[mythtv-users] Fans and cooling

[Dean Collins]

Yep I definitely think cooling is one of the most overlooked items on a
pc and I keep thinking it's going to be the next differentiator with a
resurgence ....but keep being disappointed.

Regards,

Dean Collins
Cognation 


> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org [mailto:mythtv-users-
> bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of David Brodbeck
> Sent: Tuesday, 28 August 2007 2:29 PM
> To: Discussion about mythtv
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Fans and cooling
> 
> 
> On Aug 28, 2007, at 10:40 AM, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
> > In general, fans should blow *onto* the components they're cooling,
as
> > power supply fans do (they cool *the power supply*).
> 
> I don't think I've ever seen a PC power supply that worked that way.
> 
> The ones I've seen have an exhaust fan that pulls air *out* of the
> power supply.  The idea seems to be to create a slight negative
> pressure that will pull air through the computer case (and the power
> supply internals.)  Modern machines generally have additional case
> fans that blow air into the front of the case, but it used to be the
> power supply fan sucking air through the front panel vents was the
> only way hard disks got any airflow.  This is why it was generally
> considered a bad idea to run a computer with the cover off.
> 
> I agree, though, with your general point.  If you're trying to cool a
> particular component, it's most effective to pull air from outside
> and blow it onto that device.
> 
> This doesn't come up much in home installations, but when you put a
> lot of machines next to each other, it also starts to become pretty
> important that they all move air in the same direction.  I had one
> Dell tower that had a CPU fan that sucked air in through a vent on
> the back panel.  Unfortunately, this meant the CPU got cooled by the
> hot air exhausted by all the other machines' power supplies!
> 
> In general I'm not impressed by the airflow design of most PCs.  It
> seems to be a brute force approach with little engineering effort
> behind it.  It's interesting to take apart an old IBM PS/2 and look
> at how carefully they channeled the air to make sure it flowed over
> all the internal components before eventually being exhausted by the
> power supply.
> 
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