Using room a/c to cool the computer

J

jazzwall

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Jul 5, 2005
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First off, my computer cools self-sufficiently... just that it gets noisy when under load (e.g. playing games, etc).

I was thinking of directing some cool air from my a/c using a duct right where the case intake fan is sucking in air. What do you guys think? And if it works out, I would like to actually connect that duct somehow to the intake so that when I play games, it stays chill...

After splurging all my money on a 4800+ cpu, I can't afford expensive vapochill like solutions... nor do I need it that critically.

The one thing I'm concerned about is condensation and stuff...

Any comments, etc appreciated.

-Jazz
 
Depends on the humidity of the cool air.
Is it wet cool air or dry cool air?
 
You only get condensation if your cooling air down not warming it up.
Think condensation on cold beer not hot coffee.

So by pumping cold air into your case the major place you will get condensation is on the outside of your case if you can get it cold enough.
The only way you could really get condensation to form inside the case is if you turned the A/C off and then let warm-damp air in to the case where it would then form condensation on any cold parts.

Luck........... :D
 
It seems to me that condensation results when stuff inside is colder than stuff outside. That's why a glass of ice water condenses. I would think that if the inside of the case got cooler than outside, condensation might occur?
 
jebo_4jc said:
It seems to me that condensation results when stuff inside is colder than stuff outside. That's why a glass of ice water condenses. I would think that if the inside of the case got cooler than outside, condensation might occur?
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Yes, on the outside of the case.
 
Condensation occurs when warm moist air comes in contact with something much cooler.
 
It depends of the temperature of the air as well. I tend to agree that moisture would form on the outside of the case, not inside.
 
1. Yes, of course it will cool your machine down. Nicely.

2. It will not be reliable...what happens when the thermostat turns off the AC for a while?

3. Anybody who thinks that condensation will form anywhere due to the relatively cool air from an AC vent is an idiot. You won't have any problem of this sort, its not fucking dry ice.

4. Enjoy, but i wouldn't leave it overclocked like that and trust my house to cool my computer.
 
3. Anybody who thinks that condensation will form anywhere due to the relatively cool air from an AC vent is an idiot. You won't have any problem of this sort, its not fucking dry ice.
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LOL...it depends on the temperature of the air he is ducting into his case. I can tell you as a fact, that if he ducts AC air directly into the case or over his cpu and that air is 20 degrees colder than the outside air (air inside the case), condensation will form! This is from my own personal experience with watercooling!

I used to run a waterchiller that was capable of turning 5 gallons of a 50/50 water/antifreeze mix into slush in about 10 minutes :). I could run this solution (-35 deg C) through my waterblock hoses and condensation would start forming in about 1 minute or less on the hoses and waterblock when they weren't insulated. I used the thermostat controller to turn down the temperature on the waterchiller. I cooled the water to 15 degrees below the ambient air temperature and no condensation would occur. I kept taking the temperature down. At about 20 deg below ambient, condensation would start to occur on the hoses!
 
KingPariah777 said:
2. It will not be reliable...what happens when the thermostat turns off the AC for a while?
4. Enjoy, but i wouldn't leave it overclocked like that and trust my house to cool my computer.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned, my PC cools self-sufficiently already... and a/c cooling is not critical at all... it's just so that the cpu fan can stop over-rev ving / creating noise when under heavy load. So if the ac turns off, no harm done.

Thanks ya'll for your help!!! I guess condensation wouldn't matter too much... the a/c air won't be that cold compared to the room air (since room is also a/c cooled).

Will let you guys know how this work!

-Jazz
 
freeloader1969 said:
LOL...it depends on the temperature of the air he is ducting into his case. I can tell you as a fact, that if he ducts AC air directly into the case or over his cpu and that air is 20 degrees colder than the outside air (air inside the case), condensation will form! This is from my own personal experience with watercooling!

I used to run a waterchiller that was capable of turning 5 gallons of a 50/50 water/antifreeze mix into slush in about 10 minutes :). I could run this solution (-35 deg C) through my waterblock hoses and condensation would start forming in about 1 minute or less on the hoses and waterblock when they weren't insulated. I used the thermostat controller to turn down the temperature on the waterchiller. I cooled the water to 15 degrees below the ambient air temperature and no condensation would occur. I kept taking the temperature down. At about 20 deg below ambient, condensation would start to occur on the hoses!
Click to expand...
the air that comes out of the AC ducts in a home is a far cry from a waterchiller like you are talking about. Your example betrays the point you were trying to make.
 
I have an air conditioner right now that is capable of lowering my ambient temperature inside my computer case by more than 20 degrees F. So the example I'm using is perfectly valid. Granted, air and water are not the same. If you have central air, you can definitely lower your temperatures by more than 20 deg F. If he feeds the duct into the front of the case and supplies cold air to all the components in the case, I don't think anything will happen. If he were to feed the duct into the side panel and cool only the CPU, then he may encounter problems.

ALL I'M SAYING IS THAT IF HE RUNS A DUCT DIRECTLY TO HIS CASE AND HIS COMPONENTS INSIDE THE CASE ARE 20 DEGREES F WARMER THAN THE AIR HE'S FEEDING INTO THE CASE, THEN CONDENSATION CAN OCCUR. I've been out of high school for 20 years, but I seem to remember condensation occurs when cold air meets warm air and the water vapour in the warm air turns to liquid again, or something like that. Similar to putting a glass of cold water in the sunshine. Condensation forms on the outside of the glass.

Jazzwall, just run the duct and see what happens. Don't leave the computer unattended until you know with 100% certainty that no condensation will form. Also, if you have them, use silica gel packs (they usually come in electonics packages) as they will remove water vapour from inside the case if it starts to form. I will crank up my AC unit and run a duct directly to my own case and let you know what happens! I'll do that tonight. If condensation occurs, I will post pictures.

I'll keep you posted.
 
Just do like I did and make your own special computer room thats real small and then put in a huge wall unit made to cool a regular sized house into your new computer room thats only 8ft by 8ft :) Anyways you can imagine it gets very cool in my computer room its 64sq ft and the wall unit is made to cool 1400sq ft :) oh and dont forget to have a good coat!
 
Shane said:
Just do like I did and make your own special computer room thats real small and then put in a huge wall unit made to cool a regular sized house into your new computer room thats only 8ft by 8ft :) Anyways you can imagine it gets very cool in my computer room its 64sq ft and the wall unit is made to cool 1400sq ft :) oh and dont forget to have a good coat!
Click to expand...
And about $200?
 
The only issue you'd have w/condensation is if any of the metal gets cool enough to cause the condensation. Since the air is cooling (or more accurately extracting heat from) the metals, the metals can't drop sub-air, so you have no problem there.

However, if you're talking about running a 1000W appliance to cool a 3-400W one, you may need counseling-especially if you're stable and happy where you are. Depending on if you want to do this long term or not you may want to move to water cooling.
 
OK....I ran the AC duct to the computer. My cpu temperatures went from 60 deg C (under full load) down to 40 deg C. Case temperatures went from 35 deg C down to about 20-21 deg C. This was with an ambient air temperature of 28 deg C and a fully enclosed Antec Sonata case.

No condensation whatsoever.

I then put the case outside in an ambient temperature of 34 deg C. Guess what, condensation started to form on the outside of the case. Not much, very little actually. :)
I'll take pictures tomorrow if I get a chance. It's going to be 34-35 deg C again.
Just on my own experiences, I'd say you can run the duct to the computer in the house and not worry about it.
 
freeloader1969 said:
OK....I ran the AC duct to the computer. My cpu temperatures went from 60 deg C (under full load) down to 40 deg C. Case temperatures went from 35 deg C down to about 20-21 deg C. This was with an ambient air temperature of 28 deg C and a fully enclosed Antec Sonata case.

No condensation whatsoever.

I then put the case outside in an ambient temperature of 34 deg C. Guess what, condensation started to form on the outside of the case. Not much, very little actually. :)
I'll take pictures tomorrow if I get a chance. It's going to be 34-35 deg C again.
Just on my own experiences, I'd say you can run the duct to the computer in the house and not worry about it.
Click to expand...

Thanks freeloader! I think I'll use a duct... unfortunately, my mobo was defective and the poc monarchcomputer is gonna take about 7 more days to ship me a replacement. :(

I'll let you guys know how it goes. Thanks!
 
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