cab cooling fan

[papaschtroumpf]

My cab computer started alarming yesterday because the temperature inside the cab had reached 55 degrees C.
My cab is based on a reduced size version of Lucid's plans, which means that he bottom part below the monitor shelf is more or less closed (the monitor shelf doesn't go all the way to the back of the cab, and there is an open space about 8 inches tall behind the monitor.
The computer sits in the bottom part and the top and sides of the case are off.
I'm running an XP2400+ with stock cooiling fan, and a Ti4200 with Zalman passive cooler (I know, overkill, but it was "leftover" from my gaming rig which now sport a Radeon 9800XT).

Do you guys have any opinion on the best cooling method/fan placement/fan type?

Here are a few of my ideas:

- I could drill a bunch of large holes in the monitor shelf to allow the heat to rise above the monitor shelf, and hopefully escape out the back

- I could drill a bunch of holes in the bollotom of the cab and/or the back to allow more fresh air intake

- I've got a 110V 92mm fan with pretty high CFM (can't remember offhand) that I could used without to have to spend any additional money, but the question is where to place it?

- I could make a fan hole at the bottom of the cab to blow air upwards (my concern is that the cab is pretty close to the carpet and I'm worried the fan wouldn't get enough air)

- I could make a hole in the back of the cab towards the top of the bottom compartment to blow hot ait out the back, here again my concenr is that th fan will be blowing into the wall that's behind the cab, less than 2 inches away.

- maybe I could mount the fan to puu air from the bottom compartment to the monitor compartment but I'm not sure there is enough room around the monitor stand for a 92mm fan

- I don't want to place the fan at the very top of the cab for 2 reasons: there would be light leakage from the marquee area through the fan, and it would only draw air from the monitor and marquee compartments since the bottom back of the monitor compartment is open.

- I'd rather avoid placing the fan in the front of the cab (no much room around the coin door) and I'm reluctant to put it on the side because of little fingers around the house, even though it might be the ideal solution as far as airflow is concerned.


Any help/suggestions would be very welcome.

[Zathras]

I know some cases are designed with a particular airflow in mind so sometimes taking the sides off of them will actually cause them to get hotter.  It may not work but at least it is free and easy to try

[Santoro]

Take a look at this page:

http://members.cox.net/mame1/hardware.htm

This is the solution I used.  You would have to drill the holes in your shelf then put a vent on top.  

I was worried about the light also so I chose to use opaque tape and masonite to build a light-proof barrier behind my marquee light.

The beginnings of the arrangement can be seen here:


Dave



Edit: changed image constraints

[papaschtroumpf]

I know some cases are designed with a particular airflow in mind so sometimes taking the sides off of them will actually cause them to get hotter.  It may not work but at least it is free and easy to try

That may be true however the ambient had reached 55 degrees according to the onboard sensor so the air in the entire cabinet was too hot (I could definitely feel it when I opened the door). When I get the ambient down, I should try putting the sides back on (if I have them) to see if it helps the CPU and graphic card temps any.

[JustMichael]

You need some way for air to enter and exit the cabinet.  My Xevious cab has a grill on top and a gap down in back for letting air in and out.

[papaschtroumpf]

Take a look at this page:

http://members.cox.net/mame1/hardware.htm

This is the solution I used.  You would have to drill the holes in your shelf then put a vent on top.  

I was worried about the light also so I chose to use opaque tape and masonite to build a light-proof barrier behind my marquee light.

The beginnings of the arrangement can be seen here: <image removed>

Dave

Wow! that site you point to sure is detailed!

What you suggest probably would work, it's just a lot of work: I reworked Lucid's plans to make the cabinet's depth as short as possible, as a result, the fluorescent light fixture is attached to the angled part ("back") of the top, so I would have to move in forward, probably attach it to the light barrier itself.
As you point out, I would have to drill holes in the monitor shelf since I use a regular monitor, the site you reference uses a frame mounted CRT which I couldn't afford (especially when I had the monitor lying around to start with)


BTW: I like the outside of your cab!

[WonderMellon]

While cooler is always better, 55 celcius is WAY within the parameters of the AMD CPU.  AMD lists the max temp on that CPU at 85 celcius.  

As for ventilation, you can always put a amall slot in the bottom front and another about midway (just under the shelf) in the back.  One of those small plug in fans should give you lots of extra air flow.

Just my $0.02

[papaschtroumpf]

While cooler is always better, 55 celcius is WAY within the parameters of the AMD CPU.  AMD lists the max temp on that CPU at 85 celcius.  

As for ventilation, you can always put a amall slot in the bottom front and another about midway (just under the shelf) in the back.  One of those small plug in fans should give you lots of extra air flow.

Just my $0.02

This is ambient, not CPU, which means that everything else inside the case including hardrive and power supply run hotter than that. The CPU is actually the least of my concerns. My power supply is actually the main concern, it has a variable speed fan based on temp and runs at max speed all the time.

I think I'll try mounting the power supply vertically as suggested in the page that Santoro pointed to: since there are no sides in the computer case, it's not like the power supply helps in suck air from the case, so I think it would be more efficient for it if its fans where pointing upwards.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I just left the lower part of my cabinet open on the back, and threw my computer in there case and all.

Nobody ever sees the back of it, so I didn't see having a back on the lower part of it as offering any advantage.

[papaschtroumpf]

sturdiness. My cab is frameless fo it needs the back or it would collapse  

[shmokes]

I would personally get two fans (spend $30-$40 to get two good quality 120mm fans to keep your cab from sounding like a vacuum cleaner).  Put one at the bottom of the case sucking cool air into the case and one higher up blowing air out of the case.

Ideally the fan that sucks cool air in will be at the bottom and the one blowing warm air out will be at the top, above the monitor.  Your monitor is at very high risk of overheating.  Just because it doesn't monitor itself and give you a warning the way your PC does, does not mean that it does not get very hot.  Your monitor WILL burn out if you do not give it adequate ventillation.  My picture shows a very inefficient system you could set up easily and would probably solve your problem.  It's inefficient because the fans are so close to eachother that  a lot of the air that gets blown out will be nice cool air that just got sucked in.  If you can manage to hide the intake fan on the front of your cab or move the exhaust fan to the top of the cab (or both) you will have the best setup, but if not, the setup shown in the picture will probably solve your PC overheating problem.  

Don't forget about the monitor, though.

[bluGill]

Heat rises.  Take advantage of that.   I'd do your monitor shelf holes (I didn't exactly understand what you said, but...), and then install a grill at the very top of the cabinet to let heat out.  Then make sure there is some way for air to get in at the very bottom.   A slot in the back will work if you can't find anything else.

Place your monitor shelf holes strategically, right over the parts you expect to get the hotest, the heat will rise from there, and pull more air in, right over the hot parts.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I just realized you were talking about AMBIENT temperature.
I think that's going to call for some pretty drastic measures.

You might consider putting the sides back on the case, and working on a snorkel system for the computer.

That will get you air from outside the cabinet, and get rid of the air directly, rather than filtering it through the cabinet.

[crashwg]

You might consider putting the sides back on the case, and working on a snorkel system for the computer.

This is actually not a bad idea.  I was thinking about doing this myself.  Just go down to your local homedepot and get some dryer vent tube and run that to wherever the fans are located on your case and the other end to a grill in the back of the cab.

[NoOne=NBA=]

Don't forget the Duct Tape.

See sig for details.  

[GadgetGeek]

Since you said you need the back for support, can you switch the back (or at least a section of it) to pegboard?http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/xtwinstarx/detail?.dir=/fb59&.dnm=d795.jpg (not mine, but shows what I'm thinking)