Is this wise????
 

I housed my PC tower in a Bedroom unit (See Pic).

The PC never really heats up to touch, and I have my surge sockets inside the bedroom unit.

When I closed the unit doors and had the PC running for an hour I opened them to check it, the heat that came out was like an oven, it wasn't immense but you could definately feel the heat, Graphics card / Processor probably.

Anyway, will this cause me any major problems, or would this be considered a fire risk in your opinion?

Re: Is this wise????
 

Have you got any ventilation in there at all? (when the doors are shut)

Re: Is this wise????
 

If you have no ventilation your Pc will overheat and it could cause it to crash or reduce in performance. Although components get warm, too warm isnt good for them and could ultimately lead to an early death of parts.

Could you maybe fix up a duct to an external fan or drill holes into the back of the cabinet?

Depending on your PC case you could also mount a fan at the front to draw warm air out. but then again after seeing the pic, you'd still be in the cabinet.

I don't think it is a fire risk though. There is nothing which could really ignite.

Re: Is this wise????
 

The hole in the back you have cut for the wire is probably enough to get enough air in, altho you could make it bigger or cut another hole if you're worried

Re: Is this wise????
 

I disagree Graham. The cabinet looks to be fairly close, if not touching the wall, so no air is going to get through the hole at all.

In addition, hot air rises, so if a hole is going to help, it would be better at the top corner of the back of the cabinet, or better still on the side.

IMHO, having a PC sealed in a cabinet like this is a 100% effective way to shorten the life of the PC. Cooling fans are there for a reason, to dissipate the heat generated by components into the cooler air surrounding them, this can't happen if the surrounding air is already approaching(or even exceeding) the temperature of the components that are trying to be cooled.

Re: Is this wise????
 

Most modern PC's will have sensors on components such as the CPU which will shut it down if those things overheat. However the PC is designed to be able to draw cool air into the case and expell warm air. By enclosing it in a cabinet you are recirculating that exhausted heat. In an attempt to keep things cool, the various fans are likely to run much faster. Over time that will use more energy. As others have said, running components warm can affect theirlonger term durability.

Bottom line PCs should not be in small enclosures.

Re: Is this wise????
 

Heat will cause problems, you do need circulation, so maybe some holes cut in the back will help, or remove the doors completely.

Re: Is this wise????
 

i would take it out of the cabinet it will cause more problems than what it would having it out of the cabinet.

it will overheat if you start playing games or running the cpu at 100% as you say after a hour you opened, the doors and it was like a oven then obviously it's gonna get to hot in there.

Re: Is this wise????
 

Make the hole botton right bigger and fit 2 x 120 mm fans drawing air in( I am sure you can suss a way of getting them to work.) The top left corner have 2 120mm drawing air out so you will have a good air flow then I would keep it in there. If venting it isnt an option I would take it out

Re: Is this wise????
 

The only advise I can give is that what everyone else has said. Either make the ventilation better in the cupboard, or take it out completely. Computers can't stay in confined spaces, because they just accumulate heat, slow down and break eventually.

Re: Is this wise????
 

Fit fans to the wooden cabinet :dunce:

Re: Is this wise????
 

The cabinet is close against the wall (Rear) and (Side) and eventually a worktop will be placed over the existing unit which will act much like a kitchen top and thus flush against the wall.

In this pic you can see theres about 1.2" from the wall to the unit, I "Could" remove the back completely to allow airflow, thats not a problem but I didnt want the unit doors open all the time, which they are now, because they are high gloss and very easy scratched.

I "think" that the reason of so much heat is from my USB external which I put in there, it belts out a huge ammount of heat. I have now unplugged this to see how it goes.

If it still gets too warm in there then i do have another place where i can put the PC where air flow is more abundent. If I could avoid doing that I would though.

Is their anyway I can check the core CPU temperature and GPU via Windows? If I can then I can test the CPU and GPU with the doors shut and doors open and see if they increase or decrease, maybe?

Re: Is this wise????
 

PS- The side of the Pic you can see is having another unit next to it, it's not staying as a single unit like it is in the picture.

Re: Is this wise????
 

More to the point, it's not Easter yet so step away from the egg...

Re: Is this wise????
 

I think for the time being removing the backing will be a good idea. It will mean air can atleast rise up out of the cabinet and move around.
With the doors still there you won't see the panel off so all is good.

Good idea unplugging the USB drive. If not used all the time, best to not have it on.

Re: Is this wise????
 

These 120mm Fans have me perplexed, the ones i've seen are for connection inside the PC, Is their no mains powered fans I could maybe fit? IE; Direct via a plug. Also what would they need to be, extractor or one that sucks air in to the unit itself?

Cutting a hole in the side is a big no no, but theres even less space on the right side against the wall and the left side will have another unit against it.

---------- Post added at 17:27 ---------- Previous post was at 17:25 ----------

mine :pp:

Re: Is this wise????
 

I'd just take the back off at the moment. Atleast that will let some heat get out.

Most fans you can turn either way, either to suck or to blow.

Re: Is this wise????
 

I wouldn't recommend removing the back. A lot of these cabinets use the back as a support to stop the cabinet moving. Looks like this cabinet might.

Re: Is this wise????
 

Its a sturdy unit, the backing is only cardboard type stuff anyway, it would hold, but it will be jointed to another unit for stability and a worktop fixed on top and to the wall, no way thats comming down ;)

Re: Is this wise????
 

I would advise getting as much ventilation as possible with air free circulation, this will also any save components heat stress which could lead to a loss of service or even a fire.

Re: Is this wise????
 

2x 120mm fans opposite ends of the back of the cabinet, one at the top one at the bottom, set one to suck air in (bottom of the cabinet) the other to blow air out. As for the power supply for them, a 12v adapter will run them without a problem. the top fan to remove air as heat rises, this will establish a circulation of cooler air in the cabinet.

btw Thanks for the printer :D

Re: Is this wise????
 

wish I thought of that lol

Re: Is this wise????
 

when i had my old case and was using air cooling i had to have a desktop fan pointing at the front, of the case so that there was air being drawn in to the case from the front because i had it in a computer desk with a cabinet type thing which only, has side panels no front or back my pc was overheating but when i put the fan there it didn't overheat.
is there anyway you could fit a desktop fan in there where it can pull air in to the cabinet and then have say a hole at the top of the cabinet to expell the air?

easiest way i could think of is if there is a part of the cabinet that is not going to be seen, then cut a hole in it place the fan there drawing air in then cut a hole behind the pc or something to expell the air.

Re: Is this wise????
 

well it certainly looks that everyone agrees with my idea lol lol

Re: Is this wise????
 

;) No worries (Printer) Not ordered curry yet.

I am totally useless with electrics, do the fans come with a special adaptor? does it involve any soldering or anything, last thing i need is all my stuff going up in flames.

I've ran some base tests for the processor with the unit open at the front at different times.

I still don't know whether these measurements count or not.

Anyway, the stats for 4 processors during the evening.....



(See Attached)


2100 time = When I ran world of warcraft, which is common for me, the 45 upwards is in degrees C, is this too high?

PS - Using TAT to measure processor temp

Re: Is this wise????
 

Seems alright to me, but wouldn't it be better to upgrade the fan from the default dell one? maybe give it a bit more - taking the case off might help, but may blow up all your parts :p:

I have also heard that you may be able to automatically turn your computer off if it gets too hot, this may be found in bios.

Re: Is this wise????
 

What about HD temps? It's those I'd be most worried about. Cook your HD and it's bye-bye valuable, treasured photos and mementoes you'll never get back. Ever.

IMHO, PC cases are designed with fairly specific airflows in mind - in at the front, out at the back (mostly!). Indeed, Intel and AMD's airflow guidelines often start in that sort of area. Being a Dell it's possible it's BTX also, which has a definite front-to-back design. If you go whacking it in a cabinet, it'll just sit recycling all its own air, getting progressively hotter until it starts to do 'weird' things, like randomly crashing, corrupting data, or killing the HD.

If you're doing it to tidy up the place, then I'd say just take the back off (or at least have a nice big opening across the back at the top), and make sure there's some air entry points low down - remember, heat rises, so if cold air can get in at the bottom easily, the hot air will find its own way out at the top.

Some hardware is warrantied up to quite silly temperatures these days - I've seen 75 degrees C mentioned in places. Thing is, that's often in environments where you have redundant hardware, i.e. RAID arrays. Throw a disk, no big deal. Besides, it's all backed up on tape/disk elsewhere, so no biggy.

It's a big biggy if it's at home, on a single disk.

Re: Is this wise????
 

I think I'd just probably take the back out of the cupboard, that should let plenty of air move around without affecting how it looks once the doors are closed.

oops just read KingDaveRa's post all the way though, i blame the Hobgoblin, mighty fine ale :D