Equipment for a bare bones dedicated folding rig

Before replacing the case try this:

Take off the side side panels and turn the cas on its side like an old desktop case. As long as nothing can get into the fans try that for a couple of days and see how you get on. I've done that with my triple GPU rig and i now have no problems with the temps.

it shouldn't take long to do and might save you some $$$
 
Mr. Pedantic said:
Then dust becomes a huge, huge problem.
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It depends on how dusty the environment is - my folding rig is on the floor in the entrance hall of my house, i only clean it every 8-10 weeks or on a hardware upgrade and don't have any problems. I actually get more dust in my enclosed gaming rig that is right beside it.

if yopu have pets though i do agree it would be a major problem
 
Yeah, I remember those old days when desktops were like that. I'm hesitant to try that as dust is a huge problem in my house. For the period where I ran my gaming rig 24/7, there is a yellowish cakey like layer on it right now that almost looks like dried pollen. The thought occured to me that I could do that, but it just doesn't feel right to run a computer naked. My computers like having some dignity. I am a very risk averse person, so I also get paranoid about stuff possibly falling and damaging something. This room has stuff piled everywhere.

Once I recharge my entertainment budget, I will be going with a better case as I don't think that computer components of the future are going to run any cooler than now. Fermi is the next step up in performance from the ATI 5xxx series, and look at how hot that thing really runs. The Core i7's are a step up in architecture compared to the Phenoms, and look at how hot these suckers run.
 
Well guys, it is clear that cooling is becoming an issue with my folding rig. I have went ahead and ordered this drive bay fan that you guys suggested to me in another thread

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...a-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=194r

I will also be upgrading the rear exhaust fan and putting another fan on the Cogage cooler to see how that will help. At this time, I will also try switching to a better thermal compound. With the temps in the house reaching 80 degrees(still too early to turn on the central air unit), Core Temp reported temps for the i7 reaching as high as 90 degrees C.

I was planning on moving everything over to a new case in about 6 weeks, but i've got to try to do something now as temps this high couldn't be good for the other components.
 
Okay, i've decided to use the power of my $100 Micro Center gift card to upgrade the case, PSU, and add a couple of new fans to my folding rig. Right after my bigadv posted this morning, I decided to use the tube of Arctic silver I had laying around and reseated my Cogage cooler. What I found was that it didn't do anything as temperatures once again reached the upper 80's while under load with Prime95's Blend.

I decided that i'm going to do this right and am having Micro Center move everything over to a Cooler Master HAF922, upgrade to a Corsair 650watt modular PSU, add a 78cfm SilenceX fan to the Cogage, and add an external Enermax 74cfm fan to the side panel right over the cpu.

At least now I have the spare power to run a GPU client in the future if I want versus my old Antec 550 watt PSU.

It is kind of funny as I was only planning on moving everything over to the HAF922, but they had some incredible prices on Corsair PSU's today.

As you guys know, I don't do my system builds anymore and they are moving everything over for a very reasonable price of $80. I just don't trust myself and I don't trust my hands anymore to do computer work other than something straighfoward like reseating a HSF.

I think the moral of my story is that Bloomfields run hot as hell and the case is very important for doing 24/7 folding. One of the guys at MC snickered when they heard I was overclocking my 930 with the case I had.

If anyone wants my old Coolermaster case(still perfect for office type stuff), you are free to have it if you are willing to pick it up. I have pics somewhere in this thread. The old Antec 550watt PSU is also free if anyone wants to pick it up or pay for just shipping.
 
Adding to my log here........

OMG, it was the case that was the culprit for my high temperatures.

I'm currently running prime95 in the background as I type this(havn't gotten around to downloading LinX yet). My cpu was running in the mid 80's with the mild overclock I currently have in my signature. When I would try running with the side panel off, temps were usually 5-6 degrees lower. With this new HAF922 case, temps are 10-12 degrees lower now with the cpu only reaching the upper 60's!

That now leaves me some breathing room to start playing with the voltage again! Yeay!!!
 
Nice, I can't wait till I finally get a cooler that will let my bring volts over 1.3.
 
This is why I ended up ditching my Element S in favor of the ATCS 840, my 920 was running like a mini reactor. The Element case is being used with my Thuban system along with the H50 I parted ways with in favor of the big owl brand cooler.
 
tjmagneto said:
This is why I ended up ditching my Element S in favor of the ATCS 840, my 920 was running like a mini reactor. The Element case is being used with my Thuban system along with the H50 I parted ways with in favor of the big owl brand cooler.
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I have to say though that those Noctua coolers look so awesome. It makes a statement about your rig, that no other cooler than that monstrosity called the V10 can match. I settled for the Cogage since I cheaped out on the case, only to pay for it by needing a bigger case. I have to say that i'm really impressed with the HAF922 and kinda wish Micro Center had them in stock when I had my gaming rig with the HAF932 built. The HAF932 is almost so big that it is unmangeable since I am so limited in space in my computer room.
 
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