Computer case cooling system. We make high-quality cooling of the processor. External or internal SVO

Computer cooling is an integral part of a desktop PC. All details this device exposed to heat due to power supply from electric current, while the load level directly affects the amount of heating. To prevent PC breakage and ensure more fast work cooling must be taken care of. It is important even for the most simple device not exposed to high loads.

Varieties

Computer cooling is divided into two main types - water and air. The latter option has become the most widespread today. This system has the following mechanism of action: heated parts transfer heat to the radiator, which then goes outside the PC. The air flow rate, materials used for and its usable area affect the efficiency of this type. For example, copper conducts heat better than other materials, but its cost is appropriate. An increase in heat transfer is also possible by blackening the surface of the radiator. The aerial technique is classified into two types: passive and active.

The passive option is suitable for personal computers that are not designed for intensive work. It has a rather low efficiency. Despite this, as part of a silent system, it provides intensive removal of warm air during a slow flow.

The active view contains both a fan and a radiator at the same time - this way the heat goes much faster from the internal elements outside system unit... Installation is possible additional coolers for the most heated parts of the PC - video card and processor.

Liquid based cooling

Previously, this technique was found only in server systems but the modern diffusion of technology has made it possible for use in home devices. The computer is based on a working composition - a special refrigerant that transfers heat to the radiator from the heated components. The main advantage is the speed provided by the physical properties of the liquid, since it conducts heat much faster than air. Antifreeze, purified oil, and even ordinary water can act as a refrigerant.

This cooling of the computer consists of a steel plate that acts as a heat sink, a pump for circulation, pipes through which fluid passes and a radiator. It has a complex design, so its installation cannot be done by inexperienced users. Illiterate installation or the use of substandard materials can lead to leakage, the consequences of which can be damage to important internal elements. In the absence of relevant experience, it is worth buying a PC with already installed system or turn to professionals.

Selection of the required option

The liquid cooling of the computer is used to ensure quiet operation and high performance. To obtain high efficiency, an addition is required in the form of a powerful pump, which can make more noise than an air active system. At the same time, the silent technique is not capable of such results and is not suitable for professional and gaming PCs.

A computer, even in its simplest design, has a rather high cost, so it has not become widespread. It is most popular among gamers and web designers, as in most cases the air option is sufficient for normal PC operation.

Certain parts are very hot, and as a result, they need better heat dissipation, this must be taken into account when distributing cooling elements.

How to improve cooling

If there is a need to increase the quality of cooling, it is worth buying a new radiator and fan, as well as renewing the layer of thermal paste.

The new cooler also becomes a way out of the situation when the unstable operation of the fan is noted. It is worth paying attention to the need for compliance motherboard and purchased devices. In this case, the new fan must be more powerful than the existing analogue.

The coolers are positioned in such a way that their blades rotate in different directions, thanks to this, a noticeable improvement in cooling efficiency can be achieved.

One of the main conditions for high performance of a computer is thorough cleaning of internal elements from dust and accumulated debris.

Frame

Air exchange in budget options home computers are produced by an exhaust cooler located on the power supply unit and a ventilation grill. The air flow enters and passes through its constituent parts, and the heat is outside through the supply element. But with the increase in power personal computer this becomes insufficient, and it becomes necessary to use additional coolers. They must be installed in specific places, if not observed of this rule, they will not bring the proper efficiency, due to the fact that warm air flows will constantly pass through the system unit. Typically, a large computer cooling fan located at the bottom is used for admission, and several smaller coolers provide its exit.

CPU

It is this part that undergoes the greatest heating, due to which, subsequently, the speed of the PC is reduced. The way out of the situation is with a medium-sized fan, so you can achieve sufficient efficiency and at the same time a low degree of reproducible noise.

Systematic monitoring of the presence of thermal paste is of particular importance. It is applied to the area between the heatsink and the processor and prevents the formation of a layer of air that has a low level of thermal conductivity.

Other details

A weighty load during operation falls on the video card, which is especially noticeable during use graphic editors and other programs. This element is often equipped with a built-in fan. There are also options with passive cooling, common among those who prefer silent systems or want to increase performance by installing an additional cooler.

For regular users cooling the computer, in in particular, items such as a hard drive or a motherboard do not matter as much as for gamers. The chipset has the hardest motherboard- its heating temperature can reach 70 degrees.

Dust control

To ensure high efficiency, it is not enough to do the cooling of the computer with your own hands; it is necessary to systematically clean the inside of the case. The quality of work of radiators clogged with dust is practically reduced to nothing, and coolers clogged with dust cannot create proper air circulation in the system unit. That is why regular cleaning of the PC from dust is required. In this case, special attention should be paid to the contact planes of the parts, the power supply, the radiator and coolers.

And how effective it can be. The need for liquid cooling appeared due to the fact that it was decided to overclock the processor, and the faster it works, the more it heats up. That is, a standard cooler was no longer enough, and store-bought cooling systems are quite expensive.

DIY materials and tools:
- heat exchanger or water block;
- cooling radiator (from the car);
- pump (centrifugal water pump with a capacity of 600 liters per hour);
- expansion tank (in our case, under water);
- four 120 mm fans;
- power supply for the fan;
- various others expendable materials and tools.

The process of making homemade products:

Step one. Manufacturing a water block
A waterblock is needed to maximize heat dissipation from the processor. For such purposes, materials with good thermal conductivity will be needed; copper was chosen by the author. Alternatively, you can use aluminum, but its thermal conductivity is half that of copper, that is, for aluminum it is 230W / (m * K), and for copper 395.4 W / (m * K).

It is also important to design the structure of the water block for efficient heat dissipation. The water block should have several channels through which the water will circulate. The coolant must not stagnate and water must circulate through the entire water block. It is also important to make the water contact area as large as possible. To increase the area of ​​contact with the coolant, frequent cuts can be made on the walls of the water block, but you can also install a small needle radiator.

The author decided to follow the path of least resistance, therefore, as a water block, a container for water with two pipes for its supply and withdrawal was made. A brass pipe connector was used as a base. The base was a 2 mm thick copper plate. From above, the water block is also closed with such a copper plate, in which pipes are installed for the diameter of the hoses. The whole structure is soldered with tin-lead solder.

As a result, the waterblock turned out to be rather large, which affected its weight, in the assembled state the motherboard was loaded with a load of 300 grams. And this led to additional costs. To facilitate the construction, it was necessary to come up with additional system fasteners for hoses.

Water exchanger material: copper and brass
The diameter of the fittings is 10 mm
Tin Lead Solder Assembly
The structure is fastened with screws to the store cooler, the hoses are additionally fixed with clamps
The cost of homemade products at this step is around 100 rubles.

More about assembling the waterblock
How the assembly process took place can be seen in the photo. That is, the necessary blanks were cut out of a sheet of copper, the tubes were soldered, and then with the help of a soldering iron everything was combined into a finished organ of the system.

Step two. Dealing with pomp
Pumps can be divided into two types, submersible and external. An external pump passes water through itself, and a submerged one pushes it out. The author used a submersible type of pump for his homemade product, since it was not possible to find an external one anywhere. The power of such a purchased pump is in the range from 200 to 1400 liters per hour, and they cost in the region of 500-2000 rubles. A regular outlet is used as a power source, the device consumes from 4 to 20 watts.

To reduce noise, the pump must be mounted on foam rubber or other similar material. The reservoir was a jar in which the pump was placed. To connect the silicone hoses, you needed metal clamps with screws. To make it easy to put on and take off hoses in the future, an odorless lubricant can be used.

Eventually maximum productivity pump was 650 liters per hour. The height to which the pump can lift water is 80 cm. The required voltage is 220V, the device consumes 6W. The cost is 580 rubles.

Step three. A few words about the radiator
The success of the whole venture will depend on how well the radiator works. For homemade products, the author used a car radiator from a Zhiguli stove of the ninth model; it was bought at a flea market for only 100 rubles. Due to the fact that the distance between the radiator fins turned out to be too small for the coolers to be able to drive air through it, they had to be forcibly pushed apart.

Radiator characteristics:
- tubes are made of copper;
- aluminum radiator fins;
- dimensions 35x20x5 cm;
- the diameter of the fittings is 14 mm.

Step four. Radiator blowing
To cool the radiator, two pairs of 12 cm coolers are used, two are installed on one side and two on the other. A separate 12V power supply was used for the fans. They are connected in parallel, taking into account the polarity. Reversing the polarity can damage the fan. Minus is indicated in black, plus in red, and speed values ​​are transmitted in yellow.
The fan current is 0.15A, one costs 80 rubles.

Here, the author considered the efficiency and low cost of the device to be the main task, so no effort was made to reduce the noise. Cheap Chinese fans are quite noisy on their own, but they can be mounted on silicone pads or other mounts to reduce vibration. If you buy more expensive coolers costing 200-300 rubles, then they work quieter, but they still make noise at maximum speed. But they have high power and consume 300-600 mA of current.

Step five. Power Supply
If the required power supply is not at hand, then you can assemble it yourself. You will need an inexpensive microcircuit for 100 rubles and several other available elements. For four fans, you need a current of 0.6 A, and of course you need to have a little in stock. The assembled microcircuit produces about 1A at a voltage in the region of 9-15V, depending on specific model... In general, any model is suitable, you can change the voltage using variable resistor.

Power supply tools and materials:
- soldering iron with solder;
- microcircuit;
- radio components;
- insulation and wires.
The issue price is 100 rubles.

Step six. The final stage. Installation and verification

Test computer:
- processor Intel Core i7 960 3.2 GHz / 4.3 GHz;
- thermal paste AL-SIL 3;
- OCZ ZX1250W power supply unit;
- maternal ASUS board Rampage 3 formula.

Used software: Windows 7 x64 SP1, RealTemp 3.69, Prime 95, Cpu-z 1.58.

More than a year has passed since I assembled my first complete water cooling system based on a ready-made kit (see). A month later (on a new platform), the system was significantly modernized - he included the north bridge and a video card in the cooling circuit, and also replaced the processor water block. Moreover, all these waterblocks were made by myself. Despite the fact that the main elements of the system unit were sufficient hot: Athlon processor [email protected] 2800+ with a core voltage of 1.85V, an overclocked GeForse 4 Ti 4600 graphics card and a Northbridge with a Peltier element, the system has passed the test of the southern summer heat with flying colors. Even with a room temperature of 32 degrees, the processor core temperature did not exceed 55 degrees.

When the need arose for a second computer, it was assembled mainly from what was left of the previous upgrades. Unfortunately, the remaining building is a mini-tower. But, since a normal air cooler did not climb into it in any way, we had to do it.

advertising

Everything, it would seem, is nothing, if not for one important circumstance - once accustomed to quiet computer with water cooling, in the future it is simply impossible to give up this habit. So the desire arose: to create a quiet yet efficient water cooling system.

Why is it still water? There are enough reasons for this. Since in any cooling system the final (actually heat sink) device is an air radiator with a fan, the noise parameters of the system are determined by the value and, main, the speed of the air flow blowing over the fins (plates, pins, etc.) of the radiator. And the more thermal power must be dissipated at the same noise level, the larger the size of the radiator and fan is required.

A striking example of this is the Zalman CNPSA-Cu cooler - the best available (and not only available - it has correct design): dimensions - 109x62x109mm; weight - 770g; fan - 92mm; the area of ​​the plates is 3170 square centimeters; speed, noise level and thermal resistance in a quiet and normal modes respectively: 1350 and 2400 rpm; 20 and 25 dB (during overclocking, by the way, the quiet mode is unacceptable, and 25 and even 20 dB is still not very quiet) and 0.27 and 0.2 K / W. Let's remember these numbers, in the future they will be useful to us. And one should not think that this, and similar coolers, are necessary only for latest processors with heat dissipation up to 90 - 100W.

4.8 / 5 ( 104 votes)

Any laptop heats up to some extent during operation. Especially often, overheating of this technique occurs in the summer, when the temperature environment rises. A similar overheating is also observed when modern computer games... In order to protect the equipment from the critical temperature, temperature sensors are initially installed in it. When the temperature indicators of the central or GPU reach a critical value, the device simply turns off. But this is not always convenient, especially if at the time of shutdown you were performing important actions on your device.

Overheating reasons

In order to cope with overheating problems, you need to find their cause and try to fix it.

• The main reason for laptop overheating lies in its dimensions, namely in the compactness of the case. In it, manufacturers place all the same components that are available in an ordinary desktop computer. The challenge, however, is to maintain the performance of the device. To accomplish this, the hardware items are packed fairly tightly in the case. There is very little free space between them. This interferes with the full-fledged movement of air, the meaning of which is to remove hot streams to the outside and the flow of cold ones to the inside. The compactness of laptops does not allow equipping them with large and powerful coolers.
• An additional inconvenience when using a laptop is dust, lint, hair, wool and other small light particles that periodically accumulate in places where air is blown out and on the radiator. Because of this, the performance characteristics of the device, in particular, thermal conductivity, are reduced. In this case, the cooler becomes clogged, and its efficiency decreases.

Summer has come, and the owners of laptop computers are increasingly asking the question: "how to cool a laptop" if it gets pretty hot after a certain time of operation

• Sometimes the cause of overheating of your device is a malfunction of the fan caused by its breakdown or factory defect. For example, it may turn out to be insufficiently lubricated or a bearing is faulty.
• During prolonged operation of the device, the thermal paste may dry out, with the help of which best gear heat to the cooler and radiator, enabling the fan to function more efficiently.
• Some laptop owners misuse them. For example, you can often observe how at home the device is not installed on a hard surface, but on a blanket or placed directly on your knees. In these cases, overheating of the device cannot be avoided, because the openings for heated air blowing are closed, and the processor does not have the ability to fully cool down.

An expert's opinion: how to cool a laptop at home?

Most effective method to lower the temperature inside is to replace the thermal paste. It is advisable to carry out this procedure regularly. It is also worth remembering that best remedy from overheating is a prophylaxis: place the laptop only on hard surfaces (and it would be best to purchase a special cooling pad) and do not forget to clean it from dust.

Konstantin Kotovsky

About symptoms

To determine the temperature of the laptop, apply special programs... If you suspect that your device is overheating, refer to the data that displays the temperature sensor measurements. For example, you can use BIOS / UEFI or the HWInfo utility to find out the required information. You can find any other program that will show you the heating of the computer by displaying sensor data. In a special window, you can also monitor the rotational speed of the cooler.

In the operating manual, you can find information about the permissible temperature range of the device. These data are also available on the official website of the company selling laptops.

But it is not necessary to resort to utilities when determining the permissible operating temperature of a small-sized computer.

When the CPU / GPU temperature limit is reached, the device will simply turn off

If it overheats, then it will be immediately clear by the following signs:

• too loud noise from the fan;
• the air being blown out is very hot;
• abrupt shutdowns of the laptop;
• hot case.

Consequences of high temperatures

If you ignore the constant overheating of your laptop, this can lead to unpleasant consequences. For example, high temperatures have a negative effect on the processor. The crystalline structure of its components is gradually destroyed, negatively affecting its performance.

You've probably noticed that an overheated microprocessor starts to "slow down", slowly performing tasks. In this case, the owner of the device can see error messages on the screen. Some processes may be invisible to the user. Sometimes, when overheating, the processor needs to perform calculations several times until it gets the correct result.

But this situation can be especially inconvenient for gamers who are fond of online games with detailed graphics. The high temperature inside the laptop provokes the shutdown of the device right during some important "battle". Often such nuances make the gaming community ask the question: "how to cool the laptop?", And resort to sophistication for the sake of good cooling.

But the negative thermal factor adversely affects not only the crystal structure of the microprocessor. After all, silicon involved in the operation of transistors is also susceptible to carbonization, like contacts. This provokes even greater overheating and easily disables the device in just a few months.

Typically, a laptop is not in danger of failure due to overheating, because it has temperature sensors

Ways to eliminate factors provoking overheating

Laptop stands

There are many different laptop stands available today. They differ in the presence or absence of an additional cooling cooler. Both of them allow you to reduce the temperature of the processor. Such devices are sometimes quite inexpensive and available to everyone.

Cleaning software

You can reduce the temperature by reducing the list of software that works with the system. It is also advisable to close unused applications through the task manager.

CPU supply voltage

You can control it according to the following scheme: start the "power supply", → go to the settings of the current power plan, → select Extra options power supply, → open the processor power management tab → lower its maximum voltage.

Switching off the appliance

Sometimes, simply turning off the laptop will allow it to cool down enough to continue safe operation. This reduces fan noise and allows the underside of the case to cool down.

Nowadays, you can buy a lot of gadgets and even installations that allow you to keep the temperature mode of operation of the device within acceptable standards.

Cleaning and replacing thermal paste

Professionals advise cleaning the cooler (fan and radiator) from dust every six months. At the same time, it is advisable to update the thermal paste, which increases heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink.

A Phillips screwdriver is used to open the housing cover. Dust accumulated inside the laptop, between the radiator fins and under the fan, can be removed with tissues, cotton swabs, a can of compressed air or a vacuum cleaner.

To reduce the chance of overheating the device, it is necessary to properly distribute the thermal grease when replacing the cooling element. You can buy it at any store that sells computer technology, or in the radio market.

Sequencing:

• detach the heatsink from the processor surface;
• remove the remnants of the old thermal paste from the processor and heatsink;
• apply new paste to the surface of the microprocessor.

The paste is applied in a thin layer, it is necessary to provide a minimum of space between the radiator and the contact area. Overheating is possible if an excessively thick layer of paste is applied. central processing unit up to its failure.

Also, at least once a year, you should replace the thermal paste, which improves heat transfer from the processor to the heatsink, and, accordingly, the fan.

Fan replacement and repair

If you have experience in assembling / disassembling a laptop, you can probably independently replace the fan with exactly the same or more powerful one. This should be done when it is known for sure that the cause of overheating lies precisely in this element of the laptop. Sometimes it is enough just to change the bearing grease. It's easy to do it yourself. After such maintenance, it rotates freely from a light touch.

Cooling programs

There are items in the BIOS that allow you to change the rotation modes of the fans that cool the motherboard (if any) and the central processor. In the presented section, you can set the aggressive mode for them. But at the same time, the noise from the fans will be noticeably higher, even when the laptop is not performing any tasks (idle).

Some discrete graphics cards come with special utilities, but they are usually used to reduce the speed and noise from the fan, which increases the temperature.

Some manufacturers make life easier for users by supplying with motherboard(or a laptop) specialized programs that allow you to monitor the readings of the sensors and change the parameters that affect forced cooling.

Correct operation

When using a laptop, it plays an important role. correct operation... When it stands on a hard surface, such as a table or a special stand, there is enough room for hot air to blow out. When the laptop is placed on a sofa, blanket or bed, the air outlet and air inlet slots are blocked, therefore, cooling is impaired. It is best to place the device body on specialized tables that have additional holes on their surface for hot air to pass through.

Cooling the processor affects the performance and stability of your computer. But it does not always cope with the loads, which is why the system crashes. The efficiency of even the most expensive cooling systems can greatly decrease due to the user's fault - poor-quality cooler installation, old thermal paste, dusty case, etc. To prevent this, it is necessary to improve the quality of cooling.

If the processor overheats due to a previously done overclocking and / or high loads during the operation of the PC, then you will have to either change the cooling to a better one, or reduce the load.

The main elements that produce the largest number heat are - the processor and the video card, sometimes it can also be a power supply, a chipset and HDD... In this case, only the first two components are cooled. Heat dissipation of the rest of the computer components is negligible.

If you need a gaming machine, then think, first of all, about the size of the case - it should be as large as possible. Firstly, the larger the system unit, the more components you can install into it. Secondly, in a large building more space because of which the air inside it heats up more slowly and has time to cool. Also, pay special attention to the ventilation of the case - there must be ventilation holes in it so that hot air does not linger for a long time (an exception can be made if you are going to install water cooling).

Try to monitor the temperature readings of the processor and video card more often. If the temperature often exceeds the permissible values ​​of 60-70 degrees, especially when the system is idle (when no heavy programs are running), then take active steps to reduce the temperature.

Let's take a look at several ways to improve the quality of cooling.

Method 1: correct housing position

The case for high-performance devices should be large enough (preferably) and have good ventilation. It is also desirable that it be made of metal. In addition, you need to take into account the location of the system unit, tk. certain objects can prevent air from entering, thereby disrupting circulation and increasing the temperature inside.

Apply these tips to the layout of your system unit:

Method 2: clean the dust

Dust particles can impair air circulation, fans and radiator. They also retain heat very well, so it is necessary to regularly clean the "insides" of the PC. The frequency of cleaning depends on the individual characteristics of each computer - the location, the number of ventilation holes (the more the latter, the better quality cooling, but the faster dust accumulates). Cleaning is recommended at least once a year.

Cleaning should be done with a non-hard brush, dry rags and napkins. In special cases, you can use a vacuum cleaner, but only at minimum power. Consider the step-by-step instructions for cleaning the computer case from dust:

Method 3: put an extra fan

With help additional fan that attaches to an air vent on the left or rear wall of the chassis, you can improve air circulation inside the chassis.

First you need to choose a fan. The main thing is to pay attention to whether the characteristics of the case and the motherboard allow you to install an additional device. It is not worth giving preference to any manufacturer in this matter, because it is a fairly cheap and durable computer element that is easy to replace.

If the overall characteristics of the case allow, then you can install two fans at once - one on the back, the other in the front. The first removes hot air, the second sucks in cold air.

Method 4: speed up the fans

In most cases, the fan blades rotate at only 80% of their maximum speed. Some "smart" cooling systems are able to independently adjust the fan speed - if the temperature is at an acceptable level, then decrease it, if not, then increase it. Not always this function works correctly (and in cheap models it is not at all), so the user has to overclock the fan manually.

Do not be afraid to overclock the fan too much, because otherwise, you run the risk of only slightly increasing the power consumption of the computer / laptop and the noise level. To adjust the speed of rotation of the blades, use software solution- SpeedFan. The software is completely free, translated into Russian and has an intuitive interface.

Method 5: we replace the thermal paste

Replacing the thermal paste does not require any serious costs in terms of money and time, but here it is desirable to show some accuracy. You also need to take into account one feature with a warranty period. If the device is still under warranty, then it is better to contact the service with a request to change the thermal paste, this should be done free of charge. If you try to change the paste yourself, the computer will be removed from the warranty.

When changing yourself, you need to carefully consider the choice of thermal paste. Give preference to more expensive and high quality tubes (ideally those that come with a special application brush). It is desirable that the composition contains compounds of silver and quartz.

Method 6: installing a new cooler

If the cooler does not cope with its task, then it should be replaced with a better and more suitable analogue. The same applies to legacy systems cooling that, due to a long period of operation, cannot function normally. It is recommended, if the dimensions of the case permit, to choose a cooler with special copper heat sink pipes.

Take advantage of step by step instructions to replace the old cooler with a new one: