Nerm Posted August 16, 2004 Posted August 16, 2004 Ok... this is a place that we can kinda orginize many of the commonly asked questions about Air Cooling. Feel free to submit to this thread in a Q&A format... a staff member will edit this message from time to time with the new FAQ. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Search The Forums : Asking For Help Guidelines : Overclockers Club Site Rules -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted August 16, 2004 Posted August 16, 2004 Q: What's the easiest way to lower my cpu temps (idle & load) ? A: Lower the temperature of the air available to the cpu hs/f. Basically, your cpu temps will be pretty much a fixed amount over the ambient temperature... so if you lower the temperature of your case and/or room then you should get a corresponding drop in cpu temps. For example, although I joke about it a lot, Nerm cools his room to around 15*C with a/c and has stock cooling on his AMD XP cpu's and manages to cool them sufficiently to get an 865MHz OC. Moving your computer to the floor is also a way to lose a few degrees... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerm Posted August 16, 2004 Posted August 16, 2004 BTW: nrg it's a little over 900MHz OC lol. Q: Is running an air duct from my A/C vent into my case a good idea? A: You can run it onto your case, but you have to be careful about condensation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony Posted August 16, 2004 Posted August 16, 2004 q: What is the good placement of fans? A: mid powerd intake, high power exhaust and high power blowhole Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Propane Posted August 16, 2004 Posted August 16, 2004 Q: My CPU Temps have been steadilly rising. Whats going on? A: You are probablly gaining dust into your heat sink which affects the disapation of heat. Clean out as much of the dust as you can. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
r_target Posted August 16, 2004 Posted August 16, 2004 Q: My new heatsink included a package of white thermal compound. Should I use it? A: Only if you have to. Most overclockers use Arctic Silver5 or AS Ceramique. Arctic Silver Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammin Posted August 16, 2004 Posted August 16, 2004 Q) I am trying to build a quiet air cooling solution, what sort of fans should I buy? A) When attempting to build a quiet air cooling solution, it is best to aim for fans with the lowest possible DBa (or decibel) value. You will need to replace any noisy fans currently in your system (CPU fan, VGA Fan) with quieter options. When considering the DBa values of multiple fans, the combined total of all the fans used should only be slightly louder than the loudest fan used, so more quieter fans is often a better solution than one or two louder fans. Also consider that an increase of 10 DBa will produce roughly twice the audible volume. Eg. 40 DBa will sound about twice as loud as 30 DBa. If you want your system to stay cool at the same time as being quiet you will still need to get fans with as large a CFM (cubic feet/minute) rating as possible. Take into account that larger fans move usually move more air for how loud they are (ie quieter than smaller fans while moving the same volume of air), so using larger fans where you can will help (the sound frequency of larger fans is usually lower than smaller fans, and generally less iritating). Simply remember that the quieter you make your system, the hotter it is likely to get. A quiet computer on air cooling is usually not a good overclocking computer. --------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Is it better for me to have positive or negative air pressure inside my case? How can I achieve this? A) There is no definite answer as to whether postive or negative pressure isnside your case will be better for your temps, it is simply a case of trying out both and seeing what works best for you. To achieve positive case pressure you need more CFM (Cubic Feet/minute) going into your case. So more fans (or more powerful fans) blowing in. To achieve negative pressure you need more CFM going out of your case. So More fans (or more powerful fans) blowing out. -------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Which heatsink material is better, Aluminium or Copper? A) Its is generally accepted that copper heatsinks provide better heat transfer characteristics than aluminium designs, as thus lower temperatures. Copper heatsinks are however, usually alot heavier and more expensive than their Aluminium counterparts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maorWTF Posted August 17, 2004 Posted August 17, 2004 (edited) Q: What is db (or dbA) ? A: DB is a way to measure noise (in this case the fan's noise) 25 db is quiet, 32 is normal, and above 40 is starting to be noisy PS, every 10db the noisy multiply itself. E.g, 30db it twice noisy then 20db, and 40db is twice noisy then 30db. (normal fans make 25-45 DB) Q: what is RPM ? A: Rotations\Rounds Per Minutes. a way to measure (in this case) the fan's speed. (normal fans rotate 2000-5000 RPM) Q: What CFM ? A: Cubic Feet Per Minute a way to measure the amount of the air that the fan can push in one minute (normal fans can push 20 to 50 CFM) usually, higher RPM (faster fan) = higher DB (louder fan) = fan makes more CFM. (= better fan) P.S, bigger fans (92mm, 120mm) makes more CFM in the same noise and speed) Q: What is the best temperature i can get in my air cooling system ? A: The best air temp' that air cooling system can get is the case's air temp'. Q: What is HSF ? A: HSF is HeatSink and Fan the heatsink is a cooper or aluminium you put on your CPU so the heat in the CPU will pass to the copper or aluminium and the CPU wil be cooler the fan is for cooling the HS (HeatSink and to make him able to receive more heat from the CPU i hope i explained that clearly P: Q: Why does the CPU and other components produce heat ? A: well, i'm not really sure, but the main reason in the electricity that goes under high resistance Q: what are normal temperatures for my CPU ? A: between 15C to 60C. minimum is about -100C (not really sure) maximum is 70C to Intel's CPUs and 80C to AMD's CPUs. but i recommend lower your temperature when it rising up the 55C. Q: was this post helpfull ? A: Of course ! Edited November 27, 2004 by maorWTF Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted August 24, 2004 Posted August 24, 2004 Q: why do we need to cool our CPU or any other components of the computer ?MY answer: cooling the componets of a computer helps the computer run faster by making the wires on an atomic scale smaller and increasing the speed of you computer the main reason for cooling is so that the levels of heat are kept below a certain temperature to avoid the component burning itself up... cooling doesn't increase the speed of a processing unit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crash Posted September 1, 2004 Posted September 1, 2004 Q: Why does the CPU and other components produce heat ?MY answer: look at a light bulb do you know how that thing works electricity flows through some tungsten and it glows, makes heat because it is a riestor. 1 thing to know :riestor:ruber does't let electricity flow through it :riestor:semi-conductor lets some electricity flow through it but the rest of it is changed into heat :conductor:sliver," sliver if the best conductors out there", lets alot of electricity flow through it but a little bit is changed it heat. the same thing happens through any kind metal your CPU is made metal of and it has a lot of electricity flows through at all times and some of the electricity is changed into a lot heat. boy that was long. A resistor does let electricity flow through, it just reduces the output voltage or "resists" the electrons. The cause of heat in a CPU is the electrons crossing the transistors. Each transistor has some inherant resistance and the energy required to overcome this resistance is converted into heat. (Don't ask how, I'll have to dig out my physics books) Also every time an electron moves through any conductor there will be heat generated, (chalk that up to friction.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
slayer2cool Posted September 6, 2004 Posted September 6, 2004 Q: Does having 2 120mm one in the front blowing in and one blowing out the back help the cooling process. A: Yes it does improve cooling. THis is because you created a air circulation inside your case. New cold air comes in and old hot air goes out..It is important to do as such so that your heat sink do not used back the hot air to cool the cpu.. About fan size, it is always best to you 120mm fans as it provides the best cfm to noise ratio..alot of cfm but at a low noise though some case cant support a 120mm fans cos its just too big Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
slayer2cool Posted September 17, 2004 Posted September 17, 2004 Q: does it make a difference which direction the fan over the HS is blowing? yes it does make a difference..most heatsinks are designed to have air blown into it and not the other way around..except for the hyper6, xp-120, deep impact, high tower, silent tower and other type of tower heat pipes heat sink..they are designed both ways...either blow or suck it is not advisable to have your fan sucking air through the heat sink Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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