Post by devnull on Dec 15, 2004 12:43:42 GMT -5
Okay, I have drawn up some plans for a new mod for my computer that will hopefully reduce my temperatures to a greater degree than as of late. The temperatures of my graphics card and chipset seem fine, but it is my processor that worries me. I really enjoy hosting games on my floor because I think I have the horsepower to do it, but I have been checking my CPU temps while doing it and, if I dont have the fridged Wisconsin air at my disposal, my temps can reach a toasty 60 degrees C!
I think that it has come time to do something about this and I think a major overhaul of my computer is necessary.
Here are my plans:
1) First, I plan on taking off my rear Nidec fans as well as the CPU shroud. I have had serious reservations about doing this because I think that if you take off the shroud and dont have enough air passing over the heatsink of the CPU, it will be even worse for cooling. But if I take off the nidecs and replace them with either 80mm or (even better) 92mm fans, I think I can hotwire them so their tachometer leads go to the mobo and prevent a 'no fan detected' error. By making them both point out and have them on full blast (though they are going to be 'silent' fans) I hope to pull a lot more air off of the CPU.
--I am trying to get a hold of Delta Electronics and Mouser Electronics to see if there is any way I can find out how to get a hold of the Dell proprietary connectors used in their Nidec fans. This would really
help as I could use a non-ghetto-rigged way to hook up the tach leads to the motherboard while still powering the fans through my fan controller or MOLEX. (For your information, the fans are made by Delta Electronics and are under model number AFC0912DE (Dell Part Number P2780). Delta Electronics does not actually advertise an AFC model, rather only an AFB model....
2) Next, I plan on taking out the fan I have in the front of my case (the one placed by the 'air splitter') and replacing it with a 120mm fan, if possible. This way, I can get plenty of air into the case without a lot of noise.
3) I plan on taking out the 'blowhole' fan that I have installed right now. It is just going to mess up airflow as it stands right now. The holes in the roof of my gen 3 are not big enough to let enough air through and most, if not all, of the air rising to the top should be drawn out the back through the improved CPU cooling. It just seems like extra noise in the case.
4) I really need to reapply CPU thermal compound (AS5) because when my computer was busted a while back, they replaced the processor, but I never got a chance to reapply the goop to make it efficient. Also, when I get my VGA Silencer4, I plan on using the same goop on it, too!
5) Cable management. I know its difficult to do this in a clamshell case, but I think many of the wires can be at
least bundled together and prevent any more damage than they have to. In particular, I know that my fan controller is really a mess and it would help a lot to have those cables untangled.
6)Another thing I plan on getting is some thermal padding for the inside of my case. With all of the space I will probably free up, there is more area for sound to bounce around. I am still a little hesitant about it, though. I dont want to sacrifice temperatures for just a tad bit of silence, though. Also, I want to say that I plan on getting some of those rubber grommets (www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=274) to put inbetween my fans and the case. We wouldn't want vibrations to break the silence, would we?
7) Finally, and these are REALLY outlandish mods, but I would want to see what I could do about memory cooling and chipset cooling. I know that because we dont overclock, it isn't really necessary, I feel like going the whole 9 yards this time. As of late, they dont make metal memory heatsinks (like you see on OCZ stiks) for DDR2, but they do make chipsinks. Similarly, I want to look at a new passive means of cooling my chipset (Northbridge). I think that there is a big blue heatsink out there somewhere that has my name on it. And finally, I would like to by some ramsinks to place on various other hotspots on my motherboard. The only difficulty in this is that I need a semi-perminant means to applying them. I dont think I can use a compound that perminantly bonds the sinks to the mobo, because if I need my comptuer serviced, they are going to give my warranty the ole heave'ho.
I think that if I can do all these things, I will not only make my comptuer quieter, but significantly cooler. What started out as a means to cool the cpu will hopefully cool the entirity of my system and prolong its life. Think about it, the only real air going into the stock Gen3 is through the rear CPU fan pair, and thats not a lot. This, though, should get more in and out of the case, and STILL be quieter than the stock means. Your input is really important to me, though, so any advice, help or research you can provide would make my life so much easier! Thanks guys, as always.
I think that it has come time to do something about this and I think a major overhaul of my computer is necessary.
Here are my plans:
1) First, I plan on taking off my rear Nidec fans as well as the CPU shroud. I have had serious reservations about doing this because I think that if you take off the shroud and dont have enough air passing over the heatsink of the CPU, it will be even worse for cooling. But if I take off the nidecs and replace them with either 80mm or (even better) 92mm fans, I think I can hotwire them so their tachometer leads go to the mobo and prevent a 'no fan detected' error. By making them both point out and have them on full blast (though they are going to be 'silent' fans) I hope to pull a lot more air off of the CPU.
--I am trying to get a hold of Delta Electronics and Mouser Electronics to see if there is any way I can find out how to get a hold of the Dell proprietary connectors used in their Nidec fans. This would really
help as I could use a non-ghetto-rigged way to hook up the tach leads to the motherboard while still powering the fans through my fan controller or MOLEX. (For your information, the fans are made by Delta Electronics and are under model number AFC0912DE (Dell Part Number P2780). Delta Electronics does not actually advertise an AFC model, rather only an AFB model....
2) Next, I plan on taking out the fan I have in the front of my case (the one placed by the 'air splitter') and replacing it with a 120mm fan, if possible. This way, I can get plenty of air into the case without a lot of noise.
3) I plan on taking out the 'blowhole' fan that I have installed right now. It is just going to mess up airflow as it stands right now. The holes in the roof of my gen 3 are not big enough to let enough air through and most, if not all, of the air rising to the top should be drawn out the back through the improved CPU cooling. It just seems like extra noise in the case.
4) I really need to reapply CPU thermal compound (AS5) because when my computer was busted a while back, they replaced the processor, but I never got a chance to reapply the goop to make it efficient. Also, when I get my VGA Silencer4, I plan on using the same goop on it, too!
5) Cable management. I know its difficult to do this in a clamshell case, but I think many of the wires can be at
least bundled together and prevent any more damage than they have to. In particular, I know that my fan controller is really a mess and it would help a lot to have those cables untangled.
6)Another thing I plan on getting is some thermal padding for the inside of my case. With all of the space I will probably free up, there is more area for sound to bounce around. I am still a little hesitant about it, though. I dont want to sacrifice temperatures for just a tad bit of silence, though. Also, I want to say that I plan on getting some of those rubber grommets (www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=274) to put inbetween my fans and the case. We wouldn't want vibrations to break the silence, would we?
7) Finally, and these are REALLY outlandish mods, but I would want to see what I could do about memory cooling and chipset cooling. I know that because we dont overclock, it isn't really necessary, I feel like going the whole 9 yards this time. As of late, they dont make metal memory heatsinks (like you see on OCZ stiks) for DDR2, but they do make chipsinks. Similarly, I want to look at a new passive means of cooling my chipset (Northbridge). I think that there is a big blue heatsink out there somewhere that has my name on it. And finally, I would like to by some ramsinks to place on various other hotspots on my motherboard. The only difficulty in this is that I need a semi-perminant means to applying them. I dont think I can use a compound that perminantly bonds the sinks to the mobo, because if I need my comptuer serviced, they are going to give my warranty the ole heave'ho.
I think that if I can do all these things, I will not only make my comptuer quieter, but significantly cooler. What started out as a means to cool the cpu will hopefully cool the entirity of my system and prolong its life. Think about it, the only real air going into the stock Gen3 is through the rear CPU fan pair, and thats not a lot. This, though, should get more in and out of the case, and STILL be quieter than the stock means. Your input is really important to me, though, so any advice, help or research you can provide would make my life so much easier! Thanks guys, as always.
