While going though the stats this week I had noticed that some searches came from people seeking advice about the importance of keeping a gaming machine cool.
Well let me see if I can shed some light and logical thinking upon that...
We all want to save money and we're constantly looking to save a few bucks here and there, but is it wise to pinch pennies on our PCs, the short answer is no!
When if comes to cooling my own PC I follow this line of logic, I think it is ridiculous to have a liquid cooled radiator in my PC, water and electricity, REALLY!
My personal rule of thumb and a good way to keep t he cost down is to go for a well ventilated case, one that has plenty of ventilation front back and sides, preferably with a dedicate tunnel ram for the CPU, you know, the kind where there is a sort of expandable tunnel leading from the side of the case straight to the top of the CPU fan, that way the CPU fan gets cooler air from outside the case and less of the warmer air from inside where other components are constantly heating it up.
My personal case also has other ventilation grids front, side and rear.
FANS: For fans I believe that 2 case fans are plenty, aside from power supply and CPU, I'll get to that in a few. The case fans should be large enough to do an adequate job of ventilating the warm air from inside the case to the outside.
Let picture it this way, first we have a case with lots of open ventilation grates, then there are our two fan, I like to make sure both are EXHAUSTING the air from the case (blowing outwards), allowing the cooler air to be pulled into the case naturally, through the open grates.
CPU Fan and Cooling: As I stated in the beginning of this article I don't think a radiator is necessary and in fact it reminds me of people buying bomb shelters in preparation of Y2K. Hey, remember that one? Well, its 2009 and the world is still here. LOL
Of course we do need to keep it cool so make sure you have a good size heat sink with a hearty, reliable fan on top. Be sure and attach it with a good heat sink compound like Arctic Silver 5.
Another factor in keeping out CPU cool and one we don't often think about when purchasing a case is space. Be sure and choose a case with plenty of room inside so your other cards, cables, etc, will not block air flow. Good air flow is key to keeping your system cool. If you have good air flow in the first place you won't need a $200 radiator in the first place, leave that expensive piece of junk for the marks that are gullible enough to buy the Brooklyn bridge, haha.
The Power Supply: Here one a lot of people don't think about when they think of cooling, POWER! That's right, the more power the better. A power supply that's too small for the job cause your PC to over heat. Compare it to drinking a milk shake, your components want power to work well, they are drawing that power though the board, cables etc. When they have more power available than they need they are relaxed and everyone is happy. But, if the power supply is too small everyone is sucking really hard on those straws and the friction caused buy that inadequate flow of power is bad! The smaller the supply the faster the components have to draw it down the lines, the more friction created as those electrons move through the copper, the hotter things get. So when you are considering which case and to get, don't leave the power supply out of the equation.
As for keeping the power supply cool, I prefer to have two fans on it, but one can be just as efficient as long as it is large enough and moves air adequately.
Well there you have it, ohh, sorry, almost forgot...
COST: Well if you do a little thinking and comparing as I do you will find you can get a decent case and power supply for under a $100 around $75 if you shop around.
By following my suggestions you will avoid paying for that radiator, let 'em put them in cars, LOL, and should end up with a pretty cool running PC.
Some Stats:
My Personal PC cost me about $600 to build, I play games online, design web and desktop applications and edit audio and video.
It's a Pentium Quad Core 2.8 Ghz w/ 4Gb DDR3 RAM, 1 Tb HDD space, GForce Graphics Accelerator w/ 1Gb RAM, Arguably not the fastest machine, but hey I like it.
I play a little Oblivion and Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth, but mostly I play Unreal online at Snipers Paradise where you know me as, who else, Manta.
Well that's about it for now. I was actually doing so work when I got side tracked writing this article. For those off you build the next great machine, I hope this helps add shed some light on cooling that new box.
Remember we all want our machines to perform well and last a long time. Spending up to $100 on the case is not that big of an investment.
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