Cooling Suggestions for custom box~!

bulgogi777 · 03-29-2005, 05:23 PM

Hey everyone,

I finally got off my keester and decided to build a custom box for my computer in my trunk instead of the ghetto bolt a computer case

So here's my trunk without the box:

And here's the box with my awesome photoshop thoughts on cooling:

Do you guys think this will cool effectively? Any suggestions would be well taken thanks!!

skellum · 03-29-2005, 06:23 PM

i think the biggest suggestion is not to use wood. wood absorbs heat rather than disapaiting it.

temporarily, i have a full sized case mounted in my trunk with the mb in it. the nice guys at circuit city gave me a throw away unit (stock honda) when i got my satellite installed last weekend. i've gutted it and am working on fitting the M10000 MB in it. i've seen it done, but i've never done it myself.

if you're gona go with wood and a full size MB, you're definatly going to need significant airflow to keep the air circulating in/out of the box. i would guess that the fan noise would be noticeable at anything less than freeway speeds.

TruckinMP3 · 03-29-2005, 07:01 PM

I would suggest exhaust on the top and intake on the lower fans, Seems workable to me.

DaRacerz · 03-29-2005, 08:45 PM

Only additional comment I'll add is make sure that your exhuast system doesn't run down the same side of the car as your carputer will be mounted. The heat will radiate right thru the trunk floor.

Also, you could use a spare tire area, works really good, thats what I used in my first setup before removing it to sell the car.

TimmyM · 03-29-2005, 09:21 PM

I can't see where using wood is going to be a problem. Mine is mounted to a piece of MDF and my hearer blows straight into my case. Keep thinkin' I should do something about that but it hasnt been a problem so if it's not broken.....

you'll probably be fine with one fan at each end instead of two. Maybe even one with an exhaust port out at the other.

bulgogi777 · 03-29-2005, 10:26 PM

Hey, thanx for all the suggestions..

DaRacerz, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by having my "exhaust system doesn't run down the same side of the car as your carputer" ??

The only reason I didn't have both exhausts on top, and intakes on the bottom is that I wanted to have the general air flow run across the computer, does this seem right?

Oh, and I spent alot of time cutting the wood, so I think I have to stick with it

Also, I would've put the computer in the tire well, but I've my share of flats and wouldn't want to be caught w/o my spare, hehe~!

SVTRanger · 03-29-2005, 10:38 PM

The car's exhaust system, the heat from you muffle will cause one side of the trunk to be hotter than the other, and if you bould your box right over top of it, it will trap the heat instead of dissipate it into the rest of the trunk making you cooling system work even harder.

bulgogi777 · 03-29-2005, 10:45 PM

hmm, that's not good, the side i have the computer is the side where the exhaust is... It points it down though... although I'm sure the converter itself gets pretty hot... well, my custom box is already built, so I'll just have to make the cooling system work harder.

Am I correct in my airflow thinking though? As in take air in one side (top and bottom) and out the other side? or should I have both intake at the bottom and both tops blow the air out?

maybe, another fan in the middle that blows the air within the box? (as in fan blowing across the mobo)

DaRacerz · 03-29-2005, 11:53 PM

Personally, I would recommend having both top vents blowing out, but because you do have a white car, the body prolly doesn't get so hot, so its not that big of a factor as it would in a darked colored car. I just don't like how the air vents are so far out from the mobo, its not going to do too much good in that scenario.

As far as the car exhuasts, think twice about it. Do some test yourself. Cause the pipe itself will radiate heat. Drive around for 20 minutes and see for yourself would be the best judgement imo.

bulgogi777 · 03-30-2005, 12:32 AM

well, i haven't cut any holes for the box vents... so anything's still possible. where would you put the vents, and how could they be closer to the mobo?

DaRacerz · 03-30-2005, 09:44 PM

Personally, I would put one fan right infront of the mobo at about the height of the pci slots. Two exhausts on the top,just to the left and right. As far as the forth, ionno, guess any spot shouldbe ok for it.

scott_fx · 03-30-2005, 09:55 PM

fan noise will not be an issue...it's in a trunk...not a hatch back (i think) as far as the fans you may want to think about putting two larger intake fans and two smaller exhaust fans. this way you'll have a poss. pressure inside the box. As far as being over the exhuast, i would think that some heat matt would do the trick (i think it's called 'frost king' and you can get it at home depot or other hardware stores)

as far as placement, i think you should maybe think about creating a baffle that will direct airflow from the side fan over the top of the mobo

Peoples · 03-30-2005, 10:04 PM

In my wooden box in my car (which I installed Easter Sunday), I have 2 Fans, the CPU fan (a stock fan came with a 2.4ghz p4), and a case fan mounted on my intake. The heat is not an issue (though its not summer yet) and I've only had 4 days of testing. The highest I've seen it go was 90º, but I've also got a mobile processor. Also, the noise is not an issue, when I can only hear the fans after I turn the car off, you still hear a slight humming....until the opus turns itself off.

bulgogi777 · 03-31-2005, 11:11 AM

Yes, fan noise shouldn't be an issue so I'm not worried about that...

scott_fx, that positive pressure thing would probably have been a good idea, but I already ordered 4 92mm case fans... could I just have 3 of the fans blowing in and 1 blowing out? As far as that frost king, i'll have to check it out... is it expensive? will I be able to cut it to fit my floor in the trunk?

DaRacerz, I'll probably have the bottoms as intake and tops output like you said, but I'm not sure exactly what you mean by putting a fan right in front of the mobo... do you mean, blowing accross the motherboard (orthogonal to the intakes)?

DaRacerz · 03-31-2005, 09:54 PM

Quote:

blowing accross the motherboard (orthogonal to the intakes)?

Yep, thats what I meant.

And fan noise shouldn't be an issue, but in a boot install on a Chrysler the fan noise did go right thru. But chrysler used no sound deadening between trunk and cabin.