Quad Core processor generates slightly more heat than I expected, so I had to increase the speed of the 12cm fan in the PSU and added another 12cm fan
to the top-front of the case, also pulling out hot air at medium speed (7V instead of 12V).Looking through my PC parts, fans and circuit boards I found an old fan controller, which I salvaged from a power supply a long time ago.
The green electric component is a temperature sensor, the wired plug goes into a fan header and the fan you want to control connects to the plug on the circuit board.
In my PC the fan on the CPU is PWM controlled
, so I left it they way it was, and I connected the two 12cm fans to the controller and put the temperature sensor on the CPU's heat sink, as that's the biggest heat generator in the case.The result was excellent. When in IDLE or light CPU usage, the big fans are virtually inaudible, but as soon as the CPU goes up to 50*C they start pumping out the warm air, so the CPU never goes beyond 57*C, not even in this heat (28*C ambient).
My next step will be to replace the crappy power supply, which adds significant inefficiency and heat to the system, as it reaches 72% efficiency only when under 50% load. At 25% and 75% load it's more like 60% efficient...
I've identified two candidates, which should do the job well:
- Inter-Tech SL-500 PLUS 500W, rated at 90.2% efficiency, but costing 118RON (30USD)
- Tecnoware FAL525FS12 520W, rated at 86% efficiency, costing only 60RON (15USD)
Both seem good choices, as Inter-Tech is a German brand and Tecnoware is Italian, but they seem a little too cheap for the efficiency they promise. On the other hand I don't need more than 200W and it'll be connected to a good UPS all the time, so if it's missing a couple of safety circuits, it should be no problem.
It all depends on my PSU budget ... I hope I can buy something a bit more serious, which will last me at least 5 years.