Seeking cooling solution for ambient/overall system

[CreepieDeCrapper]

I've done some searching throughout these forums but can't seem to find the right advice for my situation. I'll be building a fairly intense gaming machine in the next month or two (dual-core X2 or Opty, 10k RPM HD, CrossFire, etc.) and will probably enclose the components in an Antec P180B case.

In short, I have an apartment in southern California without air-conditioning. Last summer it was quite hot (easily high 80's F for days on end) so I'm concerned about taking care of my new PC properly. I was looking at OC'ing the Opty if I go that route and using the Zalman CNPS9500 for cooling the CPU.

I really want to keep my overall system temps down, however. Short of sticking a box fan next to my PC case what are some more elegant and effective solutions for cooling? I'm looking into watercooling but I'm a complete newbie (yes, no l33ting on that one!) and it seems to me that all WC solutions are for specific components (CPU & GPU) and not the entire system as a whole.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. One more thing to mention and it's quite important: I work from home so even before gaming begins my machine is cranking 8-10 hours a day (M-F at least) so I'm taking the cooling very seriously.

Again, thank you!

- Kevin

 

[Zepper]

Hard to transfer heat unless the ambient temp is lower than the device temp.. I'd suggest getting a window AC unit so both you and your PC can be comfortable. Goldstar is probably the top brand in those now. Very efficient and inexpensive.

.bh.

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

i'd love to get a window a/c unit but unfortunately none of our apartment windows are compatible with one... i wonder if there are portable a/c units that aren't the industrial kind selling for $400-$700

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Welcome to the Forums Mr.Crapper, I hope you don't go with the flow

Google portable air conditioners. Much will come up. It would be nice if you could hook one up to 220AVC.

Do not hook the A/C up to the same circuit as the rig, keep it on a seperate breaker.
Have a UPS inplace if you don't already, for the comp.

I live at the 405 & 605, the ocean breeze comes up the San Gabriel River everyday at 2:30PM PST.
I love it. Got A/C but not in the garage office.


...Galvanized

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

thanks for the welcome, Galvanized, and for the post... i've been googling all sorts of air conditioning units over the last half-hour or so but those portable ones are EXPENSIVE ($400+ it seems no matter where i go)

i remember some years ago i saw a pc mod with the pc built right into one of those dorm-room mini fridges... i'm seriously looking into that option now

btw, i'm living in san clemente with ocean view but sad to say, the ocean breeze isn't as strong as you'd think... most likely because i'm at the top of the hill i'm guessing (still walking distance to the pier, though... i love this town

- Kevin DeCrapper

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Ol' Tricky Dick Nixon liked that town too.

Yes, I've seen a portable unit hooked up to the 120 exhaust port to blow in. I'm sure you realize chilling the air dries it out, so condensation is a non-issue.

A/C is not cheap to buy or run but come August, a portable unit won't cost less Besides, it's a business write off, is it not.? You need this to support your working enviroment...Right!
They ain't the best but do check Fry's for a unit. I've seen'em there for cheap.


...Galvanized

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

oh yea, all that stuff is a nice fat tax write-off for me... new pc and all! i'll check fry's and some other local appliance stores to see what i can find... i'm shopping ebay at the moment, maybe i'll get lucky

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

regarding the pc-in-a-fridge concept, i agree that condensation won't be a concern, but i was reading that since fridges were designed to sustain the coolness of their contents rather than actively cool down heat-generating items that there may be a reliability issue with the fridge since it'll be running constantly instead of intermittently the way it was designed

either way, i'll probably find it's worth my effort to invest the time and money into a decent portable a/c unit in the end

of course, i also have ceramic tile flooring in the apartment, so i'm hoping by keeping the pc chassis directly on it that some of that coldness transfers as the floor is cool even in warm/hot weather

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Easy fella. A pc-in-a-fridge is a very bad idea. Condensation will happen. The air out of your car's registers is dehumidified by the A/C's evaporator. That's where the puddle of water comes from

I just looked, costco.com has four portable units. Your on your own for how good each is. The smaller the room the less BTUs you'll need. Hope your South facing windows have heavy drapes to close on hotter days.

A portable gets rid of the water by draining it over the hot condenser and it get blown outside with the hot exhaust air as water vapor...OK


...Galvanized

 

[Zepper]

Newegg actually carries(ied) portable room AC last summer. But I don't think the buyer reviews were too great.

.bh.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Oh! Keep the rig 8" off the floor, that way it won't be sucking up dust bunnies.
After a month of that the HSs will be wearing a sweater in July.
With the rig even higher, the discharge from the A/C will be hitting you and the comp's intake.


...Galvanized

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

whoops, i misread your post earlier, you were referring to the portable a/c unit when you said condensation is a non-issue... regardless, i'm not chancing the pc-in-a-fridge route as i'm no mcgyver (sp?)

thanks for the lookup on costco, i just checked it out and prices aren't too bad... ebay has some as well and i'm also considering a swamp cooler (a glorified fan with a tray for holding water or ice, supposedly you can drop the room temp by 10 degrees - although the rise in humidity may be an issue)

regarding my window treatments... cheap plastic vertical blinds

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

You'll be one sorry fella after a summer with a swamp cooler. Trust me on this,Plz!
The only place around here they really work well is our desert area and even then they start
to stink. after awhile. Then bleach or disinfectant gets poured into the water to get rid of the
stench. P-U!

Your vertical blinds ain't going to cut it if they face the South or East. You will fall in love with
our marine layer Aluminum foil on the windows trick now comes into play. Hey! I've
been there and done that.

Atleast you can go into Costco and look at the units. Call first to ask about floor models.
Shipping would add to cost, hope they'er carry out.


...Galvanized

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

well considering that last summer i didn't have any cooling device other than a floor fan i'll take just about anything

making my laptop work through last july and august probably caused the current anomalies as of late (mostly jacked up usb connectivity)... so i know i need to take my apartment/office cooling seriously

i'm with you on the marine layer... i'm all about overcast skies and chilly temps, it's my wife that needs the blazing sunshine and 80+ degrees every day!

swamp coolers advertise temp drops from 8-12 degrees so they sound promising, plus no exhaust to have to deal with

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

How does a swamp cooler work?? How does it manage to cool the air?? Think about it.

I think you can read about it at HowStuffWorks.com

Once the air gets up to 80% relative humidity there will be NO evaporative cooling and your
partner will have all the signs of early menopause=lots of fun in the hot damp air.
Your productivity will not be maintained very well.

If you do go with a swamp cooler(SWAMP? Yeah, that's about right) Plz come back in September
and tell us how Summer is being enjoyed

I'm pulling your leg kinda hard but what I'm saying is true to life.


...Galvanized

 

[TrevorRC]

Originally posted by: CreepieDeCrapper
thanks for the welcome, Galvanized, and for the post... i've been googling all sorts of air conditioning units over the last half-hour or so but those portable ones are EXPENSIVE ($400+ it seems no matter where i go)

i remember some years ago i saw a pc mod with the pc built right into one of those dorm-room mini fridges... i'm seriously looking into that option now

btw, i'm living in san clemente with ocean view but sad to say, the ocean breeze isn't as strong as you'd think... most likely because i'm at the top of the hill i'm guessing (still walking distance to the pier, though... i love this town

- Kevin DeCrapper

I used to live in San Clemente Moved to Indiana about a year ago. What a coincidence.

Creepie, which hill? It's a relatively small town... I used to live down on Florencia (Past the Ole Hanson Beach Club), then moved to SJC... moved back to San Clemente [Avenida Cabrillo, across from beachfire..], moved out to Indiana about a year back. Probably going to move back sometime in the next few years. Great place

I do remember the hot days there, though, it was nice and toasty... though there always seemed to be a decent breeze. You could look into a passive water-cooling system if you're not going for an extreme overclock... and/or turn on Cool 'n' Quiet during the day when you're working [depending on what you do at home.] (I really wish AMD gave the option to dynamically turn C&Q on and off..)

My system was always fine on air, and I kept my window open and door shut. [[Rest of the house was AC'd.]]

Good luck.

Also, instead of grabbing Crossfire, why not go for a 7950GX2?
600 dollars, probably cheaper than the crossfire setup, and you can always add another card later on.
[[Not to mention it'll peform as well/better.]]

--Trevor

 

[pkme2]

My ambient temperature is in the low 20s. I don't have the local heat like you may have.
I could recommend an small a/c unit thus keeping the air clean and your rig cooler.
I got a small fridge for $50 and that could be a possibility, if you could adapt a cooling intake to your rig.
Use a moisture filter to pickup possible condensation. Maybe you can design something and patent it.
Plus keeping a few cold ones close by.
I would attach a duct system to fridge side or top and pipe into rig. That would be so cool. :beer:

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

Originally posted by: TrevorRC
I used to live in San Clemente Moved to Indiana about a year ago. What a coincidence.

Creepie, which hill? It's a relatively small town... I used to live down on Florencia (Past the Ole Hanson Beach Club), then moved to SJC... moved back to San Clemente [Avenida Cabrillo, across from beachfire..], moved out to Indiana about a year back. Probably going to move back sometime in the next few years. Great place

I do remember the hot days there, though, it was nice and toasty... though there always seemed to be a decent breeze. You could look into a passive water-cooling system if you're not going for an extreme overclock... and/or turn on Cool 'n' Quiet during the day when you're working [depending on what you do at home.] (I really wish AMD gave the option to dynamically turn C&Q on and off..)

My system was always fine on air, and I kept my window open and door shut. [[Rest of the house was AC'd.]]

Good luck.

Also, instead of grabbing Crossfire, why not go for a 7950GX2?
600 dollars, probably cheaper than the crossfire setup, and you can always add another card later on.
[[Not to mention it'll peform as well/better.]]

--Trevor

hey Trevor, small world i guess huh? to top things off i'm originally from cleveland so we effectively switched geographic locations with each other... anyway, i'm living on santa barbara, just around the bend south/west of victoria and have walked up to beach fire a time or two myself

i'm certainly not looking for any extreme oc'ing, in fact i'll run everything stock except for my CPU but that's only if i go with an Opty, if i get an X2 instead i'll probably run that at stock along with everything else

i'm going with ATI's CF because the ATI's are performing better in TESIV: Oblivion and that's my game (addiction) of choice at the moment and will most likely be for some time to come

running the cool'n quiet during the day is a good idea, i'm a web developer so photoshop and programming are my regular activities and as you know, once the sun drops around here the temperature goes with it (unlike the midwest with its hot summer nights)

replying to pkm2: i'm already thinking about your idea believe it or not! my initial thought was using a compact mini-fridge to keep cool a container of water and buy one of those fountain pumps to cycle the water in and out of the fridge (tubing and hole-cutting in the fridge necessary at this point of course)

i'm just not sure how to transfer that cool water temp into the air... i originally thought if i use galvenized steel piping then the metal will transfer the cold water temperature but not sure how much difference it'll make... plus condensation worries me around a PC... not to mention running a fridge and PC on the same circuit or outlet which i know nothing about but have read about some troubles there

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

Originally posted by: pkme2

My ambient temperature is in the low 20s. I don't have the local heat like you may have.
I could recommend an small a/c unit thus keeping the air clean and your rig cooler.
I got a small fridge for $50 and that could be a possibility, if you could adapt a cooling intake to your rig.
Use a moisture filter to pickup possible condensation. Maybe you can design something and patent it.
Plus keeping a few cold ones close by.
I would attach a duct system to fridge side or top and pipe into rig. That would be so cool. :beer:

i like your idea much better than mine after i've thought about it for a while... especially because i'll prolly get the antec p180 case which has the top fan/exhaust which could be used instead to intake the duct from the fridge

i'm still back to worrying about condensation/moisture along with handling the heat that comes off the back of the fridge

 

[pkme2]

Originally posted by: CreepieDeCrapper

Originally posted by: pkme2

My ambient temperature is in the low 20s. I don't have the local heat like you may have.
I could recommend an small a/c unit thus keeping the air clean and your rig cooler.
I got a small fridge for $50 and that could be a possibility, if you could adapt a cooling intake to your rig.
Use a moisture filter to pickup possible condensation. Maybe you can design something and patent it.
Plus keeping a few cold ones close by.
I would attach a duct system to fridge side or top and pipe into rig. That would be so cool. :beer:

i like your idea much better than mine after i've thought about it for a while... especially because i'll prolly get the antec p180 case which has the top fan/exhaust which could be used instead to intake the duct from the fridge

i'm still back to worrying about condensation/moisture along with handling the heat that comes off the back of the fridge

How about a heat pump that can take the heat generated from your computer and return it as cool air. Very efficient and inexpensive results.

Design a practical unit for computer use and make some bucks.

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

Originally posted by: pkme2
How about a heat pump that can take the heat generated from your computer and return it as cool air. Very efficient and inexpensive results.

Design a practical unit for computer use and make some bucks.

i'll do better than that! looks like i'll be able to cool my entire office/room after all... Homebrew AC Unit
i plan to make mine a closed-system using a mini-fridge to hold a water reservoir and a fountain pump instead of syphon... i will test using a simple styrafoam cooler first before i start investing money