HTPC Cooling Question

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phptek

55 posts

Master Geek

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#68682 26-Sep-2010 10:28

Hi everyone,

I got a hold of an unusually cheap Intel Mobo (DG45FC) which came with an E5300 CPU and its own ali heatsink and fan.

I'd really like to fit this kit into a Mini-ITX 1U rack case I have that's 40mm tall (internal) for a HTPC/Media centre project and to fit it in my rack.

The trrouble is the heatsink and fan come to 63mm, so short of "Hot Rodding" the case and having the "engine" poke thru the "bonnet" I wanted to ask if things would work OK if I removed the standard fan and used a decent case fan directed at the heatsink instead. Might this do the job?

Are there any other solutions I could try? Money is an issue so we're strictly speaking DIY stuff here (Which I'm pretty good at) so no heatpipes, water jackets etc ;-)

I'm not planning on overclocking or doing anything like that, just playing DVDs, MPEGs, AVIs etc while using it as a standard fileserver too.

I have a pic of the case with the old parts still in it (VIA Mobo/CPU) which might help - here.

The specs are:

* Mobo: DG45FC Mini-ITX
* CPU: E5300
* HDD: Spinpoint F3 ITB/32Mb SATA
* RAM: x2 1GB DDR2 800
* PSU: 150W slimline

Really appreciate your input,
Cheers

Russ

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990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#384526 26-Sep-2010 13:36

Are you open to spending some money? There are a few decent 1U LGA775 coolers floating around that would solve your problem.

phptek

55 posts

Master Geek

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#384632 26-Sep-2010 19:13

Thanks for your response - it depends on how much really. I'm not actually sure what a socket "cooler" like this is so if you have some links to some stuff suitable for 1U cases, that would great :-)

Thanks a lot for your help
Russ

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#384640 26-Sep-2010 19:49

This Procase cooler would fit the bill but its not cheap:

http://ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=371973

There also several low profile coolers like these:

http://ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=390721

http://ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=375783

But they may be too high for your case. Also remember it is possible to pick up fans that are 15mm high and not that normal 25mm that might make things easier.

Rollux

362 posts

Ultimate Geek

#384889 27-Sep-2010 12:37

What about cutting down the fins and re-mounting the fan back on top? I have a spare stock intel cooler from mine you can have if you want to try it?

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phptek

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Master Geek

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#385058 27-Sep-2010 17:35

@PANiCnz @Rollux thanks for your responses.

I have measured the available space in the case and I have an absolute max of 32mm for a heatsink+fan to play with in addition to the mobo+CPU. Or there's space for a 12mm fan with the standard intel h-sink I have, if you can get them??

I didn't realise I could cut down the heatsink though, I assumed it was that size for a reason! :-P

@Rollux, if you think the cooler you have would suit these measurements and it fits LGA775, I'd be keen.

PM me if that's cool.

Thanks folks, I'll do a little more digging tonight.

Russ

Rollux

362 posts

Ultimate Geek

#385424 28-Sep-2010 12:50

I'll have a look tonight an PM you with some details. It is an LGA775 cooler, came with my CPU in my sig.

I have cut down coolers before, but I have also put some thermal overload throttling/warning on in case it gets too hot. If you are not doing CPU intensive tasks, you should be fine. Can always underclock the cpu slightly and drop the voltages a little bit - will make it run cooler as well.

mcraenz

1140 posts

Uber Geek

#385732 29-Sep-2010 09:11

To be honest you can run Intel CPUs pretty hot. And if the system is running 24x7 it's less of an issue. My HTPC runs pretty hot with a passively cooled video card and and CPU cooled by I single 120mm fan running at 5 volts. But it runs 24x7, most components in a PC are happy to run at high temp, I wouldn't want to be heating them up and cooling them down all the time though.

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phptek

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#385744 29-Sep-2010 09:32

@mcraenz - thanks, more stuff I didn't know :-)

Still, I'm keen to keep power usage down (I chose the Samsung HDD for this reason - one of the lowest power 7200rpm drives out there for the money) and I'm guessing hot components are moving more atoms about and consuming more power?

From the pointers above, unless @Rollux has something that'll fit my case, the following are what I've come up with so far:

* 36.5mm: http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_photo.php?pno=NT07-1156&area=usa
* 28mm: http://ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=371973
* 35mm: http://ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=390721

I have a max of 32mm space, but don't mind using a 32+mm cooler and a "raised" fan shield/protector on the top of the case with 5 or so mm of the cooling fan poking thru - a little fugly for sure, but it's going in a rack so I'll rarely clap eyes on it :-P

I might be able to afford $80.00 but as I don't (yet) know enough about cooling dynamics to run the CPU without a fan.

Here's one left of field: Does the CPU fan *need* to blow right down (or suck?) onto the h-sink? Can I get away with a decent case-fan directed at the side of the h-sink, or am I being patently ridiculous!?

Thanks a lot folks,
Russ

Nety

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#385765 29-Sep-2010 10:25

One thing to be aware of and related to your last question. I have a Zalman fan in my main PC which blows air across the cooler the heat sink rather then down onto the MOBO. I have had issues with components that are placed around the CPU over heating because there is very little airflow around them.
It seems that MOBO manufactures actually rely of the CPU fan blowing air down and therefore over the components around the CPU keeping them cool.

However it does depend on the MOBO. My HTPC has a passive heatsink for the CPU and it fine.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#385786 29-Sep-2010 11:25

I would have thought with that motherboard you could probably get away with having the fan blow air in from the side, as mentioned some motherboards are specifically designed to use the air blown down from the CPU to cool the mosfets etc. However there are normally higher end motherboards. A quick look at the DG45FC suggest it should be fine, just make sure there is good airflow over the northbridge.

If you went for a cooler such as the Prolimatech Samuel you would probably be ok, its a fairly big cooler and the E5500's don't run super hot. As mentioned if you don't need all the processing power of the CPU it would be a good idea to undervolt the CPU and potentially underclock it.

With a 1U rack are you going to be able to get decent airflow? With a case that big I doubt you'd be able to get a fan any bigger than 40mm in there which are loud and dont push much air.

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#385793 29-Sep-2010 11:38

Might be worth contacting a NZ retailer or two to see if they can get any of the heatsinks reviewed on this site:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/06/11/low-profile-cpu-coolers-on-test/1

phptek

55 posts

Master Geek

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#385816 29-Sep-2010 12:31

@Nety, @PANICnz, thank you very much for your suggestions.

It seems that it might be an idea to at least try cross air-transfer before bastardising my case, so:

I have a horizontal blowing case-fan that came with the case (bottom left of the picture), I'll see if I can't mount it where airflow across the northbridge h-sink and CPU h-sink is maximised (Not sure of air-transfer specs of it tho). Some sort of sealed pipe or tube might be in order to transfer air from the fan if a good location can't be found (still gotta find space to mount a second HDD to RAID2 my data...)

I'll then test and monitor the CPU temp on my desk before it goes in the rack.

I presume mobos such as this have some sort of BIOS setting to allow the O/S to monitor CPU temperature? My 4 year old Intel Macbook lappy is able to do this out of the box (well sort of, 3rd party software req'd) and can independently monitor both cores, RAM etc.

I spent a couple of hours online last night and hadn't spotted the reviews for the 3 slimline coolers - thanks @PANICnz, have added to the list for further research just in case.

As a first time modder, I'd like to get something going with something approximating a standard setup, so underclocking a least for now, I'm not really too keen to do.

Thanks again - all I need now is a slim PSU to manage the lot (See my other GZ post here)

Cheers
Russ

Rollux

362 posts

Ultimate Geek

#386239 30-Sep-2010 10:49

Sorry for the late reply phptek, it appears my stock cooler has been filed away in a safe place. I cannot find it anywhere, so scrap that idea.
Sorry if I have been holding you up.
Dan

phptek

55 posts

Master Geek

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#386268 30-Sep-2010 11:34

@Rollux, not a problem and thanks for your help so far.

Even with a side-venting solution, I still need a separate heatsink as the stock one I have is physically attached to the board using the same chassis the fan itself uses - they are one and the same :-(

...may as well go all out and spend the $$ for a low-profile cooler from ascent then.

Thanks again.

phptek

55 posts

Master Geek

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#393777 19-Oct-2010 20:43

My solution:

I cut down the heatsinks' mobo pins, removed the fan and went out and got a 120mm (12mm thin) Scythe super-quiet fan. It has similar airflow specs to the old unit.

it all fits perfectly, I'll post back if there are any overheating issues.

Ta muchly

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