using ductwork to expell heat from cpu

[gooblegook]

ive heard of it being done(actually seen a picture), does it really work and how would one do that??
cwallace

 

[Jizzler]

You can buy one: Case fan duct

Though thats only going to work with a certain cases and motherboards.

Can buy a case with a built-in duct: Elan Vital A-10 (120mm exhaust!)

If you're handy with plexi, can do your own

 

[Zim Hosein]

gooblegook do you care about appearence? If you don't hit your local auto parts store and use air intake tubing, not pretty, but will get the job done

 

[ChrisADuffy]

It really works but I have also read that if you have really good flow thru your case you should not hav to worry about this. My case has 120mm intake in front and one 120mm exaust in the back(cut with dremel), I am using the Enermax clear fansEnermax clear fans , can be seen in my pics below.

 

[SteelCityFan]

Does Dell still use an Air Duct type system? I don't even think they put a fan on the CPU heatsink using this method... at least back in the P2 450 days.

 

[Jhhnn]

Big OEM's, particularly Dell, do it all the time. It helps keep down noise and costs when you're building thousands, the engineering effort is well worth the trouble for them. Clothes dryer vent hose is a commonly used material for DIY's. I think it's particularly useful with Alpha HSF's, the sink fan can discharge outside the case, doing double duty.

 

[MADn3ss]

The Fong Kai 603 case comes with a nice CPU fan duct included.

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< Does Dell still use an Air Duct type system? I don't even think they put a fan on the CPU heatsink using this method... at least back in the P2 450 days. >>

I know that the Dell Precision workstation has one (one of my friends somehow acquired one free of charge), but I can't speak to their other computers. It's a Pentium 4/1800A, and the duct seems there primarily to make it cheaper, as the heatsink is PASSIVE and is smaller than the one Intel ships with its boxed processors.

 

[Blain]

I believe that "intake" air ducting would drop CPU & case temps far more than "exhaust" ducting.

Big THANKS to Overclockers.com! If you've thought about doing it. Go there... somebody probably already has

* "Cool and Quiet"
* "The Effectiveness of Air Ducts in CPU Cooling"
* "My AirDuct Experience"
* "Case Pressure, Air Flow and Temperature"
* "Ducts - The Cheap Cooling Solution"

 

[trikster2]

<< Does Dell still use an Air Duct type system? I don't even think they put a fan on the CPU heatsink using this method... at least back in the P2 450 days. >>



My P3 866 based optiplex at work: After using it for over a year I finally opened it up just to check it out.

No intake fan and a single 80mm fan on the back ducted with a nifty duct made for the case to guide the heat flow off the fanless heatsink/cpu.

The fanless heatsink is kinda strange, it's huge for a P3; a flat piece if alunimun with these flimsy loops of alunimum over the CPU. Very light weight and flimsy.

The fan exhausts; there is no intake or other fans.

All in all a very nice and quiet design.