Need adice for computer with Minimal/No Airflow - Overclock.net

hondajt · 4 Weeks Ago

My parent's INSIST on using a computer desk that has an almost completely sealed cubby hole for the computer. Similair to this, but bigger and significantly nicer (aka more expensive)
http://www.countrysidecabinetry.com/...denza-open.jpg

They have a midsize/full size tower currently, and the CPU stays in the 60~70*s (Celsius). It's insanely hot because they keep the door shut.

Well, they need a new computer, and they will put it right in that cubby.

Noise is not an issue, but what should I do? I can't spend more than $400, so W/C is out. They don't need something insanely fast, but the 2.8GHz Pentium 4 thats in there now is too slow.

I need a quad core, onboard video is a plus, but doesn't matter as we have tons of cheapo PCI & AGP cards laying around if needed. The current hard drives and DVD drives are all IDE/Pata, but I could easily transfer the data to new HDD if I could get a SATA within budget.

Required:
$400 total (After tax) (+/-$15)
*Quad core
*Onboard 10/100/1000 LAN
*At least two PCI slots
*Mid tower or Desktop Case
*Energy efficient PSU (80+ at least)

Thoughts?

SporkofdooM · 4 Weeks Ago

hmmm completely sealed, you're going to run into some issues, especially with the heat generated from a quad. The best thing to do would be add a vent in the back, and maybe a vent in the bottom to blow cool air in and hot air out. Maybe some scythe gentle typhoons to aid airflow

*edit* Here's a build
AMD Athlon X4 + Biostar A785GE 143.99

Corsair 550W 79.99 - 20 MIR = 59.99

APEX Micro ATX case 24.99 free shipping w/ EMCMLNL48

That's assuming you keep all optical drives, and HDD's from the old build. If you need ram, add this for 35.99

with ram, with rebates, you're looking at 264.96 before shipping
without ram, you're looking at 228.97 before shipping

Shadowclock · 4 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by hondajt

My parent's INSIST on using a computer desk that has an almost completely sealed cubby hole for the computer. Similair to this, but bigger and significantly nicer (aka more expensive)
http://www.countrysidecabinetry.com/...denza-open.jpg

They have a midsize/full size tower currently, and the CPU stays in the 60~70*s (Celsius). It's insanely hot because they keep the door shut.

Well, they need a new computer, and they will put it right in that cubby.

Noise is not an issue, but what should I do? I can't spend more than $400, so W/C is out. They don't need something insanely fast, but the 2.8GHz Pentium 4 thats in there now is too slow.

I need a quad core, onboard video is a plus, but doesn't matter as we have tons of cheapo PCI & AGP cards laying around if needed. The current hard drives and DVD drives are all IDE/Pata, but I could easily transfer the data to new HDD if I could get a SATA within budget.

Required:
$400 total (After tax) (+/-$15)
*Quad core
*Onboard 10/100/1000 LAN
*At least two PCI slots
*Mid tower or Desktop Case
*Energy efficient PSU (80+ at least)

Thoughts?

Not understanding why you need a quad core if your not even going to have a decent graphics card in it

What kind of work will you be doing that you can actually utilize a quad core? My suggestion would be to get an AMD x720. Great chip, inexpensive and they stay pretty cool with a decent aftermarket cooler.

In regards to air flow, can you go and look at the desk? Are they willing to 'mod' the back of it if it is done nicely? Even with just a front fan and a back exhaust you 'might' be ok. What I would do is circle saw a hole on the side of the desk, duct it to use as intake and then circle saw a hole in the back and duct it for exhaust. This of course is a minimalistic solution and I would prefer them to get a nice looking case that you can keep atop the desk that is quiet so they won't complain. (gentle typhoon fans all around)

Hell you could get away with a little micro atx that has a good amount of power and doesn't look gawdy (to them) sitting on top of your desk.

_02 · 4 Weeks Ago

Yeah the bottom line is that the heat has to go somewhere.

I've had people store computers, and even ... servers in sealed cabinets.

Eventually they would need to open the cabinet or the computer would start running slow and then crash.

Shadowclock · 4 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by _02

Yeah the bottom line is that the heat has to go somewhere.

I've had people store computers, and even ... servers in sealed cabinets.

Eventually they would need to open the cabinet or the computer would start running slow and then crash.

Not to mention the heat is shortening the life of your components.

Taking a 2nd look around if you need a quad core I think you should get the new Athlon II x4 600e. Quad core, energy efficient (which usually = cool).

BikePilot · 4 Weeks Ago

I'd look into cutting a hole in the bottom of the cabnet for intake and upper rear for exhaust (and same for the case).

Seems unlikely that you need a quad - I'd rather have a cool, quality C2D than a low-end amd quad any day myself. An E5200 will give you more than 3ghz on stock volts.

A quality aftermarket HSF will deal better with high case temps than will the stock cooler. Something like the sunbeam core contact works well and is inexpensive.

kyleax1 · 4 Weeks Ago

Quote:

"Need adice for computer"

G.E.Nauticus · 4 Weeks Ago

My best suggestion would be to make seal your case (cover vents that are not pushed/pulled by a fan, and pop a couple holes in back of desk(probably 2 or 3) and use dryer vent hose or 3 inch pvc pipe and make the exhaust from computer exit the cube via one of the big hole in the back of your desk, Make 1 hole at the top and a the bottom of your desk Bottom being intake top being exhaust. no need to control the intake if you force all the exhaust out.... One way or another you are going to have to move air in and out of the cube.... , You can also rig up a couple fans in the back of the cube that use the Comp's molex connectors to power them :/ just use long bolts washers and nuts to scure them to the back of the cube, if you go that route i would suggest using like 4-6 high flow (yate loon high speed would be perfect and cheapest solution) fans... some at top some at bottom (intake on bottom since heat rises)

dkev · 4 Weeks Ago

No quad for you. Get a 550 BE . Very fast and doesn't get anywhere near as hot as a quad. I would take a whole saw and cut a hole at the rear of this cube. You have to let the heat out. You need to let your folks no that today's hardware gets much hotter then that paper weight they were on. Also, any board you buy, will need new ram. Gigabyte has a few good 790 chip set boards that have on board video. Good luck finding a board with a AGP slot anymore. You should also know, that almost all new mother boards only come with one IDE Slot. You can get this done including new cpu, motherboard, Ram and HDD for under $400. Oh, and if you think that old power supply from your P4 rig will work with this stuff....think again.

flak-spammer · 4 Weeks Ago

I'd suggest against it, with the TDP of modern quad cores you'll toast your rig pretty quickly. If you wanted to still use the cabinet you should use a hole saw and if you wanted to make it look nicer you could glue a metal mesh in front of or behind the hole that you cut. You'll need one hole at the front and one at the back.

		Overclock.net - Overclocking.net > Cooling > Air Cooling
Need adice for computer with Minimal/No Airflow

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)