Cooling A challenge

Heres a challenge, for those who consider themselves 'true cool'.

1) create a computer case
2) this case must be air tight
3) place a refridgerator within the case

this would be an extremely interesting experiment, buy a second hand mini fridge (example), take out the cooling components and run them from the computers PSU (these mini fridges take 12v so it wont be too hard). The case would have to be air tight to be of any use. I have one of these fridges myself and keep it running all day, after about 6hrs they turn themselves off for about 1hr then start up again. So theoretically, you would never need a fan (well, one small one, just to circulate the air. not a high speed one), water cooler, or heatsink again! You would need to find a way to keep the refridgerator running constantly, perhaps thread the lead through an expansion slot.

anyone up for the challenge?

 

Using minifridges is nothing new. Most people place the comuter in the fridge and not the other way around, so that you can take advantage of the insulation.

However there is one major problem. They are not cold enough.
There are better and easier ways to get chilly.

Also a simple bomb will get comparative results.

So will I take the challenge for a lousy 4c. Think not.

 

I dont know where your getting your figuires from, but my mini-fridge goes down 30c not 4c. Being that most processors will never breach this mark, cooling it using this would certainly be 'possible'. The reason why I say put a fridge in a case is that it becomes portable..

 

I assume you mean -30c and the freezer compartment. The main fridge part normally only go to around 4c as the running temp as that is what food should be stored at.

The small freezer part will cool a cpu if you attach it to an evaporator for phase change cooling.

Look up the article on "cooling technologies explained" on www.procooling.com which should give you a good idea of the limitations of mini-fridges and their usages.

 

actually, the specs say that it cools to -30 relative to room temperature..

 

I think what you're thinking of is similar to what is used in most datacentres and server rooms - airconditioned to chilly temps to keep the servers happy - just make a prometeia style unit and leave the air cooling bit

 

Nice idea, but not only have you got to make the box airtight, you also have to extract the moisture from the inside air, otherwise you get frost, and when the unit is switched off, liquid condensation everywhere

I was thinking of an insulated box of which the inside air was chilled by circulation through an airconditioner. You'd then have a standard air-heatsink affair on the CPU, and presto. The insulation would dampen sound to boot. As moisture would be extracted by the air flowing over the cooling array (as the moisture would freeze on the array), there would be no worries about water getting into the computer itself.

 

Quoting your specs is all very well and good, but see what happens to them when you introduce a heat source.

A regular fridge isn't built to cope with that, let alone a mini-fridge.

 

yes, but remember, you dont have to cool it completely.

Say the CPU goes from 10c to 50c and the case temp is -30 (relative to outside temp), that should still bring the temp down to at least 30c if not more, and not to mention it would be coolin every component, including the motherboard. so it may verywell, cool it to much lower temperatures than currently available.

 

for about 3 months, then the fridge gives out cause its not rated for constant use....

 

alright then, create a circuit so that it switches on when the pc is on. And turns off when the cpu's temp is down to 10-20c. Besides, as I said, it doesnt run continually it shuts its self off after a pre-determained time then starts up again.

 

its better to put a large res in there and just cool water than to just try to cool a cpu.....it would heat up in a matter of minutes....so basicly it would be worse cause ti would be switching on and off constantly

 

one problem with extreme cooling is that it is full of quoted figures that can never be substantiated. You get it down to -30c on a 12v supply for 24 hrs continous, post the results (photo of digital read out) and then we can talk real options. Until then its pipe dream time.

 

You seem to have misunderstood me. A fridge is built to remove heat from an airtight and thermally insulated compartment. The specs quoted are based on tests under those conditions.

Heat is removed and no more heat is introduced until the door is opened and warm air flows in.

Under the conditions you're talking about, heat is constantly being introduced. From every single component in your system. Even the the ones that don't produce enough heat to bother cooling under normal circumstances become a cause for concern when they're pumping out heat into a sealed system that is trying to maintain a cool temperature. With that, at best you'll be lucky to get 10 degrees C under ambient. At worst, it'll be a race to see what burns out first, your CPU or your mini-fridge's motor.

 

from what i know of fridges they dontjsut die eather

when our propper frdge dropepd dead the motor did not just die it spectacularly caused the fridge to lurch forward (think the dance your washing machine does when you over load it & it tries to spin)

now think about putting a computer ina minifridge ona desk, that lurch could cause all your components to go smashie smashie

 

I think this is the best thing to do with a mini fridge. http://www.amdforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1107231#post1107231

 

yes, well. What I'm talking about is a MICRO fridge, their about 1ft sq. not big enough to hold anything other than a couple of cans (mine holds a max of 6).

 

That's not actually the type of mini-fridge we're talking about. In fact, I'm not sure that's even classed as a mini-fridge.

Even then, he's only cooling a CPU and pumping the coolant through a radiator in the fridge. He doesn't have to worry about all the other components pumping eat into the system.

 

the link burntfire has is the best idea but i would use a full size fridge so you can use the leftover space for.........
.......wait for it..................


LAGER

 

Agreed