Ecomodding the computer

[jakobnev]

I recently decided to start using a desktop computer again after a couple of years of just using a small laptop and smart phone. And since my computer was 12 years old, it was time to upgrade it.

To save natures resources I kept the case, PSU, and the optical drive. Shuttle have a custom size motherboard, but some Googling revealed that a Mini-ITX board will fit inside. I did however need to move the posts which involved some drilling.

With the old parts it used 80w and now only 40w!






For CPU-cooling I used the heat sink and fan that came with the new processor, but I built a duct to bring in fresh air from the outside. Later I decided to flip the fan, so it actually blows the warm air out instead. (This lowered the case temp several degrees.)

[California98Civic]

Cool. Looks nice too. With your fan mods, wouldn't you maybe be able to reduce the size or wattage of the fan and get more cooling for less power?

[RobertISaar]

all else being equal, a larger fan moves a lot more air for generally a small increase in power consumption(it's also a LOT more quiet).... this can be more than offset by just driving the fan at a reduced duty cycle(which will likely happen automatically depending on the motherboard), which helps reduce noise even further as well.

Cooler Master Sleeve Bearing 140mm Silent Fan for Computer Cases and Radiators - Newegg.com

good examples there.



displays have come a long way in 12 years in terms of power efficiency.

[jakobnev]

Well the new CPU-fan is 55mm and spins the same speed as the old 80mm one. (~1700rpm) So it is virtually silent. The fan in the PSU is a different story, it's bearings are ageing so it makes a bit of noise.

I'm hoping to change the PSU for a more efficient one in the future, this old thing draws 16w just plugged in.

[j12piprius]

Originally Posted by jakobnev

Well the new CPU-fan is 55mm and spins the same speed as the old 80mm one.

55mm is too small and will probably cause overheating.

Bigger fans are more quiet and cool better.

[Xist]

A friend in high school kept his case open with a box fan blowing on it.
It was noisy.

[jakobnev]

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

55mm is too small and will probably cause overheating.

I'm not too worried about that. I played five youtube-vids at the same time (of which one in fullscreen) for 20 mins, and after a quick reboot to bios the CPU-temp was 46⁰C.

The TDW of the new is CPU 25w, the old one was 65w.

I also improved the airflow through the PSU by turning the bits of metal left between the stamped holes to be parallel with the flow instead of perpendicular.

[redpoint5]

I'm keeping an eye out for a good deal on an Intel NUC. I don't game on a desktop anymore, so the built in GPU on the Intel processors will be plenty enough to run my HTPC and media server.

My 5 year old full height tower PC consumes 40 watts at idle, and I leave it on at all times since it has a Plex server people like to use. It's running an i5-3570k CPU and 8GB RAM.

I can't justify upgrading though, because even though the PC is 5 years old, it's plenty fast enough to handle anything I want to do, including photo and video editing, and movie transcoding.

[freebeard]

I worked for a hard drive manufacturer, La Cie, back in the last century. They ran 12v fans on the 5v bus to spin them slower. I liked my 128K Mac because it had convection cooling.

It's hard to find 2nd-hand Mac Minis today. The current one is slower than the one it replaced, but the DSL connection is the choke point, anyway. Come July-September this comes to market, and I'm thinking it would be a nifty upgrade:


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...e-raspberry-pi

It's a $35 Raspberry Pi with a $99 audio daughterboard. Fanless.

[NoD~]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'm keeping an eye out for a good deal on an Intel NUC. I don't game on a desktop anymore, so the built in GPU on the Intel processors will be plenty enough to run my HTPC and media server.

My 5 year old full height tower PC consumes 40 watts at idle, and I leave it on at all times since it has a Plex server people like to use. It's running an i5-3570k CPU and 8GB RAM.

I can't justify upgrading though, because even though the PC is 5 years old, it's plenty fast enough to handle anything I want to do, including photo and video editing, and movie transcoding.

i5-2XXX generation and up is still plenty good for today's... everything! The 2500's are still doing great on most games and software titles. So, why bother!

Anywho, I have a NUC (well, the Gigabyte Brix) and used it with Steam Streaming to play games with from my more powerful PC that was only turned on when I needed a gaming fix. Great way to have the best of both worlds without running your high-powered machine all the time.