cooling method for an enclosed system

forbs

forbs

forbs

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11 Aug 2013
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Afternoon

I have just finished building my gaming pc and it will be sitting in a built in wardrobe

I'm not looking to overclock yet however I wanted my cpu to be as cool as possible to prolong life, I was thinking the h80 or the 212 both different cooling methods and both seem to have good reviews,

Price is not a problem so I'm not going on budget just performance and personal opinion please

thanks in advance guys

Forbs
 
Doesn't matter what you do unless you can get the heat out of the cupboard! Effectively the cupboard is the case so you need to be able to get cool air in and hot air out just like any case. What happens in the case is largely irrelevant.
 
Noise is a good reason to put it in a cupboard.

Yep, need to get the heat out of the cupboard. Vents, ducting, water - the world's your oyster. Changing heatsink on the cpu won't solve the problem, whatever heatsink you choose.
 
How big a wardrobe are we speaking about? If the surface area is big enough, it'll behave like a passive radiator, won't be great temperatures, but should be fine.
 
Assuming a wardrobe is 6'x4'x2' that's 48 cubic feet (cf) of air. Any normal case will exchange that much air in a minute (48cfm)... and it is going to get real hot in that wardrobe.

You say price is no problem and if noise is the issue build a quiet PC. :)
 
Large wardrobes normally have small gaps around the doors which might be enough ventilation. Really does depend on the size and type of wardrobe you'll be placing it into.
 
Sorry for the late replys guys,

No noise isn't a problem it not really a noisy machine the only reason it is the wardrobe is that I have nowhere else to put it, well no where ideal, I am currently running the pc with the door open but thinking ahead I won't want to do that with the light off .

so with that in mind I will rephrase my question..

What will be the best to keep the cpu alive for longer maybe running a mild overclock at as near to ideal temps ?

Cheers guys, Dave
 
A big air cooler.

Just get a nice quiet case (maybe the Fractal R4) with a decent size air cooler. D14, K2, Megahalems...

My D14 keeps my 2500k at 4.5 (4.7 in winter) under 60C.
 
Right I will have have a look at them, I have 5 case fans and one is running off the motherboard in chnfan 1 or something will this be okay? I just ran out of compatible connectors its a top exhaust fan
 
Having the wardrobe door open is best. When the doors are closed the small gaps are nowhere near enough vent space. If wardrobe has 2 doors keeping them open 3-4" will allow cool air to flow in at bottom and heated air will flow out the top.
 
Drilling holes in the wardrobe seems a reasonable, proportionate response to me - but the missus gets very angry when I do things like that so ymmv
 
Rather than drill holes, you could put some slatted vents in? Would look neat and would also serve the purpose.

Failing that, watercool the whole thing with a radiator outside of the wardrobe. Depending on the distances you might need a fair pump!
 
A half dozen 100-120mm holes top and bottom with a hole saw. Drill from both sides so as to not splinter when hole finishes and the edges nice and smooth and hopefully she will never see it with all her cloths in there. ;)

I do understand your fear of SWMBO, go one myself... but we promise to never tell her. :D
 
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