot hide your cables behind the motherboard try like you can do with a decent case. This is why we usually recommended better than just cheap R200 cases for mid-high end gaming PC's that's got components that get pretty hot.

would you recommend the cm690 case in terms of noise? Looking between that and the silencio.

Also can any one recommend a particular brand I should look at that make silent fans, need to replace a 80mm on my one pc.

 

[Pada]

The CM690 II is a nice case, but mine is pretty noisy since I'm overclocking and running all my case & CPU fans at full speed.
I just find the CM690 II a tad too small for a CrossFire/SLI setup, but it still works well with my SLI setup.

The Silencio and Storm Enforcer cases are both very good cases, and newer models than the 690 II. I'd rather stick with one of these 2.

 

[RisseN]

Thanks for all the replies. I gave my PC a spring clean by opening it up yesterday and getting rid of all the dust. It's amazing how it accumulates in some places. I also tried to sort out some of the cables, but wasn't able to do much.

I think the best option for me now is to look at getting the general temperature of the office down. I dont want to go the whole water cooling route because my PC seems to be fine just the way it is. The problem lies with the room.

In the end I may be forced to buy a cheap air conditioner, but id like that to be the last option as i really dont want to work in an air conditioned environment if I can help it. Not sure there's any other options though.