# Heat dissipation



## Zekumas (May 8, 2007)

OK, got BIG problem....heat is not being dissipated out of my tower! and its causing my HDD to heat up to the point where I can almost fry and egg on it!.


So I'm running the system with the sides off and have an oscillating fan blowing directly into the case to flow air across the board and HDD.

Anyone have any ideas on what I can do?


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## Bloodangel (May 8, 2007)

Well there's a lot of things you can do:

1. MORE FANS!! Don't get case fans if you can afford it. You can buy custom fans for whatever part is overheating. For instance, to draw heat away from the hard drive, you can get fans that fit into the hard drive bay above the overheating hd and push the air up.

2. Change some of your current loadout.  Move hard drives out of the ports right beside each other. Tie up loose wires. Change a fan for liquid cooling. Just give everything some space. This includes the case, so move it away from walls where vented heat can just circulate behind the tower. Sometimes when things overheat, it's just because air isn't moving fast enough.

3. Buy a new tower. They say bigger is better, but this would be a very radical solution. Still, change can do you good. 
Hope these help.


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## absolutleybursar (May 8, 2007)

Put it in a pool! that'll cool it down 
(don't take that seriously)
 More fans is the answer, just get a fan attached to anything that's hot.

I hear the Japanese are working on Liquid nitrogen cooled systems, now those would be pretty damn Cool
(ow....the pun it hurt to make)


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## Cybergarou (May 8, 2007)

Does the power supply have a fan on it? Most cases depend on the power supply pulling most of the heat out, which is why it's at the top of the case. If you have a passive cooling PSU then it is real easy to overheat if you don't compensate it with sufficient cooling elsewhere.

It's real important that you keep that HDD cool, otherwise you stand a good chance of loosing data. The RAID at my school became completely corrupted when the fans gave out on it.


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## yak (May 8, 2007)

1. Perhaps the fan should have been flowing the air *out*, not in.
2. Check that your PSU's fan is actually working.
3. If you have a massive HDD, in terms of gigabytes, then it's already a standard to install a cooling system on it, since they tend to heat up a lot by themselves nowadays.
4. In an extreme case, you can leave the side panel off, like i do.


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## themocaw (May 8, 2007)

yak said:
			
		

> 4. In an extreme case, you can leave the side panel off, like i do.



I've heard people on both sides of the fence on this issue: running "naked" to improve hit dissipation.  On the one hand, some people claim that this helps heat dissipate out.  Other people claim that this screws up your air circulation over your computer components, and it's best to keep the case closed to make sure the air flows correctly, unless you've got a big house fan blowing at your computer at the same time.

If only you could do some of that stuff with laptops


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## Zekumas (May 8, 2007)

No fan on the heatsink, the fins of the heatsink are too far apart to attach a fan to it, need to get a new heatsink and fan amongst other things I need to get  but I can't will have to run the system naked with a house fan on it...


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## Bloodangel (May 9, 2007)

You know some companies make fuck off gigantic fans on their cases just for guys like you, right? My hard drives were overheating till I bought an iCute case with a special fan on the front (It's as wide as the case 0_0). It does the job of your house fan, but looks stylish!!  Plus, it came with neons, and everyone knows neons make your comp work SO much better.


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## Esplender (May 9, 2007)

This reminds me of how this guy busted a side of his PC open and stuck a household fan in it.

But I would personally just purchase more fans/leave the inside of the computer exposed to some flowing air, maybe even connect some metal strips to the tips of the heat sinks, hell, install a water cooling system if you have to.


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## Rouge2 (May 10, 2007)

If it sits inside a compartment with a door, remove the door.  My tower used to get very hot, until the door covering it was removed and since then, it been cool to the touch.


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## Zekumas (May 10, 2007)

Rouge2 said:
			
		

> If it sits inside a compartment with a door, remove the door.  My tower used to get very hot, until the door covering it was removed and since then, it been cool to the touch.



Here is an image of my system and where is sits.


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## Cybergarou (May 11, 2007)

You might be able to improve airflow by moving the case away from the wall some, but I suspect you have enough ventilation for that class of computer. In a standard system it's normal for the hard drive to get hot and people are usually surprised at how warm they feel. As long as the drive stays cooler than 130-140 degrees F, depending on the brand, there shouldn't be a problem. I'd try to get a reading of the temperature to see if you actually have to worry.


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## Bloodangel (May 11, 2007)

Ah, what a big pile of stuff around your comp!!

But yeah, move it away from the wall. Computers are mostly designed to pull air IN at the front and send it OUT through the back (which is why there's so much dust sitting behind a comp after a while.). If the fans at the back are near snug with a wall, the temperature skyrockets inside.


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## Kougar (May 12, 2007)

Do you even have a single moving fan in that case? What kind of CPU is it anyway to run without a fan, a Pentium 2?? Looks to me like there is a mounting position for an 80mm fan on the back of the case. That biege plastic piece under the HDD also looks like a fan mount, although not much of one, that one would be to cool your hard drive.

Whatever CPU that is, without a intake and 2nd exhaust case fan the only thing that will happen is the case will turn into an oven, and that is exactly what it did. No different than driving a car without a radiator fan on a 100F day on an even hotter roadway, it's going to redline at some point.


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## Zekumas (May 13, 2007)

Kougar said:
			
		

> Do you even have a single moving fan in that case? What kind of CPU is it anyway to run without a fan, a Pentium 2?? Looks to me like there is a mounting position for an 80mm fan on the back of the case. That biege plastic piece under the HDD also looks like a fan mount, although not much of one, that one would be to cool your hard drive.
> 
> Whatever CPU that is, without a intake and 2nd exhaust case fan the only thing that will happen is the case will turn into an oven, and that is exactly what it did. No different than driving a car without a radiator fan on a 100F day on an even hotter roadway, it's going to redline at some point.



Don't have a single fan other than the fan in the PSU (Power Supply Unit). its a Pentium 3 866Mhz processor. And yes that is a spot for an 80mm fan, but I'm slowly working on buying a case that comes with two fans on the back and one on the window side as well as the top of the case is perferotaed to allow heat to escape out the top.


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## brokenfox (May 13, 2007)

Casses start at around 40 bucks and come with fans, and sometimes even a powersupply. I would be carefull about running it while it is hot tho, that is the quickest way to destroy your computer. Untill you can afford the case you want invest in a cheap fan and have it blowing air out of the case. Also I highly suggest you use the door on the case when you install your fan or else it will be useless. The last thing is to make sure the heatsink on your processor is clean, blow it out with some compressed air and if you are comfortable enough put some new thermal grease on it for good measure. Oh, and lastly with so much air and dust that a large household fan can make I would be worried about static electricity, esspecially on a dry day...


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## draigfaol (May 13, 2007)

Zekumas said:
			
		

> Don't have a single fan other than the fan in the PSU (Power Supply Unit). its a Pentium 3 866Mhz processor. And yes that is a spot for an 80mm fan, but I'm slowly working on buying a case that comes with two fans on the back and one on the window side as well as the top of the case is perferotaed to allow heat to escape out the top.



First and foremost, Get a heatsink fan. Period.
Anything beyond a Pentium2 should have a fan at the least or you'd might as well use your computer for a paperweight.

Second, Get a can of air, and blast the hell out of it. Dust is your enemy and without a constant air flow, it will gather over things and it will draw heat.

You won't need to buy a new case (besides... most cases nowadays are made for new models). Just get a decent enough fan, and make some room for the computer.


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## Zekumas (May 13, 2007)

draigfaol said:
			
		

> Zekumas said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




This is the case I'm wanting to get....http://shop1.outpost.com/product/3850927?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG


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## Bloodangel (May 13, 2007)

Only having a fan on your psu is very dangerous. I have 6 fans and a side panel vent for the cpu. I'm surprised yours didn't give it up and fry long ago.

That case is pretty sweet though.


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## Kougar (May 13, 2007)

PIII's are fairly sturdy chips that can take the heat, that is why some shipped without fans in the first place. But I agree it is not good to run it without a fan if you want the CPU and minboard to last.

That case looks okay, but keep in mind 80mm fans are usually noisey, and I suspect that case will be quite loud. If noise is an issue for you consider a case with only 120mm fans, these are the standard size for today's computers with 140mm/200mm fans fixing to soon replace them. Larger fans can move more air at slower speeds, and therefore less noise.


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## Zekumas (May 13, 2007)

Kougar said:
			
		

> PIII's are fairly sturdy chips that can take the heat, that is why some shipped without fans in the first place. But I agree it is not good to run it without a fan if you want the CPU and minboard to last.
> 
> That case looks okay, but keep in mind 80mm fans are usually noisey, and I suspect that case will be quite loud. If noise is an issue for you consider a case with only 120mm fans, these are the standard size for today's computers with 140mm/200mm fans fixing to soon replace them. Larger fans can move more air at slower speeds, and therefore less noise.



Always use 80mm fans, and I make sure they are magnetic bearings


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