Cooling ideas -/w console PC; in mustang?

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Originally Posted by niffcreature

With a setup like that i would be *certain* to never ever run down my car battery, even if I lived in my car and used the computer for weeks without starting the car.


What would be really cool is if you could have an air intake for the winter that cooled it with outside air :P no fans required!


The thing about RMclock though is that the downclock is not permanent, and you can set profiles, change it all while its running. Also, undervolting is the key here that can be way better than downclocking.

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I didn't see much real benefit to suspending, so I have no battery run down issues whatsoever as the machine shuts down after 15mins once the acc line is off, and of course the low-power cut-out on the opus 360 set fairly high should for some reason the pulse sent to the motherboard from the opus isn't given, wire is broken, or like a few weeks ago Windows decided it would reset my power settings so the "shutdown button" in it was assigned to nothing. It's done just fine for watching a movie or so for me at the very least without needing the engine on, this I put to the test not long ago watching a couple of Harry Potter movies at a rest stop in maryland coming back from a wedding. I wouldn't personally have any need past this, as I challenge anyone, even homeless, to "live" in a mustang; unless they're under 4ft tall.

With this speed mini-atx, chip, 8gigs of ram, and ssd drive (even if it is intel's first gen that can't do trim) it's up and going before I can get out of the driveway even in my maddest dash because I'm running late for work, and as everything is controlled via the opus everything gets completely shut-off, amps, wireless router, and a few other bits that don't have a direct power link from the computer's usb. It's sat for weeks with the original battery from when I bought the car.

The zotac board allows all of this, however it's not on the fly of course, but I don't really have need of that.

I'd make a vent on each side of the console near the actual mobo, or as near as you can get it, then add two small fan(one pulling air in and the other pushing air out). I'd also insulate the section of your floor where the console is to block as much of the rising floor heat as possible. I'd also plug up any vents that may run through the console in question.

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Originally Posted by Wayne613

I didn't see much real benefit to suspending, so I have no battery run down issues whatsoever as the machine shuts down after 15mins once the acc line is off, and of course the low-power cut-out on the opus 360 set fairly high should for some reason the pulse sent to the motherboard from the opus isn't given, wire is broken, or like a few weeks ago Windows decided it would reset my power settings so the "shutdown button" in it was assigned to nothing. It's done just fine for watching a movie or so for me at the very least without needing the engine on, this I put to the test not long ago watching a couple of Harry Potter movies at a rest stop in maryland coming back from a wedding. I wouldn't personally have any need past this, as I challenge anyone, even homeless, to "live" in a mustang; unless they're under 4ft tall.

With this speed mini-atx, chip, 8gigs of ram, and ssd drive (even if it is intel's first gen that can't do trim) it's up and going before I can get out of the driveway even in my maddest dash because I'm running late for work, and as everything is controlled via the opus everything gets completely shut-off, amps, wireless router, and a few other bits that don't have a direct power link from the computer's usb. It's sat for weeks with the original battery from when I bought the car.

The zotac board allows all of this, however it's not on the fly of course, but I don't really have need of that.

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Yeah, thats a really cool setup, seems very practical and not overcomplicated.
I know you didn't need more battery life, I was just thinking about it because things that increase battery life will also reduce heat a lot. Thats why I suggested undervolting with rmclock.

Do you know all about the non TRIM stuff?
Not that I do, I just know there are some things that will kill non trim SSDs in a year if they are treated like normal drives. I think indexing might be one. Its something you should watch out for.

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Originally Posted by niffcreature

Yeah, thats a really cool setup, seems very practical and not overcomplicated.
I know you didn't need more battery life, I was just thinking about it because things that increase battery life will also reduce heat a lot. Thats why I suggested undervolting with rmclock.

Do you know all about the non TRIM stuff?
Not that I do, I just know there are some things that will kill non trim SSDs in a year if they are treated like normal drives. I think indexing might be one. Its something you should watch out for.

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Finite control over all of it is given in the bios on the zotac board directly, so not much need of on-the-fly..

It won't "kill" it, however with wear leveling it will be eventually forced to clear space before it can write, which is why trim is valuable, this brings the speed to a crawl in comparison to one that doesn't have to clear as it's going. All that really can be done for windows 7 without doing an nlite version I have done. If you need more information about it, anandtech has a series on SSD that explains far further in depth.

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Originally Posted by Wayne613

Finite control over all of it is given in the bios on the zotac board directly, so not much need of on-the-fly..

It won't "kill" it, however with wear leveling it will be eventually forced to clear space before it can write, which is why trim is valuable, this brings the speed to a crawl in comparison to one that doesn't have to clear as it's going. All that really can be done for windows 7 without doing an nlite version I have done. If you need more information about it, anandtech has a series on SSD that explains far further in depth.

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Yea I dunno much about SSDs I'll probably cross that bridge when I get there.

The undervolting though, I think you've misinterpreted my suggestion...

Your zotac board runs your core 2 duo at its exact rated voltage. This voltage is something that intel decided was safe for all of these CPUs, and any that were not stable at that voltage were thrown out.

The premise i guess you could say about undervolting is that intel set that voltage to be VERY safe, meaning stable so they wouldn't get returned/defective chips...
So what it comes down to is many CPUs will run 100% stable at a voltage well under this specified rating, because intel doesn't have time to test them and set them all at different voltages. Reducing the voltage just a notch will increase efficiency and decrease heat by quite a bit.

Sorry if you did understand all that already. Its a lesser know fact about the way chips are batch manufactured. Some are better overclockers and undervolters because they are all different.

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Originally Posted by niffcreature

The undervolting though, I think you've misinterpreted my suggestion...

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No, I get the concept, the board allows adjustment, not sure if it allows going under however, as the chip's heat itself hasn't been that big a concern, it will allow undervolting of everything else including the northbridge, which I've put down a couple notches. I suspect it just allows over for the chip, for overclocking, which of course i have no intention of,which is fine.

From the suggestions so far I think I'll first try to get some insulation from the plastic vent source it's butted up to, then tap into it for exhaust. Perhaps like the other said as well, try to seal it off at least partially so the hvac can't put more heat into that space.

I will say that using AC air is a gamble. My setup would pull AC air into the center console to cool a PSU. The other day I took the console appart and saw that the metal grills are heavily rusted. Why not use extreme air cooling. On my setup I am using seven 120mm fans. One to blow air into the custom case, then 4 of which are for the processors, but because they move so much air they actually cool the entire case. Then I have two more to exhaust all the air. Because the fans are so big, even at full speed, they are fairly quiet.

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Originally Posted by HiJackZX1

I will say that using AC air is a gamble. My setup would pull AC air into the center console to cool a PSU. The other day I took the console appart and saw that the metal grills are heavily rusted. Why not use extreme air cooling. On my setup I am using seven 120mm fans. One to blow air into the custom case, then 4 of which are for the processors, but because they move so much air they actually cool the entire case. Then I have two more to exhaust all the air. Because the fans are so big, even at full speed, they are fairly quiet.

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So long as it keeps where it's at in honesty I doubt I will touch it again. The single-slot size cooling fan I set up above the motherboard, I set up for permanent usage earlier today(had it held temporarily with double-sided tape to test if this would really make a dent or not) and redid the heat-transfer paste on the GPU's heatsink as well for good measure. I drilled-out 2 holding screws at each end (single plastic side of fan to metal top shelf of the unit)to hold it firmly and securely to the top plate, right above the GPU, then dremeled the excess of the bolts and exhaust vent's slot holder that sticks out on the back to make it flush. This leaves about 2mm's of space between it and the GPU heat-sink. This seems to be doing it "adequately" so far. As you say, with even just a brute force approach, rather than giving it clear and clean air intake/exhaust, it's cooling better. It's about 3 Celsius less than the CPU temp now, where as prior that would be at least 8 higher than the CPU regardless of the HVAC status.

Since it's adding more force to the general area it's lowering the CPU's temp a bit as well, and it becomes more significant once the heater is running and the plastic vents heat up. If this does still cause cutting out, or is just still getting too hot for comfort later once winter really kicks into gear, I'll revisit this again. That single-slot vent was the last-ditch for an attached solution, I'm completely out of space now with that addition. It's like trying to cram the high-school football team into a single Volvo. The only realistic possibilities left to air ventilation for me (with this setup as it is) are mounted fans as an almost kick panel placement (at the center console rather than sides), or tapping the plastic venting itself.

I'm usually cursing for many hours before-hand now every time I know I have to remove the thing to work on it. With the severely limited room for spacing error it's a friggin' nightmare to get back into place just right with everything connected. Never again will I set to do a console setup in a single housing.

Ah well, live, learn, get luvs, poop yourself, then hopefully get the hot nurse for a sponge-bath.

Edit: Pictures taken earlier of most of the setup, including the gaping console hole to see the plastic venting-- none taken with single-slot vent attached or the amplifiers which are attached to the driver-side rear flip-down. Note the the abortion of wires that is my center console. ;)

I forgot that your setup is dash mounted. My bad. Another idea is maybe use some type of filter. One that when the AC is on, it will absorb any moisture, but still allow the cool air to pass through it.