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It�s All About Staying Cool
There are three main ways to keep your computer running cooler.
AIR FLOW
MOST computers are cooled by fans. This is how the system basically works:
As you use your computer, the components generate a lot of heat. The CPU (Central Processing Unit, the
main brain chip on your computer) runs hotter than anything else. Left unchecked, this heat will melt the CPU in under a minute. To remove this heat, there is a heatsink
(large metal structure with fins) clamped against it. The heat travels through the heat sink, and is dispersed by a fan blowing directly into the heat sink.
Other components like hard drives, CD-ROMs, video cards, sound cards, or anything in your computer with
electrical current running through it, also generate heat. Not as much, but it still adds to general temperature inside your case.
In order to alleviate this buildup, other fans, in the power supply, and mounted on the case carry the heated air out the back of the computer, while bringing in cooler air from the front, sides, and bottom.
One of the fastest and cheapest ways to cool down your computer�s internal components is by adding a couple of
high efficiency, low noise fans to create a smoother air flow.
Most systems have underpowered cooling systems.
Many come with poorly venting power supplies, no extra case fans, and inferior fans on key components. And things get in the way. All your components are connected with cables which hang freely inside your case. Many of these cables are wide flat ribbon cables. These fill up the area inside your case and prevent smooth airflow. This can create protected areas that don�t get enough cool air rushing past them to keep them from failing.
Finally, the vast majority of computers were bought with a case that came preloaded with a power supply.
MOST standard computer cases run from $29 to $69.
We�d like you to think about your case and power supply. If you have one of these preloaded cases that
cost less than $70, (most people do), we�d like you to consider the following:
If you have a $39 case, and you count on $15 of it going to the materials, and manufacture of the case itself, and add a mere $10 for profits, packaging, and distribution along the entire chain from manufacturer to you, that leaves a frightening $15 for the Power Supply Unit (PSU) that was put into it. Do you REALLY want to trust all the components you just spent hundreds, and sometimes THOUSANDS of dollars on, to a $15 bulk manufactured power supply?
It�s our mission, as Nerds, to get everyone we meet to use a QUALITY name brand power supply.
A proper PSU will keep your computer cooler through highly increased airflow. And they are designed to give your components CLEANER, MORE STABLE electrical current with multiple fail-safe systems integrated. We have seen power supplies literally catch fire and explode. We have seen them fizzle out and take $2000 worth of components with them.
Nobody expects to get hit by lightning, but when we do, it REALLY hurts. Buying a quality PSU is like buying a
lightning rod to safeguard your computer.
LIQUID COOLED
Liquid cooling works exactly the same as air cooling, in that a heatsink removes heat from the computer�s
components. The difference is that in this case, the heatsink is actually a water cooling block (solid block of metal, usually copper, with water running through it) which picks up
the heat in LIQUID instead of air. The Liquid is continually circulated by a pump, to a structure that has heatsinks on it.
Often, the cooling reservoir has fans to dissipate the heat.
The advantage is that liquid cools much more efficiently than fans, and is usually MUCH quieter, since less fans
are required. This is a more expensive method than air cooling, but prices are dropping so fast, that it is rapidly coming within reach of most consumers.
HEAT DISSIPATION
There is a third solution which is becoming increasingly popular and affordable.
It is called ICE PIPE. It involves a specially sealed Self contained PUMPLESS heatsink, ICE PIPE, and Radiator assembly. This system works much like liquid cooling, except that the movement of heat takes place automatically inside the highly specialize pipes.
The heat from you components comes through the heatsink, and evaporates the liquid in the pipe. The hot
vapor travels through a membrane to another channel in the pipe. It automatically makes its way to the radiator (heat rises) where a single quiet fan gently blows air through the
radiator to dissipate the heat. The vapor, cooled down, now condenses, turning back into liquid, and runs back down the pipes to the cooling block, and begins it�s journey again.
This is known as a PHASE CHANGE method, since the liquid changes phase into a gas, and then back into liquid form.
Please note, that all of these methods still use airflow from fans to facilitate the cooling process.
It IS possible to get highly specialized cases (for less money than you might think) that have ONLY Ice Pipe or water cooling technology, including the power supply, which are ABSOLUTELY SILENT.
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