Case suggestions for High Ambient Temperature

I am working on building a new server in my apartment that will have a reasonably beefy GPU and CPU so I can get PCIE pass-through working and get a gaming VM set up.

Trouble is, my apartment is in the attic in the south. With the AC on I had one or two really bad days last year that it got up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit inside with high humidity.

Any cooling suggestions for something like that? Is 90 degrees Fahrenheit still cool enough to reduce the temperature of my components? I would really like to avoid buying a phase change cooler, but that is the only thing I can think of if the ambient is too high.

False,

90F should be fine. A lowish CPU temp is like 40C (104F) and that’s typically the hottest component. CPUs are often made to go up to around 90C under load.

Chocrates,

Thanks, I am thinking I need to build it with good air cooling and pay attention to the airflow and then see if I actually am having throttling problems in the summer. I am at work during the hottest parts of the day anyway so I won’t be gaming for the most part until it is already cooling down. My other workloads are not GPU intensive.

False,

I’d be more concerned about your computer making the room even hotter personally. To put it in AC terms, 500W of component power draw is 1700 BTU. May want to err on the side of more power efficient components.

But yeah, should run fine as long as you have good air cooling even if it’s not ideal. Data centers are often run hot these days.

Toes,

Have you considered a water cooling setup?

Keep in mind that whatever cooling solution you use it’s going to make that room even hotter.

Your best bet is getting a stronger air conditioner (that’s kept far away from the computer) to cool that room. To deal with the computer heat you’ll likely want to consider a unit with double or more BTU intended for the size of the room you’re cooling and set to a lower temperature than what you desire during heavy use of the computer.

Even in offices with HVAC systems, the server room typically has its own air conditioner.

Chocrates,

Thanks, it is an apartment so I can’t upgrade the hvac. Does water cooling do anything other than get the CPU to ambient more efficient than air cooling? I just was afraid of leaks is the only reason I didn’t want to look at that. Since I have never done it before.

Maybe what I need to do is build it and then see how it throttles on hot days in the summer and then address it then.

Toes,

Thanks, it is an apartment so I can’t upgrade the hvac.

Right, so what I’m suggesting is that you install an airconditioning unit in your window. If you’re not allowed one that hangs out the window, using one of the ones that have two hoses to the window. (The popular one hose variation is terribly inefficient)

If you tell me there are no windows, I believe that is an unlawful dwelling and look into resolving that. Like having the landlord forced by the courts to install a good window.

Does water cooling do anything other than get the CPU to ambient more efficient than air cooling?

I’m not well versed in the nuances of this scientifically. However my understanding is that the reservoir behaves as a thermal battery, and could help in conditions where you don’t saturate it with heat. basically it takes longer for the computer hardware to get hot.

Chocrates, (edited )

Ok thanks I get it.

So I live in the attic of a 100 plus year old house. It has two rooms and a living room. The two rooms have window ac units and the rest of the windows that do open, for the most part, open sideways or are otherwise weird enough that another window unit probably isn’t too feasible.

I also have the HVAC unit that was shoved in here (you can see where they added on the ducts kind of shoddily).

With all of those going it still gets to 90 on very hot days towards the tail end of the peak temperature of the day.

I think what I am gonna do is buy a nice cpu cooler, leave the stock gpu cooler, and pay attention to fan placement (positive pressure I guess is what I am looking for?) and then just benchmark it at the hottest part of the day. It shouldn’t stay that hot all day and I am usually gaming later in the day or evening so I shouldn’t have the GPU introducing heat at least during the hot parts.

I have never done water cooling before but I am afraid that I will half ass it and spill everywhere is my only reason for pausing on that.

Now they do make water chillers and they appear to be cheaper than a dedicated phase change CPU cooler so potentially I could pipe the water to a reservoir that uses a water chiller to cool it down a couple degrees if I really wanted. That would still use phase change cooling but the heat from it could be away from computer case as well and if I build it such that it never gets too cold I shouldn’t have condensation issues inside the case.

Long story short, thank you for the advice. I think I am trying to optimize this before I even have a problem, so I think I need to start simple and then address problems as them come.

bitwaba,

If you wanna go absolutely crazy, do a custom water loop and submerge the radiator in a 5 gallon bucket with a water pump to to circulate the water.

when your CPU or GPU starts to get too hot because the water in the 5 gallon bucket starts to get hot, scoop a gallon out with a smaller bucket and refill it with cooler water that you can easily fill up under the bathtub faucet.

False,

Nothing is going to get it lower than ambient aside from something with a condenser because physics.

Toes,

Yeah the laws of thermodynamics can be a cruel mistress.

Chocrates,

Room temperature super-conducting transistors when!?

Chocrates,

Hey sorry, yes I understand that. I was just asking about water cooling I guess since I have never used it. I agree though the best I can do without phase change (or the fancy no moving part cooling thing that I never remember the name of) is ambient.

Kyrgizion,

A phase change cooler would probably generate a lot of condensation in a hot & humid environment.

Maybe see if you can pipe the heat from the pc directly outside?

Chocrates,

Good point on the condensation. I wonder how piping the outgoing air could work, but that is a good idea

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