hardware upgrades

[Stephen Hart]

Hi Don,

In a msg of <18 May 04>, Spamthis!***@jksrv.Com wrote:

Sm> [liquid cooled PCs]

site for Artic Silver thermal paste mentions that a Pentium4 CPU (or

the

equivalent model AMD CPU) can "cook" itself after only ten seconds of
operation without a properly installed heat sink.

Sm> I won't deny that there are risks, and more of them I supposed than
when
Sm> dealing with air cooled systems, but they can be minimized. For example,
Sm> there are simple devices out there for "monitoring" the flow rate of
a
Sm> liquid, and can close or open a circuit should the flow rate fall below
a
Sm> desired value. These can be easily tied in to the power supply to quickly
Sm> shut the system down in the event of a leak, or pump failure.

Sounds good. So the only real worry would be a leak near the computer
motherboard, which brings me back to whether a budget can stand the
increased risk...

In passing, I think a water-cooled CPU system would be more risky for
someone running a computer they turn off when they're not working.
Even tho they're sitting right there, a water leak near the computer's
electronics could probably short-out components before the user could
do anything and before automatic shutdown took effect.

OTOH, if a computer is running unattended, the risk using a CPU fan
might be just as great as using water-cooling. If a CPU fan bearing
went bad and the fan eventually stopped while the computer owner was
away, it sounds as if newer CPUs would then proceed to "cook" in a
fairly short time.

So, if you're running a computer 24/7, perhaps water cooling is really
no more risky than traditional CPU fans.

Of course, the odds of either of these worst-case scenarios actually
happening is probably very low. I'm only dwelling on them because the
possible danger adds to all the glamour and excitement associated with
computer use. :-)

Sm> Naturally at just this moment I can't find the reference article I want
on
Sm> this. That's what I get for not bookmarking it. :-|

You might be interested in checking for amateur astronomy links
regarding water-cooling the CCD chip in home-made astronomical
cameras. While they do not have the worry about leaks onto electronic
components, there is around ten years of experience in water-cooling
CCD camera chips. Unfortunately, I can't guarantee that their
techniques would apply to computer CPU cooling...

What with water cooling CPUs becoming more popular with adventuresome
folks, I suppose there are already quite a few newsgroup articles and
web pages on the topic?

One interesting thing is that CPU fan failure and problems with heatsink
mounts seem to be fairly common, or at least more common than you would
expect. At least, that is the impression I got from casual remarks
various people made when I mentioned my own problems.

Sm> Not that you have me thinking about it, I have to agree in part. While
Sm> I've had no problems that I can recall with CPU heatsinks or their
Sm> mountings, I do seem to replace more CPU fans than case fans.

When I was running computers 24/7, I was also replacing CPU fans on a
regular basis. So, I was fairly surprised with my Pentium II desktop
computer. I ran it 24/7 for around ten months, but then just for
personal use for the next three years. I never had to replace the
CPU fan.

What surprised me with the Pentium IV "retail box" CPU was the
"elegant" plastic mounting bracket being used to hold a fairly heavy
metal heat sink.

'Course the Vantec "AeroFlow" heat sink fan that became exceedingly
noisy after only thirty hours use over five days was pretty much just
beyond belief...

[taglines and sig lines]

Sm> Goda's Truism: By the time you get to the point where you can make
Sm> ends meet, somebody moves the ends.
Goda? ...I know you may not have written that tagline and may not
know the reference. Still, I figured I'd ask because s/he seems like

my

type of person. ;-)

Sm> Not a clue I'm afraid. Just another tagline that I've collected over
the
Sm> years. :-)

Ah well. Meanwhile, I'm glad I wasn't curious enough to try looking
it up because there's certainly no guarantee that a random tagline has
any significance aside from the humor.

Sm> William's Law: There is no mechanical problem so difficult that it cannot
Sm> be solved by brute strength and ignorance.

Hmmmmmm. While they may be random, what with all these "truisms" and
"laws" I'm sensing a theme with some of your recent taglines.

It is now time to quickly assert that I'm not bored enough to resort
to talking about people's taglines! ;-) ...I think I'm just feeling
nostalgic for the good old days when I always checked every message I
read for an interesting tagline I could "borrow". Somehow, most of
the UseNet newsgroup "sig lines" just do not grab my interest as much
as the FidoNet taglines did.


TTYL, ...Steve

-
A ship should not ride on one anchor, nor a life on one dream.

[Don Guy]

Long overdue here...


On 04-05-24, ***@f127.n249.z1.fidonet.org (Stephen Hart) had a few words to say about
hardware upgrades...

Post by Stephen Hart
In passing, I think a water-cooled CPU system would be more risky for
someone running a computer they turn off when they're not working.

<snip>

Post by Stephen Hart
Of course, the odds of either of these worst-case scenarios actually
happening is probably very low. I'm only dwelling on them because the
possible danger adds to all the glamour and excitement associated with
computer use. :-)

Valid points... all of them.

Post by Stephen Hart
What with water cooling CPUs becoming more popular with adventuresome
folks, I suppose there are already quite a few newsgroup articles and web
pages on the topic?

I haven't yet explored newsgroups, but there is a boatload of good web resources out there. A couple of my favorites:

http://www.overclockers.com/ (not devoted exclusively to liquied-cooled PCs, but many good articles)
http://www.water-cooling.com/

Post by Stephen Hart
When I was running computers 24/7, I was also replacing CPU fans on a
regular basis. So, I was fairly surprised with my Pentium II desktop
computer. I ran it 24/7 for around ten months, but then just for
personal use for the next three years. I never had to replace the CPU
fan.

For that very reason, I tend to look for mainboards these days which allow one to monitor the vitals via software, and set off an alarm when there's a problem. Fan speed, temperature, voltage levels... All hail Asus. :-)

That being said however, I feel obligated to mention that neither of the three systems in here have any such software or capabilities. Can't complain though... everything was free, courtsey of my father-in-law. P'raps I should amend that statement above to read "when purchasing, I tend to look for...".

Post by Stephen Hart
'Course the Vantec "AeroFlow" heat sink fan that became exceedingly noisy
after only thirty hours use over five days was pretty much just beyond
belief...

That is a bit much, yes. For what it's worth though I have a 12cm Vantec "stealth" fan here which has been pleasantly quiet since April so far.

Post by Stephen Hart

Sm> Goda's Truism: By the time you get to the point where you can
Sm> make ends meet, somebody moves the ends.

<snip>

Post by Stephen Hart
Ah well. Meanwhile, I'm glad I wasn't curious enough to try looking it
up because there's certainly no guarantee that a random tagline has any
significance aside from the humor.

Try as I might, but all I can find out about "Goda" via Googling is more of the same, as well as hit on the home pages of a few people with the name of Goda.

Post by Stephen Hart
It is now time to quickly assert that I'm not bored enough to resort to
talking about people's taglines! ;-) ...I think I'm just feeling
nostalgic for the good old days when I always checked every message I
read for an interesting tagline I could "borrow". Somehow, most of the
UseNet newsgroup "sig lines" just do not grab my interest as much as the
FidoNet taglines did.

I must admit that most of mine are leeched from one's I stole while participating in Fidonet as well. Then again though, I think I watch a whole five newsgroups including this one, and the activity level in the other four is rather low.

-d.