Lots of suggestions for fanless computing (I assume a passive heatsink
is still OK):
*Watercooling - lets you move the heat out of the system to where a much
bigger heatsink can be used (or, not very relavent in hawaii, outside
where temps are very cold, like here in the winter)
*Via C3 - says it needs a fan, but apparently they were designed to be
used with a heatsink only
*Underclock an OLDER cpu - older cpus made less heat even at full speed
than recent ones do even when underclocked
*WAAAY underclock a current CPU - My 1.2 tbird even with a very large
heatsink overheats to thermal shutdown (75C, failure is at 85-95C) in
~30 seconds from fan failure; you're gunna REALLY have to underclock
these recent chips
*Use a laptop chip - Intel sells tualatins, which were designed after
the P4 was made for use in P3m laptops; some other laptop CPUs are pin
compatible with their desktop counterparts. These chips are designed
for lower power consumption and heat dissipation.
You don't mention if you intend to still have case fans or not.
Remember, your CPU isn't the only source of heat, and good airflow is
important (CPU will produce heat even if it doesn't need it's own fan
and that heat needs to go somewhere). You also need to take into
account the heat produced the GPU, HDD, PSU, CD-ROM, CD-RW (these can
make more heat than you'd expect), etc. Remember, with really good
airflow (think fan ducting), it is possible to even run a semi-recent
chip at full speed using just a heatsink (see Compaq, IBM, HP, Gateway,
etc). I've seen numerous Pentium IIs and some Pentium IIIs running with
just a heatsink and using fan ducting to blow air across it.
When considering airflow, remember that you can considerably improve it
by rerouting cables behind drive cages (45 degree folds will get 90
degree angles in your ribbon cables. You can also use round cables.
You might also consider using pieces of cardboard to create different
"airflow zones." For example, you might have the 5.25" bays and PSU
completely separated from the bottom part, especially if your PSU blows
hot air inward (as reccomended by the ATX spec) rather than outward
(what most PSUs do in white boxes). Also remember that air MOVEMENT is
not the objective, but rather air FLOW.
Hope these suggestions help.
--MonMotha
W. Wayne Liauh wrote:
With GHz so inexpensive and so "irrelevant", perhaps the new name of the
game should now be changed to "underclocking"--such that we may be able
to do away with the CPU fan.
I have an ASUS K7V333 MB. I like it very much because, among other
things, it is very quiet. Also it has this "Q-Fan" feature which will
automatically reduce the rpm of the fan when the temperature being
monitored drops below a threshold value.
I am thinking about underclocking my Athlon XP 1800+ so that it may only
require passive cooling.
Anyone has any ideas/suggestions?
