Jamesemt

I've converted my old PC into an MP3 jukebox using a micro ATX case, which is tucked away in a cupboard. It's already overheated and shut itself down once - as I didn't realise how hot it had got.

Are there any alternatives to water cooling? There isn't a lot of room inside the case, but there is some in the cupbard.

I'm a bit dissapointed as the system is great - bought a touch screen monitor and PC Jukebox software, and have got it to boot directly into the software.

What should I be focusing on cooling? The hard drive? The entire back of the PC felt really hot, too hot to hold...The system isn't THAT ancient really, is a 2.5ghz with 500MB RAM...

Any advice?

john_s

iTrader: (1)

Does the PC cool adequately when it's out of the cupboard?

My first guess would be that it's the air in the cupboard that is getting too hot and causing the PC to overheat. If that's the case, water cooling would only benefit if you were using the water cooling kit to transfer the heat outside of the cupboard.

One option might be putting a small fan on the back of the cupboard to draw air through the cupboard.

Is there room on the case to add another fan to ensure plenty of air is moving through the PC case?

spectrum48k

Also, perhaps some ventilation slats in the cupboard door ?

Pumpkin

Leave the cupboard open slightly.

I think water cooling would only work to a certain degree, but in a closed system the heat has to go somewhere and ultimately it will all end up inside the cupboard.

MJW

It's shutting down because the CPU is getting too hot. Try using a more efficient heatsink, or under-clocking the chip, or both. That said, if the system is in a cupboard any heat it ejects will get drawn back in, so you really need to look at venting the cupboard.

Dieseldog

Have you checked what temp it instructs itself to auto shutdown? Maybe it's set unnecessarily low?

Otherwise, can you remove a side panel from the case? For all the 'science' of having air sucked in the front of cases and blown out the back, or getting bigger fans etc, I've always found simply taking off a panel is easily the most effective solution. HTH

Jamesemt

Thanks for all the advice, the problem is obviously because the cupboard is closed with the PC on.

Tried taking the lid off, but it still gets hot - I know it sounds really daft, but there is an unused hole behind the cupbard (which is on an outside wall) from when Sky+ was moved, could I fix a small radiator to the outside of the house? Would that be overkill?

Would I be better off just swiss cheesing the back of the cupboard? I've had to drill holes in the back of it anyway...

I called it a cupboard for ease, its actually a two door small sideboard.

The logical solution is to have the doors open, but that looks untidy (and encourages my one year old daughter to investigate... )

BlkKnight

You just need to get a bit of airflow through the cupboard.

A couple of 120mm fans - one top (blow out) & one bottom (suck in) should do the trick.

You can power them off the PC's 12v rail too - that way they only come on when the PC does.

The larger 120mm fans are near enough silent if you get a quality brand.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Another vote for airflow through the cupboard. That means some holes/slats or another idea that gets air into the front of the cupboard. Then exhaust through the back. This is pretty much how most machines work these days, air in front, exhaust out the back.

You could have an external radiator to the cupboard to fulfill your needs. That would transfer the absorbed heat out of the closed unit to wherever the radiator is located. Be aware though, the only heat that will be transferred will be from the water cooled heatsinks. That means there will still be heat being generated inside the cupboard, just not as much.

A Zalman Reserator can look very cool if you are into that sort of thing.

StickyMicky

agreed, hook some fans up, i have an old 1.2ghz thunderbird running the cctv system at work and that is in a cupboard, the shelf above it holds old car mags and they started getting really hot

you could also try undervolting/underclocking the cpu to help keep temps down?

bob269

so thats where the name stickyMicky comes from