What cooling solutions do you use?

[Bradtech519]

Had a thermal event take place within the past couple of hours. Computer was shut down, and appeared to be dead. I figured the PSU died on me from the load. Let it sit for a while, unplugged power, plugged back in, and came back on.

Looking at a new case with better airflow for sure. I believe I confirmed the CPU temperatures would get cooler if I removed the side of the case.. My GPU temps are way low due to the zalman..

AMD Phenom II 965BE 3.4 Ghz Stock
Radeon 5850 Zalman VF1000 LED
OCZ 600SXS Quad 12V 18A

 

[Markfw]

I leave the side covers off all my boxes. Very hard to find good airflow with a lot of heat, and low temps AND quiet.

 

[petrusbroder]

I have all my computers as close to the floor as I can.
On many I leave the side off.
I have good after-market HSF (mostly Noctua (e.g. NH-C12 or NH-D14) or Cooler Master Hyper H212 or Arctic Freezer).
I evacuate the hot air using a fan ... and keep the doors open.
I wish for an AC when temps will rise in summer ...

 

[somethingsketchy]

I have a large-ish room that my computer is in, so it does take a while to heat up. During the winter I usually have the heat down to 60F, so heating costs stay down.

During the summer, I usually pause any folding efforts, to save on cooling and electrical costs. Some day I wish for an underground basement that's 50F year round.

 

[Ken g6]

My biggest cooling problem is my graphics card. Because it looks like this one (but is a 460), heat is blown both out of and into the case. The best solution I found is to add a fast little fan to blow heat out the front of the case. Taking the side of the case off made my CPU cooler (that was with the stock Intel heatsink :$) but made the GPU hotter!

I've since gotten a cheap-but-nice CPU cooler. But at the same time I ordered a new G41 motherboard and I've since discovered that it doesn't overclock well at all! So my CPU is running (just a few percent overclocked, in this PrimeGrid race) at 40C. We'll see what happens when I put the GPU back in, this weekend or next.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Side panels off cases, and a Dark Knight CPU cooler on every machine.

 

[Drsignguy]

Well I have 3 Tuniq coolers, and an H70 (poor mans water cooling setup), a Cooler Master V8 and a couple of others bla bla bla.... keep the rigs close to an open window where very cool air rushes in and drops my temps down quite a bit. But just until it gets warm outside. I monitor them closely for weather and such. When it warms up, Big time air conditioner usage will be the alternative. Sides are off.............

 

[Lightflash]

I am running water on my new 2600k build. I am really loving the 50C temps while running bigadv.

 

[RaySun2Be]

I must have said "A cabana girl wearing only palm fronds" out loud when I read the topic, because now I can achieve lower temps using my wife's icy cold stare.........
:O



Just standard fan cooling here, but I'm not overclocking anything.....

 

[wuliheron]

Nothing beats having a bit of overkill in the power supply. It doesn't have to be outrageous, but the more power it can produce the more heat the components are designed to take without shutting down. Some power supplies have better cooling fans then others, but it still won't make nearly as big a difference as having a bit of overkill. The case fans can make a difference too, but just taking the side off works.

Water cooling is great, but expensive and unnecessary unless serious quiet or overclocking are desired. Cases are a personal choice, but I'd spend at least $60-70.oo if you want a well ventilated one. Having the power supply at the bottom can help with overheating.

 

[petrusbroder]

LoL @ RaySun2Be.
Where are the fish and the cane, BTW?

 

[theAnimal]

but the more power it can produce the more heat the components are designed to take without shutting down.

Actually, no. A better quality PSU will have better quality components and will be able to deliver it's rated power at greater than room temperature. The wattage/amperage rating of the PSU has no bearing on the components' temperature rating.

 

[Sunny129]

i have a Tuniq Tower CR-T120-EX-SV (silver version of the black TT Extreme) in my Phenom II X6 1090T rig. it uses the stock fan, and is set to ~1100rpm, so it remains relatively quiet. my CPU temp averages ~39°C under 100% load (all 6 cores crunching Einstein@Home 24/7). i don't need to remove the side panel of the case for extra cooling, as i'm using Rosewill ARMOR case, which is 1) made almost entirely of mesh, and 2) has a giant 200mm intake fan on the removable side panel. i suspect this fan also helps keep my HD 5870 GPU cool as well, which currently crunches Milkyway@Home 24/7.

my Phenom II X4 965 BE rig uses a COOLER MASTER Hyper 212+ in conjunction w/ 2 low speed 120mm fans in a push-pull configuration (instead of the single 120mm push fan that comes stock). it is dead silent (both fans @ ~800rpm) and cools much better than the single stock fan does @ 1800rpm. my CPU temp averages ~41°C under 100% load (all 4 cores crunching Einstein@Home 24/7). this machine does not have a GPU [yet], and is housed in a COOLER MASTER Gladiator 600 case. with the right number of fans at the right rpm in the right configuration, this case cools with extreme efficiency. this rig is in my master bedroom and runs 24/7, so it must be DEAD silent...and it is. between the low speed fans on the CM 212+, the low speed 120mm case fans, and the ability to leave the side panel in place, this rig is no louder than the electric hum you might hear from a flourescent bulb or a small under-counter refrigerator or wine keeper. i've never built a quieter rig in my life.

 

[IGemini]

Been using a Scythe Infinity (Mugen) since I built this computer and it's cooled two CPUs. Grabbed it from the Egg open box for $20 under retail, been solid ever since. Used OCZ Freeze for thermal compound. Two Scythe Minebea 12cm fans in front and rear, plus a 12cm Apevia side intake. The board controllers are set on standard mode so the case fans hover around 1400 RPM and the CPU around 1100 RPM. It's noticeable but not loud, kinda like having a medium-sized oscillating fan on low. The Q9650 stays around 22C idle and 42C under load, 30 degrees under what the Tcase max itself. The graphics card uses its stock cooler which is basically an Arctic Cooling Accelero L2 OEM. It cools fine (38C-75C) but it might get replaced because it takes up too many slots.

 

[ZipSpeed]

I use a TRUE 120 on my Q9550, Venomous X on the i7 rigs and 212+ on my AMD machines. They all perform pretty good, with 212+ being excellent bang for the buck.

 

[Bradtech519]

After investigation I think something is wrong with my stock AMD Cooler. Fan won't spin up fast enough to accommodate the rising CPU temps.. I probably need to look in the BIOS at the Cool & Quiet feature.. Came home and system rebooted on its own while crunching with side panel off. Temps are way higher than in the past. Time to replace the stock.. I observed temps get up to high 60s before stock catching up and bringing it down to 60-63c.. Which is still too hot IMO.. GPU crunching is all I am doing now and it's in the mid 50s with 100% fan.. zalman VF1000 Silent Blue.

 

[Sunny129]

i concur - check the BIOS. i would just disable C&Q and manually set the speed of your CPU fan with either the utility that came with your motherboard's software suite or some other utility. i know crunchers are typically looking to shave bits and pieces off their electric bills b/c their machines generally consume more power than the average computer. but i wouldn't count on C&Q to make a dent in the electric bill, especially if its not keeping your CPU cool enough often enough. while i don't enjoy giving FPL more money per month, keeping my crunching rigs cool is more important to me than keeping my electric bill down...