HTPC - Need cooling advice

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33coupe

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#180576 14-Sep-2015 13:37

So Ive recently built a HTPC. Its in a cabinet with a few cms clearence all around.

Yesterday I noticed that the fans were going full speed and that temperatures were around 78degrees. This was while watching tv only (tv tuner card).

Its in the lower right hand side

My first course of action will be to move it to the center (swap with receiver), and also buy an aftermarket cpu cooler (Gigabyte HD3 FM2+, AMD A8 7600).

I am considering a passive cooler for reduced noise. Does anyone have any recommendations or alternatives?

I am also thinking of buying 2 fans for the back of the cabinet to help airflow.

Im not sure whether to buy pc fans and connect them to the PSU, or just buy something like this Amazon Fan

Any help / advice would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks

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#1387157 14-Sep-2015 13:42

In case it helps the case is a Silverstone lc17, and has 2 x 80mm fans at the front, and two 80mm at the back.

Killerkiwi2005

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#1387178 14-Sep-2015 14:05

The issue will be air flow you need to pull the cool air in one vent and heated air out another, its proably easier just to get a low heat front end and put the recorder backend in another room area

timmmay

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#1387195 14-Sep-2015 14:16

Are you talking about CPU temperature, motherboard temperature, or what? You obviously need to extract air from your cabinet, probably using fans. I know I had to cut a hole in the back of my TV cabinet and put a 140mm fan in there otherwise my amp overheated.

33coupe

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#1387200 14-Sep-2015 14:24

Thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately I can't relocate the pc, as I'm renting, and there isn't anywhere else for it.

Sorry I should have specified that it is the CPU temperature that was 78 degrees.

timmmay

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#1387203 14-Sep-2015 14:26

Like I said, the temperature of the whole cabinet is probably very high. If that's 50 degrees then having the CPU 25 degrees higher is probably about right. So you need to work out if the problem is the temperature in the cabinet, the case, or just the CPU.

Gilco2

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#1387206 14-Sep-2015 14:30

Not sure if it will help you but I built one for 1 bedroom in an Apex Mi-008 case. Nice case but very little airflow and the A4-5300 would get to 75 just watching movie. I replaced the cpu fan with a Noctua NH-L9a fan. Since then it never goes above 36 so very pleased.

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

Killerkiwi2005

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#1387212 14-Sep-2015 14:40

In the end I got angrey after a recording failed and got some ducting and cut a couple holes in the back of the cabinet and duct taped the ducting from the intake and outlet to the holes in the cabinet :) never had an issue since

I also underclocked the cpu, no way you need much power when the capture card and video card are doing all the work

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gbwelly

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#1387251 14-Sep-2015 15:01

33coupe: In case it helps the case is a Silverstone lc17, and has 2 x 80mm fans at the front, and two 80mm at the back.

That case is a dog for cooling, I had one for about 5 years. Had the same setup; two in at the front and two out the back. It was noisy and hot, I could never run it inside a cabinet. You may find moving it to where the receiver is currently provides enough cooling, assuming that the rear of the cabinet is open.

mclean

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#1387266 14-Sep-2015 15:14

Ditto with my AV receiver which overheated and started to misfire, even though it had the recommended clearances around it. I opened up the whole of the back of that section of the cabinet to let the enclosure breathe naturally and fixed the problem (and made access to the cabling a whole lot easier). It may also be quieter than ventilating the cabinet with another fan.

afe66

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#1387351 14-Sep-2015 18:01

My Demon amp was put into a cabinet with too small clearance above it.

Wired a quiet case fan into the screen control output on amp which turned out to be same volts/amps of case fan. Now when I turn on the amp it turns on a fan cooling the amp.

A.

33coupe

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#1387588 14-Sep-2015 22:52

Thanks for the replies, really helpful.

So I'll start with moving the pc to where the receiver is. Possibly buy the noctua nh c12, and a 120mm usb fan for the cabinet (dig out the jigsaw)

If that doesn't fix it then ill be very upset lol.

Blanch

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#1387886 15-Sep-2015 14:15

I had a similar issue using a different case when trying to use the side cabinets. I swapped to the Silverstone lc17 (for it’s fount to back air flow) cut the back out of the centre unit and put the HTPC with the AV unit with a glass shelf separating them.

I also replaced cpu cooler and case fans with Noctua units, the hard disk and GPU fans are the noisiest items.

33coupe

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#1396159 28-Sep-2015 22:03

Just a quick update. I bought the Noctua NHL12 (what a piece of kit!), and also two 120mm case fans, which are just free standing at the back of the cabinet, blowing air towards the front of the case (down either side) and it seems to be keeping it cool.

I will eventually move the pc to the centre, and mount the fans into the back panel of t!he cabinet, but am pleased for the short term solution.

I might also invest in a fan controller, as the fans are producing the most db.

Thanks for all of your advice & suggestions!

33coupe

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#1403839 11-Oct-2015 13:31

Well it looks like I'm back.

Can anyone recommend a 3.5 fan controller for multiple fans?

After an extensive search it appears there aren't many to choose from, and the one that kept cropping up: scythe q, isn't in stock anywhere (maybe only eBay)

Anyone able to point me in the right direction?
Cheers

afe66

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#1404338 12-Oct-2015 13:58

? Separate PC PSU which you turn on as needed?

If your htpc is on all the time. Drill hole in PC case and run power to the pc psu. That way when turn PC on the fans turn on too?

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