[A-110] Getting Better Airflow

[hcour]

I'm very pleased w/the PCH but it does seem to run kind of hot. I think I'm going to replace those 4 top bolts w/some that are a bit longer and put a washer or two on them under the lid to raise it just a bit and get some more airflow.

[Violent Ken]

not a bad idea. i just leave the lid off completely.

[hindibuff]

hcour,

bad idea. The heat is supposed to be dissipated by the heatsink on to the case of the box. That is the reason the case is held very tight on to the heatsink so that the heat will transfer.

A better idea would be a to leave the whole unit in a ventilated area with the unit standing on its skinny side with some kind of stand. That will enable air flow on all sides of the unit. If inside a media cabinet, try putting a fan in the back side of the cabinet itself with air blowing OUT of the cabinet. That will remove the heat from the unit.

[kenrippy]

there is a whole thread here on fan installations in the A100/110.

look at all pages to see if there's any ideas you like:
http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showth...hlight=fan

[hcour]

(12-14-2008 08:21 PM)hindibuff Wrote:  hcour,
bad idea. The heat is supposed to be dissipated by the heatsink on to the case of the box. That is the reason the case is held very tight on to the heatsink so that the heat will transfer.

Can anyone confirm this? I've got two opinions in this thread - one says good idea, one says bad. I've heard of other folks leaving the top off completely, so is it that different to simply raise it a bit for more airflow?

[Willem53]

(01-07-2009 10:43 AM)hcour Wrote:  Can anyone confirm this? I've got two opinions in this thread - one says good idea, one says bad. I've heard of other folks leaving the top off completely, so is it that different to simply raise it a bit for more airflow?

Heat is either radiated to air or near objects or is conducted by solid materials.

There is no physical contact between the GPU heatsink and the top or the HD and the top.... The bottom does make contact with the HD so more airflow below would give more efficient cooling.......

The top receives little heat by conduct and much by radiation that it then radiates out to the air putting the top higher just means HD and heatsink radiate more heat to air then before.. and the top radiates less... but you can say ...ahh much cooler now... which is BS cause heatsink and HD internally have the same temp.

Raising the bottom a inch of the surface will in my opinion give the best heat dissipation effect. This is assuming you have free thermal airflow all around the box, remember hot air rises and cooler air drops in it's place.

now the silly options that do make sense.

Glue the bottom of the PCH to a peace of marble twice the size(hight) of the PCH. heat conduct to the stone, stone has a large capacity to store heat and a large surface to radiate heat to air.

remember those amplifiers they use in cars that drive by with the ((boom)) ((boom)) sound. get the heatsink from on of those and glue that on the PCH...

All of the above is IMO unnecessary as there is no heat problem if you buy the right harddrive and don't stack the PCH on or between other heat producing devices.

[hcour]

Thanks for the explanation. I'm thinking about getting one these things:

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-NOTEBOOK-COO...981&sr=8-1

Runs off the USB port, so when I turn off the PCH, the cooler will also turn off. Whaddya think?

[Willem53]

(01-07-2009 11:50 AM)hcour Wrote:  Thanks for the explanation. I'm thinking about getting one these things:

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-NOTEBOOK-COO...981&sr=8-1

Runs off the USB port, so when I turn off the PCH, the cooler will also turn off. Whaddya think?

if you buy it, buy a USB power adapter also don't use the power of the PCH USB port.
It's 26DB so it will add to the total noise level.
Maybe just buy a cheap thermometer place it on top of the PCH and measure first... then put the PCH one inch up and measure again the next day if the first measurement motivated you to take action.

If you then still feel motivated to buy the cooling gadget ...fine spent the $35..

[hcour]

(01-07-2009 12:36 PM)Willem53 Wrote:  Maybe just buy a cheap thermometer place it on top of the PCH and measure first...

What temp would be considered normal, and what would be considered high?

[BigLarry]

Mine is actually housed in my refrigerator and I use an IR extender to the living room for the remote control.

[Trollslayer]

(12-14-2008 03:26 PM)hcour Wrote:  I'm very pleased w/the PCH but it does seem to run kind of hot. I think I'm going to replace those 4 top bolts w/some that are a bit longer and put a washer or two on them under the lid to raise it just a bit and get some more airflow.

DON'T!
The heatsink of the chip inside is designed so it touches the lid and uses that for additional cooling.
The proper way is to fit one or two low noise 25-30m fans inside the case, preferably with a noise level of 15dBA. 25dBA is audible in a quiet room.

---

(01-07-2009 11:24 AM)Willem53 Wrote:  Heat is either radiated to air or near objects or is conducted by solid materials.

There is no physical contact between the GPU heatsink and the top or the HD and the top.... The bottom does make contact with the HD so more airflow below would give more efficient cooling.......

The top receives little heat by conduct and much by radiation that it then radiates out to the air putting the top higher just means HD and heatsink radiate more heat to air then before.. and the top radiates less... but you can say ...ahh much cooler now... which is BS cause heatsink and HD internally have the same temp.

Raising the bottom a inch of the surface will in my opinion give the best heat dissipation effect. This is assuming you have free thermal airflow all around the box, remember hot air rises and cooler air drops in it's place.

now the silly options that do make sense.

Glue the bottom of the PCH to a peace of marble twice the size(hight) of the PCH. heat conduct to the stone, stone has a large capacity to store heat and a large surface to radiate heat to air.

remember those amplifiers they use in cars that drive by with the ((boom)) ((boom)) sound. get the heatsink from on of those and glue that on the PCH...

All of the above is IMO unnecessary as there is no heat problem if you buy the right harddrive and don't stack the PCH on or between other heat producing devices.

Willem - on my A-110 there is a silpad (thermally conductive pad) on the inside of the lid that is in contact with the heatsink of the 8364 to help transfer heat.
I agree about the right hard drive, I have a Seagate Barracuda 1TB at the moment since it was around anway, I'll probably move to a WD Caviar Green.
Any reccomendations on coolest 1TB drive?
Thanks.

[Willem53]

(01-07-2009 01:15 PM)Trollslayer Wrote:  Willem - on my A-110 there is a silpad (thermally conductive pad) on the inside of the lid that is in contact with the heatsink of the 8364 to help transfer heat.
I agree about the right hard drive, I have a Seagate Barracuda 1TB at the moment since it was around anway, I'll probably move to a WD Caviar Green.
Any reccomendations on coolest 1TB drive?
Thanks.

OK I didn't know about the silpad my A-100 doesn't have one, I have no recommendations about the coolest drive, my focus would be on noise....
WD green is pretty silent and cool I hear....

I agree with you completely that if PCH designed the A-110 to conduct the heat to the top you should not break the contact between the heatsink and the top by raising it.

[halfelite]

will post them here to. all within spec.