Should I saw a hole into my computer?

I've been running with a P4 3.0 GHZ PC for about 3.5 years now. I know that the CPU is a joke, I compensated by upgrading to a 9600 GT in November (I know that it wasn't the best GPU either but I got a decent deal on it), and it still seems to have some slowness issues that might never go away completely.

That having been said, this is my issue.

My CPU runs hot, it always has. Around 80 C. I think the main problem would be that the case does not have a good air circulation path. It's just the inherent design of the case I guess.

I would like to try to cool it down, and to that end, I would examine my computer's removable side panel, mark the spot directly above my CPU's heat sink and then use a circular saw to cut a circle over it. That way the heat sink will pull air from outside of the case directly onto the CPU. I would also put some kind of screen over the hole to help reduce dust.

I have three questions regarding this.

Would this have any sort of noticeable improvement on my computer's stock performance?

Is this an acceptable method to cool down my system?

What kind of material makes for a good 'permanent' dust filter? Ideally a filter that I would only have to spray with compressed air from time to time.

 

Hi DtM,

I recall that the early Socket 775 P4's had something of a problem with heat anyway. From a physics approach, a copper-based aluminium(aluminum) heatsink is the most efficient way to pull heat from a CPU and dissipate it into the airflow.

The method you suggest is not uncommon, I've seen Dell P4's use it with a plastic funnel to direct the air into the fan. They don't use a filter, just a perforated side panel.

How about just cutting a 'blowhole' into the top of the case, heat rises, it will be a passive method of reducing the temperature in the case that is often used in 'LAN party' cases, usually with just a chrome mesh to stop any large items falling in.

Other than reducing the temperature in the case, this is not going to increase your performance (but if you can reduce the temp. enough, it may give you enough headroom to make a small overclock).

You may find a bigger performance boost (I presume you are a gamer) by buying a faster hard drive and using your current drive for the Pagefile.

 

A faster hard drive... I suppose I could look into that (once my income increases of course).

I guess it won't have any real effect on performance, but it will be good to keep the system a little bit cooler. Drilling holes will probably be the way to go on the side, or maybe I can just make it a giant hole and put a mesh over it to make sure no one sticks their finger in, haha.

Slits on the top is a nice idea. Only qualm I would have with it is that since the top is built into the case, I risk hitting some wiring if I mess around with that. The side panel is detachable and therefore doesn't have that problem. It is something that I will think about doing though, so I thank you for the suggestion.

After I looked inside my computer to mark the inside of the door for cutting, I tried turning it on and noticed that my rear exhaust fan is almost completely dead, more twitching than actually turning. I'm gonna replace that. I suppose I can just cut up those soft rubber nob things with scissors that they used to attach it to the case?

It seems as though my computer has been going south the past couple of weeks. I wonder if the exhaust fan is a culprit some how or not.

 

It's the only real suspect at this time Take the PC outside and try to blow some of the dust out of the fan - check wind direction first

 

What is the make and model of the machine?

 

Oh, it's probably just age and has nothing to do with dust in the fan... I dust out my computer once every few months. I'm gonna stop by an electronics store and see if I can snag a replacement fan.

The case is an Antec Sonata II.

 

I have a Gateway E4100 mid-size tower that I drilled some 1/4th inch holes in the side of for ventilation. Can get looking pretty good with some planning first.Dropped the temps down by 12F.

 

Well, I just put in two new fans and readjusted my CPU's fan profile... and wow, what a difference. My CPU is now an average of 15C lower temp, anywhere from 12 to 20 C at any given moment. Gonna try making the hole later.

 

you could also remove the cpu fan, clean it up, and re-apply some thermal paste.

 

I've got to say that most of my slowness issues have disappeared as a result of the new fans. What a difference heat makes.

 

Hello,
Good thing you picked up on this when you did, because 80 degrees is really hot for any computer component and your processor probably would have fried after a while.

 

That's the logic that I used. I was a little more particular about the air filtration, and the need to positively (pressurise) ventilate the case.

A picture is worth a thousand words ... http://picasaweb.google.com/ladderofthorns

 

I have a similar problem in that my GPU (gtx295) runs at 80C under load (24/7) so i installed 2 new 120mm fans,one at the front to suck air in and one at the back to extract the warm air.
The effect was dramatic it dropped the temp by15C so i then used EVGA to turn up the fan speed to 80% on the GPU and that knocked another 5C off, so i am now happy with the temps.

I am going to re-case this PC in the near future to a bigger case and with another motherboard so maybe i can install a bit more cooling.
I am going to power all the fans (except CPU) from an external power unit to reduce the strain on my PSU as it is close to the limit with the high end graphics and CPU, hopefully that will also take some heat out of the PSU.