what would you do?

[lozina]

here's the problem, I have a small bedroom where my computer is, and I leave the computer under the desk where it fits nicely and dosent get in my way. The computer
is a significant heat generator. It will easily bring a bearable room temperature up to a point where I start to sweat and get worried the computer will overheat. The computer itself is in a lian-li case, and the primary heat sources are the athlon xp processor, the gainward 4400 g4 card and the pcP&C silencer 400 power supply. Probably the main reason of my discomfort is that the area under my desk is rather enclosed, since my body covers most of the opening. This causes heat to be trapped and make the temperature feel worse then it really is for me.

what can I do?
two things I thought of doing so far to help, as moving the computer out somewhere is not a viable option (no room anywhere else)

1. cut a hole in the wall, put a duct inside from my room up to the attic above, and duct the exhaust fans to the wall which hopefully goes into the attic. The objective here of course is any heated air goes to the attic instead of back under the desk to be heated further.

2. invest in a water cooling scheme. one other nice thing about this, is that my computer will be almost totally silent. but i can at least find a place for the radiator anywhere in my room, maybe even on the little roof outside my window...

any suggestions or other ideas?

 

[deerslayer]

What are your case and CPU temps?
What type of heatsink are you using?
What type of case fans and how many?

Since you don't have much room, I can't really say move the case. I keep mine on top of my desk so it has plenty of room to breathe.

 

[lozina]

i cant remember the temps off the top of my head (im still at work) but I can tell you the temperature warning alarm went off on my motherboard a few times before I quickly shut t down. I believe the temp the warnings go off on were 70 C ? The HS on processor is PAL 8045 with a 80mm fan on top. the case fans are the ones that came with the case, I think two 80mms in the bot. front, and another 1 against the back wall, then theres the power supply fan.

 

[amdskip]

70 is way too hot. Truely running a duct to the attic is not practical and you shouldn't have go to such drastic measures. A GC69 would keep it cool, heck, an slk-800 would do wonders for you. Replace the case fans with some quality quiet case fans, panaflos are just an example of your many choices. Your computer should not get close to 60. The heatsink you have really isn't made for an xp it appears either.

 

[godmare]

Originally posted by: amdskip
70 is way too hot. Truely running a duct to the attic is not practical and you shouldn't have go to such drastic measures. A GC69 would keep it cool, heck, an slk-800 would do wonders for you. Replace the case fans with some quality quiet case fans, panaflos are just an example of your many choices. Your computer should not get close to 60. The heatsink you have really isn't made for an xp it appears either.

Well, first off, the PAL 8045 is not one of the highest performing heatsinks, but it is far more than adequate and there's no reason to expend more cash for a different one. Secondly, all the heatsinks and fans put into the system will not impede the wattage displacement (read: heat) of all the components within. The heat will be produced and exhausted regardless.
It seems that the reason the cpu is so hot is due to the high case temps, due to the confinement of the system.
Possibly adding additionalcase fans will rectify the situation, but in all foreseeable reality, the computer will need to be moved (or cooked, if you really can't find two square feet to set it.)

 

[OulOat]

Originally posted by: godmare

Originally posted by: amdskip
70 is way too hot. Truely running a duct to the attic is not practical and you shouldn't have go to such drastic measures. A GC69 would keep it cool, heck, an slk-800 would do wonders for you. Replace the case fans with some quality quiet case fans, panaflos are just an example of your many choices. Your computer should not get close to 60. The heatsink you have really isn't made for an xp it appears either.

Well, first off, the PAL 8045 is not one of the highest performing heatsinks, but it is far more than adequate and there's no reason to expend more cash for a different one. Secondly, all the heatsinks and fans put into the system will not impede the wattage displacement (read: heat) of all the components within. The heat will be produced and exhausted regardless.
It seems that the reason the cpu is so hot is due to the high case temps, due to the confinement of the system.
Possibly adding additionalcase fans will rectify the situation, but in all foreseeable reality, the computer will need to be moved (or cooked, if you really can't find two square feet to set it.)

Yeah, I think amdskip missed the part where Iozina said the comp heats up the room so much it causes him to sweat. I would say go for the duct system. Since the fans will be pumping the heated air directly out of your room, you could even get away slower quieter fans, but remember to put a big fan on the other side in the attic to draw air from your room. Also, the duct method is safer than having water hoses lying around in your room, imagine what would happen if you accidently cut off the circulation.

 

[cavemanmoron]

i moved my tower from Under the desk to infront of it sideways,and put my keyboard and mouse on top of my case,
i dropped my cpu temps from 55 c to 51 doing nothing else, try this,its free; first..

edited for Duh! spelling goofs,

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: OulOat

Originally posted by: godmare

Originally posted by: amdskip
70 is way too hot. Truely running a duct to the attic is not practical and you shouldn't have go to such drastic measures. A GC69 would keep it cool, heck, an slk-800 would do wonders for you. Replace the case fans with some quality quiet case fans, panaflos are just an example of your many choices. Your computer should not get close to 60. The heatsink you have really isn't made for an xp it appears either.

Well, first off, the PAL 8045 is not one of the highest performing heatsinks, but it is far more than adequate and there's no reason to expend more cash for a different one. Secondly, all the heatsinks and fans put into the system will not impede the wattage displacement (read: heat) of all the components within. The heat will be produced and exhausted regardless.
It seems that the reason the cpu is so hot is due to the high case temps, due to the confinement of the system.
Possibly adding additionalcase fans will rectify the situation, but in all foreseeable reality, the computer will need to be moved (or cooked, if you really can't find two square feet to set it.)

Yeah, I think amdskip missed the part where Iozina said the comp heats up the room so much it causes him to sweat. I would say go for the duct system. Since the fans will be pumping the heated air directly out of your room, you could even get away slower quieter fans, but remember to put a big fan on the other side in the attic to draw air from your room. Also, the duct method is safer than having water hoses lying around in your room, imagine what would happen if you accidently cut off the circulation.

You guys crack me up. A duct system is not practical. Lower cfm fans will hurt because it won't be able to push the hot air out.

 

[OulOat]

Originally posted by: amdskip

Originally posted by: OulOat

Originally posted by: godmare

Originally posted by: amdskip
70 is way too hot. Truely running a duct to the attic is not practical and you shouldn't have go to such drastic measures. A GC69 would keep it cool, heck, an slk-800 would do wonders for you. Replace the case fans with some quality quiet case fans, panaflos are just an example of your many choices. Your computer should not get close to 60. The heatsink you have really isn't made for an xp it appears either.

Well, first off, the PAL 8045 is not one of the highest performing heatsinks, but it is far more than adequate and there's no reason to expend more cash for a different one. Secondly, all the heatsinks and fans put into the system will not impede the wattage displacement (read: heat) of all the components within. The heat will be produced and exhausted regardless.
It seems that the reason the cpu is so hot is due to the high case temps, due to the confinement of the system.
Possibly adding additionalcase fans will rectify the situation, but in all foreseeable reality, the computer will need to be moved (or cooked, if you really can't find two square feet to set it.)

Yeah, I think amdskip missed the part where Iozina said the comp heats up the room so much it causes him to sweat. I would say go for the duct system. Since the fans will be pumping the heated air directly out of your room, you could even get away slower quieter fans, but remember to put a big fan on the other side in the attic to draw air from your room. Also, the duct method is safer than having water hoses lying around in your room, imagine what would happen if you accidently cut off the circulation.

You guys crack me up. A duct system is not practical. Lower cfm fans will hurt because it won't be able to push the hot air out.

That's why I said to remember to put a big fan on the other side in the attic to draw air from your room.

 

[Politik]

Pics of your desk/room would help us.. if the back of your desk isnt sealed, you might try moving your desk away from the wall. Or cutting a hole in the back of your desk.

You could get a new desk with an open back, I got one for $50 and its quite nice, its like a computer cart, but much wider. I can't seem to find it online right now, and I can't remember where I bought it...

If you have an Ikea near you, here is a good, simple desk (I hate the ones with the "hutches" and drawers everywhere)

 

[mobuis]

make a blowhole in the front but it would suck to cut up a lian li

 

[Slogun]

I have a Lian-Li PC60 case, an Athlon Tbird 1.4 (read hottest CPU ever made) and a PAL 8045.

I've always considered my rig to run warmer than most, but at 50C it is far cooler than yours.

Assuming you have your thermal compound correctly applied to your CPU/HSF, you definitely need better airflow somehow.

I have my doubts that ducting through the wall is feasible. Sure, you could get a bathroom ventilator-type fan and ducting, I've installed such. However, most walls have fire-stops in them that you would have to cut through, along with other issues.
Best to look at the amount of air flowing through your case (add more case fans perhaps, a blowhole in the top if you don't have that already) and get more ventilation around and to the back of the case as was suggested in a previous post.

PS, if you look at my rig in the above link, you will see that my rig is fairly enclosed in the desk. The back however is wide open and the desk is about 6 inches away from the wall.

 

[moonshinemadness]

I had the same problem except it was my video card that seemed to dislike heat, i found the best thing was to swap my room around and put my computer next to the open door with the side off, at least until i can afford a better case, the one i have now only supports one case fanand with a 1600XP it soon heats up to beyond the GPU Heatsinks capacity.

 

[damonpip]

I think the best thing for you to do would get a water cooling system (or buy parts and make one yourself If you put waterblocks on the CPU and Geforce, and installed the radiator outside, I think you could eliminate most of the heat.

 

[amcdonald]

I'd ignore almost all of this advice and MAYBE look into watercooling it.
It sounds to me like you have put your computer in a situation that makes it impossible to efficiently air cool.
As for the not-so-good performance of the alpha 8045, I have the same heatsink and with ambient temps of 21-22ºC i get approx. 31-32ºC idle cpu temps in a near silent system. I run a 2100+@2200mhz at 1.85 vcore. Don't waste your money on another heatsink.
Your fans most likely aren't the problem, I'm assuming they are stock and you didn't mess around with the configuration and have them all blowing in or something like that. It would help to know the exact setup though, maybe we could save you some time/money. But definitely don't go cutting up your nice case or your wall.
You should really just be creative and find a way to move your computer somewhere else. Just make sure the air exhaust paths are not impeded by anything.
If the back of the tower is pushed against another structure and the fans are physically blocked, it doesn't matter what you do. The air has to escape.

 

[Slogun]

[/i]I'd ignore almost all of this advice and MAYBE look into watercooling it.

Heh, I think you merely reiterated most of the aforementioned advice.

 

[deerslayer]

It seems that the reason the cpu is so hot is due to the high case temps, due to the confinement of the system.
Possibly adding additionalcase fans will rectify the situation, but in all foreseeable reality, the computer will need to be moved (or cooked, if you really can't find two square feet to set it.)

 

[amcdonald]

Originally posted by: Slogun

[/i]I'd ignore almost all of this advice and MAYBE look into watercooling it.

Heh, I think you merely reiterated most of the aforementioned advice.

My opinion obviously lines up with some previous posts. The statement you quoted is meant to show that most of the advice in this thread isn't good troubleshooting. Things like buying a new desk, cutting a front blowhole, getting lower cfm fans, and cutting a wall air duct are not good 1st steps. I then explained what I would do. The obvious first step is to move the computer to an open area and see what happens to the temps.
People are more likely to listen to an opinion if its held by more than one person.

 

[mechBgon]

Unless you are moving the heat outside the room, such as with the proposed radiator outside or a duct that exhausts outside, the heat remains in the room in the end. If it were me, I'd ventilate the room with a window fan and call it done

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Unless you are moving the heat outside the room, such as with the proposed radiator outside or a duct that exhausts outside, the heat remains in the room in the end. If it were me, I'd ventilate the room with a window fan and call it done

Yep, well said. Water cooling isn't necessary. You don't see Dell and Gateway selling watercooled pcs for hot conditions.

 

[syberscott]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Unless you are moving the heat outside the room, such as with the proposed radiator outside or a duct that exhausts outside, the heat remains in the room in the end. If it were me, I'd ventilate the room with a window fan and call it done

I agree 100%. If it's too hot outside why not buy a small window air conditioner. They are pretty cheap at hardware stores.