Diagram of air circulation in the PC case. Theoretical foundations of cooling system unit elements. Component cooling

What is a cooler? PC air cooling system

Cooler(from the English cooler) - literally translated as cooler. Essentially, it is a device designed to cool the heating element of the computer (most often the central processor). The cooler is a metal radiator with a fan that drives air through it. Most often, a fan in a computer system unit is called a cooler. This is not entirely correct. A fan is a fan, and a cooler is precisely a device (a radiator with a fan) that cools a specific element (for example, a processor).

Fans installed in the computer system case provide general ventilation in the case, the entry of cold air and the removal of hot air to the outside. This results in a general decrease in temperature inside the housing.

A cooler, unlike case fans, provides local cooling of a specific element that gets very hot. The cooler is most often located on the central processor and video card. After all, the video processor heats up no less than the CPU, and sometimes the load on it is much greater, for example, during a game.

The power supply also contains a fan, which simultaneously serves both to cool the heating elements in the power supply, as it blows air through it, and for general ventilation inside the computer. In the simplest version of a PC cooling system, it is the fan inside the power supply that provides air ventilation inside the entire case.
Helpful advice:
At least occasionally check the temperature of your PC components. This will help avoid many unnecessary problems. Now there are many free programs for this. For example, . The operating temperature of the processor should not exceed 75 degrees; the temperature of the video card largely depends on the power of the model. For expensive cards, 90-100 degrees can be considered normal temperature. The optimal temperature for a hard drive is 30-45 degrees.

In which direction should the fans in the case spin?

So, let's look at the computer ventilation and cooling scheme. After all, many beginners, when assembling a computer on their own, have the question “Where should the fan blow” or “Which direction should the cooler spin?” In fact, this is really important, because properly organized ventilation inside the computer is the key to its reliable operation.

Cold air is supplied to the housing from the front lower part (1). This must also be taken into account when cleaning your computer from dust. It is imperative to vacuum the area where air is sucked into the computer. The air flow gradually heats up and in the upper rear part of the case the already hot air is blown out through the power supply (2).

In the case of a large number of heating elements inside the case (for example, a powerful video card or several video cards, a large number of hard drives, etc.) or a small amount of free space inside the case, additional fans are installed in the case to increase air flow and improve cooling efficiency. It is better to install fans with a larger diameter. They provide more air flow at lower speeds, and are therefore more efficient and quieter than fans with a smaller diameter.

When installing fans, consider the direction in which they blow. Otherwise, you can not only not improve the cooling of your computer, but also worsen it. If you have a large number of hard drives, or if you have drives operating at high speeds (from 7200 rpm), you should install an additional fan in the front of the case (3) so that it blows air through the hard drives.

If there are a large number of heating elements (a powerful video card, several video cards, a large number of cards installed in the computer) or if there is not enough free space inside the case, it is recommended to install an additional fan in the upper rear part of the case (4). This fan should blow air outside. This will increase the air flow passing through the case and cooling all internal components of the computer. Do not install the rear fan so that it blows inside the case! This will disrupt normal circulation inside the PC. On some cases it is possible to install a fan on the side cover. In this case, the fan should spin so that it sucks air inside the case. Under no circumstances should it be allowed to blow it outside, otherwise the upper part of the computer, in particular the power supply, motherboard and processor, will not be sufficiently cooled.

Which direction should the fan on the cooler blow?

I repeat that the cooler is designed for local cooling of a specific element. Therefore, the overall air circulation in the housing is not taken into account here. The fan on the cooler should blow air through the radiator, thereby cooling it. That is, the fan on the processor cooler should blow towards the processor.

On some cooler models, the fan is installed on a remote radiator. In this case, it is better to install it so that the air flow is directed towards the rear wall of the case or upward towards the power supply.

On most powerful video cards, the cooler consists of a radiator and an impeller, which does not blow air inward from above, but drives it in a circle. That is, in this case, air is sucked in through one half of the radiator and blown out through the other.

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Coolers for processors, coolers for hard drives, coolers for video cards and system chipsets. Add to this card coolers, system blowers and laptop coolers. With so many cooling devices, you can easily get confused, and little by little you begin to believe that coolers are the main component of today's computer. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this is not the case yet, and today there is no need to hang noisy fans on your favorite PC until it takes off. In this article we will try to figure out what are the heat sources in a computer, what methods exist for cooling these components, and whether it is necessary to deal with the increased temperature of the computer at all.

Theoretical basis of cooling

So, a little theory. From a physics course we know that any conductor through which electric current flows generates heat. This means that absolutely all components of the computer, from the central processor to the power cables, heat the surrounding air. The amount of heat generated by one or another computer component directly depends on its energy consumption, which, in turn, is determined by many other factors: if we are talking about a hard drive, then the power of the electric motor and the controller electronics, and if we are talking about a processor or other chip, then the number elements integrated into it and the technological process of its production. This is the physics of our world, and there is no escape from it. But no one has yet come up with the idea of ​​gluing radiators to electrical wires and blowing air over, say, internal modems! This is because different components of the computer affect the temperature in the case in different ways, and if such a “cold” device like a modem does not require any additional cooling, then we pay too much attention to the same video card, which is why they put huge coolers, sometimes even with two fans.
But first of all, let's review what a cooler is. A cooler (from the English Cool - cold) is a device for cooling something. The main task of any cooler is to reduce and maintain the temperature of the cooled body at a given level. And depending on the type of device being cooled, be it a transistor, a chip, a processor, or even a hard drive, different types of coolers are used. In our minds, a cooler is like a “big piece of iron with a propeller,” and the bigger it is, the better it is. However, coolers can also be more complex devices, costing hundreds of dollars. Typically, coolers used in computers consist of a fan, a radiator and a mount.

Radiators

A radiator (from the English Radiate - to radiate) is used to remove heat from a cooled object. It is in direct contact with the cooled object, and its main function is to absorb part of the heat generated by the body and dissipate it into the surrounding air. As you know, again from a physics course, an object gives off heat only from its surface, which means that in order to achieve the best heat removal, the cooled object must have as large a surface area as possible. Today's radiators increase the surface area by installing more fins. Heat from the cooled object moves to the base of the radiator, and is then evenly distributed along its fins, after which it goes into the surrounding air, and this process is called radiation. The air around the radiator gradually heats up, and the heat transfer process becomes less efficient, so the efficiency of heat transfer can be increased if cold air is constantly supplied to the radiator fins. Fans are used for this today. But we'll talk about them a little later.
The radiator must have good thermal conductivity and heat capacity. Thermal conductivity determines the rate at which heat spreads throughout the body. For a radiator, the thermal conductivity should be as high as possible, because often the area of ​​the cooled object is several times smaller than the area of ​​the radiator base, and with low thermal conductivity, the heat from the cooled object will not be able to be evenly distributed throughout the entire volume, over all the fins of the radiator. If the radiator is made of a material with high thermal conductivity, then at each point the temperature will be the same, and heat will be released from the entire surface area with the same efficiency, that is, there will be no situation when one part of the radiator will be hot, and the other will remain cold and will not release heat to the surrounding air. Heat capacity determines the amount of heat that must be imparted to the body in order to increase its temperature by 1 degree. For radiators, the heat capacity should be as high as possible, because when it cools by one degree, the body gives off the same amount of heat. The heat capacity and thermal conductivity of the radiator depend on the material used for its manufacture.

Table of thermal properties of materials

As you can see, it is most profitable to use two materials for the manufacture of radiators: aluminum and copper. The first is due to low cost and high heat capacity, and the second is due to high thermal conductivity. Silver is too expensive to be used to create radiators, but even if you do not take into account its high price, due to its good thermal conductivity, this metal is best used for making radiator bases only.
The design of the radiator is also of great importance. For example, the fins can be installed at different angles to the air flow. They can be straight along the entire length of the radiator, or cut across; they can be thick and with burrs if the radiator is made using extrusion technology, or thin and smooth if it was cast from molten metal. The ribs can be flat, bent from plates and pressed into the base. The radiator can generally be needle-shaped, that is, instead of ribs, it can have cylindrical or square needles. Today it is known that needle radiators perform best in terms of fin design.

Thermal interface

Radiators are adjacent with their base to the object being cooled, and heat from it to the radiator passes only through the surface of their contact, so we must strive to make it as large as possible. But even the usually available contact area (for example, the surface of the processor core) must be used one hundred percent. The fact is that when two surfaces come into contact, tiny cavities filled with air remain between them. This cannot be avoided, and no matter how even and smooth the surface of the radiator may seem to you, it still has cracks and depressions where air collects. Air conducts heat very poorly, and therefore the cooling efficiency will be significantly lower than the capabilities of the radiator.
To get rid of air cushions and increase cooling efficiency, various thermal interfaces are used. They have high thermal conductivity and, due to fluidity, fill all the unevenness of the radiator base. As a result, those places where there was previously air that bothered us are now filled with material that conducts heat well, and the radiator is already working at maximum efficiency. Thermal interfaces come in different types: thermal paste or conductive pads. Gaskets are rubber-like polymer plates applied to the base of radiators. When heated, they change their state of aggregation and, softening, fill in all the irregularities. Nowadays thermal pastes are supplied with the vast majority of branded coolers. More often, thermal paste is simply placed in a box with a cooler in a syringe or a small plastic bag. But it happens that it is already applied to the base of the radiator. In this case, it will only be enough for one or two installations, since assembling it from a cooled chip or processor will be more difficult than buying another bag of paste. When choosing a thermal interface, I would recommend using thermal pastes rather than thermal pads. The greater fluidity of thermal pastes allows them to better fill all the unevenness of the radiator, and due to the use of materials such as silver or aluminum in their composition, they have higher thermal conductivity. Today you can find thermal pastes with 90% silver content on sale. And although silver is an excellent electrical conductor, manufacturers guarantee that the thermal paste will not short-circuit the contacts of the elements of the board or device on which it is applied, but they still recommend not checking the insulating properties of their product and, if possible, avoiding contact of thermal paste with the electrical components of the computer.

Fans

Fans provide a continuous flow of air over the radiator, turning the less efficient process of radiation into the more effective process of convection. Convection is a heat exchange process that differs from radiation in that the cooling air is constantly in motion. In active coolers, it is forced into the radiator and, when heated, is dissipated in the environment. With the use of a fan, the cooler becomes much more efficient, and the temperature of the cooled object can drop by half, or even more, depending on the performance of the fan. Fan performance is its main characteristic, measured in the number of cubic feet of air it moves per minute, abbreviated as CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute). It mainly depends on the area of ​​the fan, its height, the profile of the blades and their rotation speed. The larger these values ​​are, the more air the fan can move, and accordingly, the more efficient the cooling will be. Today, fans for computer coolers do not have the ability to endlessly increase either the size or the rotation speed of the impeller. It is clear that a fan larger than 80 mm is already difficult to place in the case, and the speed of the propeller directly affects its noise level. In addition, a larger fan will need to have a more powerful and more expensive electric motor, which will affect its cost.
All fans used in computers today are powered by direct current, most often 12V. To connect to power, they use three-pin Molex connectors (for Smart fans) or four-pin PC-Plug connectors.

The Molex connector has three wires: black (ground), red (positive) and yellow (signal). PC-Plug has four wires: two black (ground), yellow (+12 Volts) and red (+5 Volts). Molex connectors are installed on motherboards so that the system itself can control the fan speed by applying different voltages to the red wire (usually from 8 to 12 V), and change it if necessary. Via the yellow signal wire, the motherboard receives information from the fan about the speed of its blades. Today, this has become very relevant, since a stopped fan on a processor cooler can damage the processor. Therefore, modern motherboards make sure that the fan is always spinning, and if it stops, they turn off the computer. Connecting via Molex has one drawback: it is dangerous to attach fans with a power consumption of more than 6 W to motherboards. The PC-Plug connector can withstand tens of watts, but when connected to it, you will not be able to find out whether your fan is working or not. Today, more and more often, fans come with PC-Plug - Molex adapters to connect them to the power supply, or even both connectors at once: PC-Plug and Molex, to receive power from the computer's power supply and communicate to the motherboard via the Molex signal wire about the speed of the motor.
Fans can also have different types of rotor suspension. For this purpose, sliding bearings (Sleeve bearing) or rolling bearings (Ball bearing) are used. A fan may have one or two bearings, and sometimes they combine different types - Sleeve and Ball. Fans with rolling bearings (ordinary ball bearings) are considered the most reliable. Manufacturing companies promise them continuous operation for 50,000 hours, which is more than five years, and those that use plain bearings promise to live no more than 30,000 hours, about three and a half years. Today there are already fans with ceramic bearings, which are promised almost immortality - 300,000 hours of continuous operation, and that’s thirty-six years! However, on the one hand, the stated life times of fans very rarely correspond to reality, and often they must be divided by two or even three, and on the other hand, believe me, a computer will not live for thirty-six years. You should expect that a regular fan can last a year or two. Then it starts to hum, and it needs to be lubricated, but even lubricant will solve the problem only for a while, and soon the fan will have to be replaced with a new one.
Some modern fans have automatic speed control, depending on the ambient temperature or radiator temperature. We will tell you about one of these at the end of the article. Almost all of them have a temperature sensor located directly on the fan itself and may not reflect the actual temperature of the object being cooled. That is, when the processor temperature rises, the cooler on which such an automatic fan is installed can only increase its speed after a couple of minutes. Another thing is fans with stop alarms installed on them. When the rotor speed drops below a certain limit, a special electronic unit on the fan wire emits a loud squeak, and you know for sure that it’s time to turn off the computer and replace the cooler.

Passive coolers

Passive coolers are ordinary radiators installed on the cooled object. They remove heat only by radiation, if they are not blown by any computer fans, and are used to cool low-power and small-sized elements, for example, memory chips or transistors. Radiators are installed today on video cards, some motherboards that do not yet have full-fledged coolers, memory modules, and in general on almost everything that needs to be cooled, and even on central processors if they have low power.

A special case of a passive cooler is a heat distributor. It looks like a “bald” radiator made from a plate, without ribs and with a small surface area. Heat spreaders are used today to cool system memory. In particular, Thermaltake produces special kits for DDR SDRAM DIMM modules. The disadvantage of heat spreaders, like passive coolers, is their low efficiency.

Active coolers

Coolers that operate by convection are called active. Simply put, this is a radiator with a fan installed on it. Most often they are used to cool processors. And today, when we say the word “cooler,” we mean, first of all, exactly them. Active coolers are used almost everywhere where cooling is required, replacing conventional radiators. The advantages of such cooling include significantly greater efficiency compared to conventional radiators. Active coolers are able to cool hot processors while being small in size. But fans are always a source of noise in computers, and sometimes vibration. Therefore, they only need to cool very hot elements, otherwise working behind a noisy machine will become unbearable. Another disadvantage of active coolers is that they are short-lived. The fan blades rotate, and sooner or later the bearings on the rotor will fail and it will stop. Naturally, in this case the cooled element will overheat and possibly fail. But most often the fans start to hum loudly before stopping, so you will be warned in advance.

Now that we understand the basics of computer cooling, we can move on to look at the heat sources in a computer and how to cool them.

What heats up in the computer and how does it cool down?

Well, having an idea about coolers, let’s now get a picture of what gets heated in computers and how (if necessary) it needs to be cooled. We'll start with the most basic element of any PC - the central processor. Today, special attention is paid to cooling processors, and therefore every manufacturer of PC coolers necessarily has CPU coolers in its assortment.

Processors

If we do not consider server and laptop computers (including laptops), today personal computers use processors from two manufacturing companies: Intel and AMD. They use three main platforms: Socket 370, Socket 478 and Socket 462 (Socket A). The numbers in the platform designation indicate the number of pins of each processor. Naturally, all these standards are not compatible with each other, and Pentium III for Socket 370 cannot be installed in a motherboard with any other socket. Until recently, the Socket 423 standard was also widespread for the first Pentium 4, but with the advent of the more modern Socket 478, it almost disappeared and is now being successfully forgotten. Each type of processor has its own cooler standards.

Socket 370 uses Intel Pentium III, Intel Celeron (except new ones for Socket 478) and VIA C3 processors. Processors made by AMD (Duron, Athlon on the Thunderbird core, Palomino and Thoroughbred) use the Socket A connector. Coolers for Socket 370 and Socket A are almost compatible with each other. More precisely, we can say that they are fully compatible, but this does not mean that you can install a cooler for an Athlon on a Pentium III. The fact is that although the Socket 370 and Socket A sockets have the same dimensions, the standards by which AMD recommends building motherboards differ from Intel’s. First of all, look at the photo. Socket A has three teeth on the front and back for attaching the cooler. Initially, it was assumed that more powerful coolers would be installed on Athlon processors, which would require a more rigid mount, and one tooth could break under the cooler spring. In addition, AMD recommended that motherboard manufacturers leave a so-called free zone to the left and right of the socket. There should be no elements in this area that could interfere with the installation of rectangular coolers longer than 55 mm (slot width). Thus, on Athlon and Duron processors you can install coolers measuring 60x80mm and as high as your case allows. The Pentium III, of course, is unlikely to have such large coolers, but this again depends on the motherboard.

In addition, many motherboards for Athlon/Duron have four holes around the socket. This is another way to attach the cooler - not to the socket, but to the motherboard. On the one hand, it is more convenient, since the cooler will no longer fall off, breaking off a tooth, but on the other hand, to replace it or upgrade the processor, you will have to remove the motherboard. For better or worse, AMD recently stopped requiring four holes in the clear area near the processor socket, and all future coolers will be attached only to it, and not to the motherboard.
Athlon processors generate up to 73 W of heat when not overclocked. For powerful servers, such heat dissipation from the processor is common, but for desktop computers it is a lot, and besides, the area of ​​the processor core is constantly decreasing, so coolers for modern processors actively use copper in their radiators. And on sale you can see coolers not only with aluminum radiators, but also with a copper base, or completely copper. Some manufacturers, trying to increase the efficiency of coolers, also coat the copper with nickel, silver or other materials with high thermal conductivity. Fans on such coolers most often have a size of 60x60x25 mm, although 70mm and 80mm models are now becoming widespread. They have a lower rotation speed and are much quieter.

CPU	Heat dissipation, W
AMD Duron 1100	51
AMD Duron 1200	55
AMD Duron 1300	57
AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1400	73
AMD AthlonXP (Palomino) 2100+	72
AMD AthlonXP (Thoroughbred) 2600+	68.3

In the case of coolers for Socket 370, everything is much simpler: they all cling to two teeth of the socket and have dimensions that do not exceed the size of the socket. Typically from 50x50 to 60x60 mm. The heat dissipation of Pentium III processors is approximately half that of the Athlon, so they are easier to cool, and coolers with all-aluminum radiators or with a copper base are most often used on the Pentium III. They are cheaper than all-copper ones, which are also not necessary.

If we continue talking about Socket 370 and remember about VIA C3 processors, then we can completely forget about coolers. The fact is that VIA C3 have a reputation as “cold” processors, because they emit too little heat and can also work with passive coolers - ordinary radiators, or very simple coolers. For them, heat generation is not a problem, and therefore computers based on them operate very quietly.
Today it is more profitable to produce coolers for Intel Pentium 4 and Celeron processors for Socket478. The fact is that the market for Athlon coolers is already quite saturated, and besides, the price of computers with AMD processors is low, and not every user is willing to pay dearly for a good cooler. The situation with Pentium 4 is completely different, since they are much more expensive than competitors from AMD, and coolers costing several tens of dollars can be sold to the high-performance processor market.

In computers with Pentium 4 and Celeron processors under Socket 478, the cooler is attached to a special rack on the motherboard. There is an opinion that Pentium 4 processors do not overheat at all. It is fundamentally incorrect, and the first Pentium 4 actually ran cooler than their Athlon counterparts, but now the power consumption of the Pentium 4 with a frequency of 2.8 GHz is around 64 W, and the Pentium 4 3.0 GHz promises to require up to 80 W. Of course, modern technological processes and the design of the Pentium 4 with a built-in heat spreader help it better deal with the heat generated, but it, like the Athlon, requires a large cooler. True, boxed versions of processors are already supplied with coolers, but if necessary, you can find a wide range of coolers for Pentium 4 in stores.

Coolers for Socket 478 have basically one type of fastening: with two steel brackets they cling to the plastic stops of the motherboard and are firmly pressed against the surface of the processor. Sometimes the motherboard bends slightly due to too strong cooler springs, but by and large this is not a big deal. For computers using Pentium 4 in low-end or server cases, there are coolers that attach to the motherboard without using racks around the processor.

Just as is the case with some coolers for Athlon, the mount in them goes through holes in the motherboard (to do this you will have to remove the standard holders for the cooler) and is fixed on top of the processor. In this case, much less physical stress is applied to the board. Unfortunately, such coolers are not very common.
Coolers with various radiators are available for Pentium 4. There are both pure aluminum ones and those with copper bases, or all copper ones. Fans for such coolers are usually installed quiet, because their low performance is compensated by the large size of the radiators. Although, loud models are also a common occurrence among coolers for Socket 478.

Conventional fans have faithfully served computer owners for many years, still remaining the main cooling method - there are others, but those are more for enthusiasts. Phase change systems are obscenely expensive, and liquid cooling with all sorts of tubes, pumps and reservoirs is complemented by constant worries about leaks. And cooling in a liquid system still occurs with air, only the radiator is located further away.

Putting aside worries about the age of the technology, it is difficult not to admit that blowing the radiator with air at room temperature is an effective way to remove heat. Problems arise when the entire system does not allow air to circulate properly in the case. This guide will help optimize the operation of the cooling system and thereby increase performance, stability and durability of components.

Housing layout

Most modern cases are of the ATX layout: optical drives in the front on top, hard drives immediately below them, the motherboard is attached to the right cover, the power supply is in the back on top, expansion card connectors are located on the back. There are variations to this design: hard drives can be mounted at the lower front side using quick-attach adapters, making them easier to remove and install and providing additional cooling on the drive bay side. Sometimes the power supply is placed at the bottom so that warm air does not pass through it. In general, such differences do not have a negative impact on air circulation, but must be taken into account when laying cables (more on this later).

Cooler placement

Fans are usually installed in four possible positions: front, rear, side and top. The front ones work for blowing, cooling heated components, and the rear ones remove warm air from the body. In the past, such a simple system was already enough, but with modern overheating video cards (of which there may be several), heavy sets of RAM and overclocked processors, you should think more seriously about proper air circulation.

General rules

Don't be tempted to choose a case with the most fans in hopes of getting the best cooling: as we'll soon learn, efficiency and smooth airflow are much more important than CFM (cubic feet per minute).

The first step in building any computer is choosing a case that has the fans you need and none that you don't. A case with three vertical coolers at the front is a good starting point, as they will draw air evenly across the entire surface. However, such a number of blow-in coolers will lead to increased air pressure in the case (read more about pressure at the end of the article). To remove the accumulated warm air, you will need fans on the rear and top walls.

Don't buy a case that has obvious airflow obstructions. For example, fast-attach drive bays are great, but if they require drives to be mounted vertically, this will seriously restrict airflow.

Consider a modular power supply. The ability to disconnect unnecessary wires will make the system unit more spacious, and in case of an upgrade, you can easily add the necessary cables.

Don't install unnecessary components: take out old PCI cards that will never be useful again, let additional cooling for memory remain in the box, and several old hard drives can be replaced with one of the same capacity. And for God's sake, get rid of the floppy drive and disk drive already.

Massive air ducts on the case may seem like a good idea in theory, but in reality they will tend to hinder air flow, so remove them if possible.

Side-mounted fans can be useful, but are more likely to cause problems. If they run at too high a CFM, they will make the graphics card and CPU coolers ineffective. They can cause turbulence in the cabinet, impeding air circulation, and also lead to accelerated dust accumulation. Side coolers can only be used to weakly remove air that accumulates in the “dead zone” under the PCIe and PCI slots. The ideal choice for this would be a large cooler with a low rotation speed.

Clean the housing regularly! The accumulation of dust poses a serious threat to electronics, because dust is a dielectric, and it clogs the air outlet paths. Just open the case in a well-ventilated place and blow it out with a compressor (you can also find cans of compressed air for blowing on sale) or lightly brush it with a soft brush. I don’t recommend a vacuum cleaner; it can break off and suck in something you need. Such measures will remain mandatory, at least until we all switch to self-cleaning coolers.

Large, slow coolers are usually much quieter and more efficient, so get them if possible.

Environment

Do not stuff the system unit into any semblance of a closed box. Don't trust computer furniture manufacturers; they don't understand anything about what they do and why. The internal compartments in the tables look very convenient, but compare this with the inconvenience of replacing overheated components. There is no point in thinking through a cooling system if you end up placing the computer in a place where there is nowhere for the air to escape. As a rule, the design of the table allows you to remove the back wall of the computer compartment - this usually solves the problem.

Try not to place the system unit on a carpet, otherwise dust and lint will accumulate in the case faster.

The climate in your area is also worth considering. If you live in a hot area, you'll need to take cooling more seriously, perhaps even consider water cooling. If your place is usually cold, then indoor air is of particular value, which means you should use it wisely.

If you smoke, it is strongly recommended that you do not do so near your computer. Dust is already harmful to components, and cigarette smoke creates the worst kind of dust possible due to its moisture and chemical composition. This sticky dust is very difficult to clean off, and as a result, electronics fail faster than usual.

Cable routing

Proper cable routing requires a lot of planning, and not everyone who is excited about buying new hardware has the necessary patience. You want to quickly tighten all the bolts and connect all the wires, but there is no need to rush: the time spent on proper placement of cables, which does not impede air circulation, will more than pay off.

Start by installing the motherboard, power supply, storage devices and drives. Then, route the cables to the devices, roughly indicating their grouping. This way you will have an idea of ​​the total number of individual bundles and you will understand whether they have enough reserve to be placed under the motherboard. You may need additional adapters for this.

Then you need to choose cable tie tools based on personal preference. There are many products on the market for bundling cables and securing them to the housing.

• The conduit is a plastic tube split on one side. The bundle of wires is placed inside and the tube is closed. When used skillfully it looks neat, but can be difficult if the bun needs to bend.
• Spiral winding is a great option. This is a corkscrew-shaped plastic tape that can be unwound and wrapped around a bundle of cables. Very flexible, so in some cases it is more convenient than conduit.
• Braided cables today are often found on wires leading from the power supply, primarily to the motherboard. Can be purchased separately for cable ties - looks great, but won't be easy to do all the work.
• Cable clamps must be available in abundance for every computer assembler. Combined with adhesive mounting pads, they make cable management simple and effortless.
• Velcro straps (like zippers on jackets) can be reused if you regularly make changes to the wiring system - but they don't look as neat.
• If you know how to use a soldering iron and want to shorten/extend the wires yourself, shrink film will be a convenient and reliable means of insulation and additional fixation. Under the influence of high temperature, such a film contracts, tightly tightening the wires at the point of contact.

Data cables can be easily tucked under or over the drive, or placed in an empty adjacent compartment. If the cables are in the path of air movement, secure them to the wall of the case or compartment. IDE cables are a rarity these days, but if so, replace the flat versions with round ones.

Now that all the cables are in place, all that's left to do is connect the devices without worrying about wires getting in the way of air flow.

Positive or negative pressure?

Oddly enough, you should not compare exhaust and intake fans according to CFM. It is better to choose between positive and negative pressure.

In configuration with positive pressure Coolers with a higher CFM are used for blowing.

Advantages:

• Air escapes through all the smallest holes in the case, forcing each crack to contribute to cooling;
• Less dust gets into the body;
• More useful for video cards with passive cooling.

Flaws:

• Video cards with a direct heat removal system will partially counteract the operation of coolers;
• Not the best choice for enthusiasts.

In configuration with negative pressure The CFM is higher at the air outlet, which creates a partial vacuum in the housing.

Advantages:

• Good for enthusiasts;
• Enhances natural convection;
• Direct, linear airflow;
• Suitable for video cards with direct heat dissipation system;
• Enhances the effect of a vertical processor cooler.

Flaws:

• Dust accumulates faster as air is drawn in through all openings;
• Passively cooled video cards do not receive any support.

Choose a pressure scheme taking into account the hardware of your computer. You can buy a case with adjustable fan speeds. You can resort to third-party solutions to control the speed of coolers, but they are expensive and often look tasteless. Consult your wallet and sense of beauty.

Now that air cools your computer smoothly and effectively, you can be sure that your precious components will last a long time and perform at their best.

Understand the efficiency of the air cooling system. Fans don't just supply air to computer components (it's not the most efficient way to cool a computer). Fans must create air flow inside the case - drawing in cold air and expelling hot air.

Examine the fan. Fans create air flow in one direction, indicated by an arrow (indicated on the fan housing). Look at the new fan housing and find the arrow on it; it indicates the direction of air flow. If there is no arrow, examine the sticker on the fan motor. The air flow is usually directed towards such a sticker.

Install fans to create proper air flow. To do this, install fans to blow in and out air. It is better to install more fans for exhaust than for injection to create something like a vacuum inside the case. This effect will cause cold air to enter the housing from any opening.

• Back panel. The power supply fan located at the rear panel of the case blows air. Therefore, install 1-2 more fans on the rear panel, which will work for exhaust.
• Front Panel. Install one fan on it that will blow air. You can install a second fan in the hard drive bay (if possible).
• Side panel. Install a fan on it that will blow out air. Most cases only allow one side fan.
• Top panel. The fan on this panel should be blowing. Don't think it needs to be set to blow because hot air rises - this will simply result in too many blow fans and not enough blow fans.

Install fans. To do this, use four screws (supplied with the fan). Fix the fan firmly so that it does not make noise. Tighten the screws so that you can remove them if necessary.

• Make sure that cables (including the cable that powers the fan) do not get caught in the fan blades. Therefore, if necessary, pull the cables to the side using cable ties.
• If you have trouble fixing the fan with screws, stick it to the vent using tape, and then fix the fan with screws. Do not apply tape to any components or chips. Remember to remove the tape after you have secured the fan.

Connect the fans. Connect two fans to the headers on the motherboard and the rest to the power supply (via a Molex connector).

• If the fans are connected to the power supply, you will not be able to control their speed (they will run at maximum speed).

Close the case. It is understood that an air flow will be created inside the case to cool the components, and an open case will not allow such a flow to be created. Remember that components in open cases cool much less efficiently.

Check the operation of the fans. If your fans are connected to the motherboard, you can check their operation by

Computer cooling is an integral system of a desktop PC. All parts of this device are subject to heating due to electrical power, and the load level directly affects the amount of heating. To prevent PC damage and ensure faster operation, you need to take care of cooling. It is important even for the simplest device that is not subject to high loads.

Varieties

Computer cooling is divided into two main types - water and air. The latter option has become most widespread today. This system has the following mechanism of action: heating parts transfer heat to the radiator, which then goes outside the PC. The speed of air flow, the materials used and its usable area affect the efficiency of this type. For example, copper conducts heat better than other materials, but its cost is corresponding. Increasing heat transfer is also possible by blackening the surface of the radiator. The air technique is divided into two types: passive and active.

The passive option is suitable for personal computers that are not intended for intensive workload. It has rather low efficiency. Despite this, as part of a silent system, it provides intensive removal of warm air during a slow flow.

The active type contains both a fan and a radiator at the same time - this way the heat moves much faster from the internal elements outside the system unit. It is possible to install additional coolers for the most heated PC parts - video card and processor.

Liquid based cooling

Previously, this technique was found only in server systems, but the modern spread of technology has made it possible to use it in home devices. The computer is based on a working composition - a special refrigerant that transfers heat to the radiator from the heated components. The main advantage is the speed provided by the physical properties of the liquid, since it conducts heat much faster compared to air. Antifreeze, purified oil, and even plain water can act as a refrigerant.

This computer cooling consists of a steel plate that acts as a heat sink, a circulation pump, pipes through which the liquid passes, and a radiator. It has a complex design, so its installation cannot be carried out by inexperienced users. Improper installation or the use of low-quality materials can lead to leakage, the consequences of which can be the breakdown of important internal elements. If you do not have the relevant experience, you should purchase a PC with an already installed system or turn to professionals.

Selecting the required option

Liquid cooling of a computer is used to ensure quiet operation and high performance. To obtain high performance, the addition of a powerful pump is required, which can produce more noise compared to an air active system. However, the silent method is not capable of such results and is not suitable for professional and gaming PCs.

A computer, even in its simplest design, is quite expensive, so it has not become widespread. It is most popular among gamers and web designers, since in most cases the air version is sufficient for normal PC operation.

Certain parts heat up more, and as a result, they need better heat dissipation; this must be taken into account when distributing cooling elements.

How to improve cooling

If there is a need to increase the quality of cooling, it is worth purchasing a new radiator and fan, as well as updating the layer of thermal paste.

A new cooler is also a solution to situations where the fan is unstable. It is worth paying attention to the need to match the motherboard and the purchased devices. At the same time, the new fan must be more powerful compared to the existing analogue.

Coolers are arranged in such a way that their blades rotate in different directions, thanks to which a noticeable improvement in cooling efficiency can be achieved.

One of the main conditions for high computer performance is thorough cleaning of the internal elements from dust and accumulated debris.

Frame

Air exchange in budget versions of home computers is carried out by an exhaust cooler located on the power supply and a ventilation grille. enters and passes through its component parts, and through the supply element the heat is released to the outside. But as the power of a personal computer increases, this becomes insufficient, and the need arises to use additional coolers. They must be installed in certain places; if this rule is not followed, they will not bring the required efficiency, due to the fact that warm air currents will constantly pass through the system unit. Typically, a large computer cooling fan located at the bottom is used to supply airflow, and several smaller coolers provide airflow.

CPU

It is this part that is subject to the greatest heating, which subsequently reduces the speed of the PC. The solution to this situation is to use a medium-sized fan, so you can achieve sufficient efficiency and at the same time a low degree of reproduced noise.

Of particular importance is systematic monitoring of the presence of thermal paste. It is applied to the area between the radiator and the processor and prevents the formation of a layer of air that has a low level of thermal conductivity.

Other details

A significant load during operation falls on the video card, which is especially noticeable when using graphic editors and other programs. This element is often equipped with a built-in fan. There are also passive cooling options, common among those who prefer silent systems or want to increase performance by installing an additional cooler.

For ordinary users, cooling a computer, in particular elements such as a hard drive or motherboard, is not as important as for gamers. The hardest thing is for the motherboard chipset - its heating temperature can reach up to 70 degrees.

Dust control

To ensure high efficiency, it is not enough to cool your computer yourself; you must systematically clean the inside of the case. The performance of radiators clogged with dust is practically reduced to nothing, and coolers clogged with dust cannot create proper air circulation in the system unit. That is why regular cleaning of your PC from dust is required. Particular attention should be paid to the contact surfaces of parts, the power supply, radiator and coolers.