Computers & Heat...

[cessation]

For long as I can remember it's always been hot in my computer room. It's usually about 10 to 15F hotter in my computer room than any other room in my house. I have a portable AC unit in my computer room because I can't deal with the heat. Although I'm getting tired of the AC unit. I'm guessing it's the video card putting off most the heat. I know the 4870 that I have dumps out quite a bit of heat.

What do most people do about this? I can't imagine everyone is just putting up with the heat computers push out. I doubt everyone is buying portable AC units either. I guess the only option is to buy components that put out less heat, especially the video card. But I'd like to know how everyone else deals with it before I buy anything.

 

[fffblackmage]

I sweat it off in the hot summer days, but I do have a portable AC unit if it gets unbearable.

The 6850 is probably a good upgrade from the 4870 while putting out a bit less heat.

You can always get something that puts out even less heat, but you'd be sacrificing performance.

 

[Zap]

What are the rest of your specs and what do you use your computer for?

While I'm a gamer, I probably spend a lot more time not gaming than actually gaming. Thus, components that idle with low power draw are ideal. For instance I recently set up a new system for my wife that has a Core i5 2500k (overclocked, yet left power management enabled) and GTX 470. On the test bench with just the boot SSD, it was idling in Windows in the 60W range. I'm hoping to do such a setup for myself in the future.

You can optimize power draw from top to bottom. Get an 80Plus Gold PSU in as small a capacity as you can get away with. Get an LCD monitor that use LED backlights since most use cathodes (hold your hand over an LCD monitor to feel the heat coming off). Try keeping overclocks to stock voltage. Leave power management enabled when overclocking. Use lower voltage RAM. Use fewer, larger drives. Use "green" drives for data storage. Use SSDs or hybrid drives for boot. Liberally use S3 sleep mode anytime you step away from the computer.

If that isn't extreme enough, you can get a secondary system for all non-gaming use. That secondary system can be an AMD Zacate setup with an SSD. Will not feel super slow like an Atom, will play HD video, will idle around 20W.

 

[cessation]

What are the rest of your specs and what do you use your computer for?

I do play games but not all the time, maybe a few hours a day. I watch a fair amount of movies on it. I do some video encoding sometimes but not everyday. So I could buy another PC for typical stuff sense most of what I do doesn't require a powerful cpu or gpu.

I currently have...
Q9550
8 Gigs DDR2 (4 sticks)
8 HDD
Corsair TX750W Power
LG 24 inch S-MVA Monitor.

The LG does get hot, the screen has the persistent image problem(looks like burn ins). I'm not sure if that's due to heat. I paid quite a bit for it years ago. But it probably needs to be replaced sense it does get so hot and I'm tired of the persistent image problem.

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[cessation]

The 6850 is probably a good upgrade from the 4870 while putting out a bit less heat.

You can always get something that puts out even less heat, but you'd be sacrificing performance.

I'm just worried about the idle power/heat than load power/heat. I guess the first thing I'll try is replacing the video card then the monitor. The 4870 I got constantly dumps out hot air even when it's idle, the PSU and the fan by the CPU isn't pushing out air that hot. The 6870 looks like a good upgrade and doesn't take up much power when idle so I may go with that. I guess I need to figure out if that's the best option.

 

[mfenn]

You're right on about the 4870. Those old cards weren't that great at clocking down at idle. The Q9550 should have a fairly low power draw at idle if you have all of the power-saving options turned on in the BIOS.

 

[BoomerD]

My old build, socket 478 P4, X850ST PE AGP video was quite the room heater...even when I wasn't gaming, it kept my office toasty in the wintertime.
Now, the new build, i5-760, GTX460 video runs MUCH cooler and doesn't provide any warmth for the room...(even with the same PSU)

 

[cessation]

You're right on about the 4870. Those old cards weren't that great at clocking down at idle.

Any idea if the new ones such as the 6950 or 6870 dump out a lot of heat when idle? Those seem like the best deals.

 

[Krynj]

I just got rid of my old 4870 rev. 1, so I feel your pain. That thing used to idle at insanely high temps, and even with the fan at about 40%, it would hover around the 50s or so. You could feel the hot air shooting out the back of the PCI-E slot whenever you'd put your hand behind it.

Now I've got a 5770, and it's MUCH cooler (and smaller). It's pretty much the same card as a 4870, just much more efficient, nor does it sound like a blow dryer at 80%+ fan speed.

During the summer months, it was almost too much to leave my system on 24/7, especially overnight. Our summers are so hot and humid here, and leaving a high-end system on overnight doesn't help things at all.

Then the AC gets installed. At which point me, the girlfriend, and my machine are happy again.

 

[Zap]

I currently have...
Q9550
8 Gigs DDR2 (4 sticks)
8 HDD
Corsair TX750W Power
LG 24 inch S-MVA Monitor.

Start by buying a Kill-A-Watt for around $20-25. That way you can measure your progress, because more power drawn = more heat put out.

Since your graphics card produces a lot of heat, get one of the new cards (lowest you can stand gaming on). Then, since your monitor may be having problems, perhaps get a new one that is LED back-lit.

Do a before-after measurement of how many watts drawn, and go from there.

 

[fffblackmage]

You're right on about the 4870. Those old cards weren't that great at clocking down at idle.

Heh... I totally forgot how crappy the 4000-series were when idling, since I used a custom 2D/3D clock profile via ATT.

Any idea if the new ones such as the 6950 or 6870 dump out a lot of heat when idle? Those seem like the best deals.

Most new video cards idle with very low power draw.

 

[VirtualLarry]

8 HDs get pretty warm too.

 

[cessation]

Start by buying a Kill-A-Watt for around $20-25. That way you can measure your progress, because more power drawn = more heat put out.

I have a backup battery with software that shows how much power I'm using. At idle my system + monitor takes up 300 watts. The monitor is 100 watts, the computer itself is 200.

I'm probably going to order a 6950 tonight, I just hope it doesn't dump out heat when it's idle like the 4870. I'm fine with the system getting hot when I'm gaming, that would be hard to avoid.

8 HDs get pretty warm too.

Most of them are usually idle and not spinning. I would think they don't get that hot unless they are spinning, I guess I can open the case and find out though.

Heh... I totally forgot how crappy the 4000-series were when idling, since I used a custom 2D/3D clock profile via ATT.


Most new video cards idle with very low power draw.

I wouldn't think 30 watts more would turn the 4870 into a mini heater. Krynj said it best, the heat just shoots out the back of the PCI-E slot.

 

[Zap]

8 HDs get pretty warm too.

I was going to say something about that. What capacities are these drives? If they are older/smaller, then it may be worth upgrading to larger capacity and fewer drives.

I have a backup battery with software that shows how much power I'm using. At idle my system + monitor takes up 300 watts. The monitor is 100 watts, the computer itself is 200.

You can buy monitors that use much less power. AnandTech reviewed a 24" monitor that is rated to draw under 30W. Their actual measurements were 11W minimum brightness and 23W maximum brightness.

Double check the computer's BIOS to make sure EIST is enabled. Also, are you overclocked?

 

[cessation]

I was going to say something about that. What capacities are these drives? If they are older/smaller, then it may be worth upgrading to larger capacity and fewer drives.



You can buy monitors that use much less power. AnandTech reviewed a 24" monitor that is rated to draw under 30W. Their actual measurements were 11W minimum brightness and 23W maximum brightness.

Double check the computer's BIOS to make sure EIST is enabled. Also, are you overclocked?

Some of the drives are small. I have one for the OS, one for apps, one for games, two for backups etc. I could probably take the old small ones out. I figured they weren't using much power unless they were running/spinning.

I'll have to find a LCD LED that's not a TN, I've tried TN panels but I can't stand them.

I don't overclock, I'll check that other setting in the BIOS. The ram I use is running at 2volts, It's the only way I could get them to run with 4 sticks. Maybe I should buy some different ram? Thanks

Oh btw it's 55F outside right now. In my computer room it's 80F and there's no heater on right now. It's about 60ish something in every other room. I also leave the PC in the closet so most of the heat stays in there. It's crazy how hot it gets for just 300 watts...

 

[betasub]

I also leave the PC in the closet

LOL

Seriously though, it'd be better if it were located in an area with air circulation, so that you don't have heat build-up in a static air zone.

 

[Zap]

Some of the drives are small. I have one for the OS, one for apps, one for games, two for backups etc. I could probably take the old small ones out.

You can probably get by with 2-3 drives depending on your capacity needs. The new drives are faster than old drives, plus use less power - especially the 5400RPM drives which are very suitable for backups and mass data storage.

I'll have to find a LCD LED that's not a TN, I've tried TN panels but I can't stand them.

Good luck on that. Seems like everything is going that route.

I don't overclock, I'll check that other setting in the BIOS.

Basically what you want is for the CPU to downclock/undervolt itself when idle. Check using CPU-Z in Windows with nothing running. "EIST" is Intel's effort to save power when idling, because they know most computers aren't run fully loaded all the time.

 

[Ruger22C]

Good luck on that. Seems like everything is going that route.

Completely disagree. It's "going" more towards e-ips, there's a cheap c-pva out, and samsung is releasing PLS.

Check out Samsung 2333T, NEC EA231WMI-BK, Dell U2311H.

edit-
Haha. . .

I'm stupid, he said LED.

 

[cessation]

LOL

Seriously though, it'd be better if it were located in an area with air circulation, so that you don't have heat build-up in a static air zone.

Yeah I see what you're saying, I just put it in there recently because it gets so hot and it does help. I guess I could leave the thing in a different room, maybe i should just put it in the hallway.

Good luck on that. Seems like everything is going that route.

Last time I tried a TN panel the viewing angles were crap. Seems like all ofem are that way unless that's changed. I take it there's no 24 inch LCD LED that's not TN?


Does anyone know if the fan speed on the 6870 can be adjusted? After reading some of the reviews it looks like it can get loud. I leave my 4870 on about 40% fan speed, when that thing cranks up to 100% it sounds like a vacuum cleaner.

 

[Zap]

Last time I tried a TN panel the viewing angles were crap. Seems like all ofem are that way unless that's changed. I take it there's no 24 inch LCD LED that's not TN?

I do not know about availability of non-TN LED backlit screens.

Regarding viewing angles, nah, nothing's changed. What you would want to do is to just position the screen so that you are viewing the center of it dead-on.

Does anyone know if the fan speed on the 6870 can be adjusted? After reading some of the reviews it looks like it can get loud. I leave my 4870 on about 40% fan speed, when that thing cranks up to 100% it sounds like a vacuum cleaner.

It should be adjustable. It will ramp itself up when it gets too warm, but when not gaming it shouldn't do that. You can also look for a card that uses two or three axial fans instead of the single blower. Those are quieter.

 

[cessation]

I do not know about availability of non-TN LED backlit screens.

Regarding viewing angles, nah, nothing's changed. What you would want to do is to just position the screen so that you are viewing the center of it dead-on.

I know it's out of stock but maybe something like this would work. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16889262047

I think that's a MVA panel.

It should be adjustable.

I hope so sense I ordered a HIS 6870 last night. I don't see why it wouldn't be adjustable because it lets me change my 4870 fan speed. Running my 4870 at 40% all the time works fine when it comes to noise.

 

[Paperlantern]

How much ventilation does your case have? Is it MOSTLY the vid cardputting out the hot air? Or is there gobs of hot air coming out of the PSU and any other exhaust fans as well?

I have a server in a closet, it stays fairly cool. But I also made sure it had a TON of ventilation through the case. The more cool air you put through the case, the cooler the overall air that exits the case is. Add an intake fan in the front, and an exhaust fan in the back to help move air through more quickly. That is if there arent already fans there.

The other suggestions here will also help, I realize fans add to the power consumption, but not MUCH, you cant have too much airflow through a computer case. 85% of all computer component failures are heat related.

 

[cessation]

How much ventilation does your case have? Is it MOSTLY the vid cardputting out the hot air? Or is there gobs of hot air coming out of the PSU and any other exhaust fans as well?

I have a server in a closet, it stays fairly cool. But I also made sure it had a TON of ventilation through the case. The more cool air you put through the case, the cooler the overall air that exits the case is. Add an intake fan in the front, and an exhaust fan in the back to help move air through more quickly. That is if there arent already fans there.

The other suggestions here will also help, I realize fans add to the power consumption, but not MUCH, you cant have too much airflow through a computer case. 85% of all computer component failures are heat related.

It is mostly the video card, the other air coming out psu and other areas doesn't even seem that warm. The video card air is pretty warm and pushes out a ton of air. The case I have is kind of old but it's big and seems ok for pushing air through it.

It seems like the suggestions you made would help out if the PC is getting hot. I'm not worried about the PC getting hot, I'm worried about me getting hot.

 

[mfenn]

How much ventilation does your case have? Is it MOSTLY the vid cardputting out the hot air? Or is there gobs of hot air coming out of the PSU and any other exhaust fans as well?

I have a server in a closet, it stays fairly cool. But I also made sure it had a TON of ventilation through the case. The more cool air you put through the case, the cooler the overall air that exits the case is. Add an intake fan in the front, and an exhaust fan in the back to help move air through more quickly. That is if there arent already fans there.

Doesn't really matter. The room seems like its a fairly closed system, so adding a watt is adding a watt.

OP, are you sure that your UPS is reading correctly? 200W idle for a non-overclocked system is ridiculous.

 

[cessation]

Doesn't really matter. The room seems like its a fairly closed system, so adding a watt is adding a watt.

OP, are you sure that your UPS is reading correctly? 200W idle for a non-overclocked system is ridiculous.

Yep it's cyberpower software.

Mine says 300 watts on that software when the system is idle. That's with 7 of the hard drives not spinning too.