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View Full Version : "Stunning infrared images reveal serious flaws in PC case design" - Custom PC

[timko]
03-20-2006, 03:19 PM
http://www.custompc.co.uk/thermal

£30,000 FLIR digital camera exclusively reveals which cases are capable of supporting a performance PC. See the full Labs test of seven cases in the May issue of Custom PC - on sale Thursday 23 March 2006.

The full Labs test features reviews of seven cases, including the new Cooler Master Stacker 830 and Antec P180 cases, plus detailed temperature results and infrared images of each case with a high-end PC installed inside, taken using a £30,000 FLIR digital camera.

Click to enlarge

http://img132.imagevenue.com/loc36/th_96162_stacker830.jpg (http://img132.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc36&image=96162_stacker830.jpg)

More photos of the the cases they tested here...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/custompc/page3/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/custompc/page4/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/custompc/page5/

I wouldn't base my buying decisions off of these images mainly because they've gone for a basic setup in each situation, plus who knows what their ambient temps were. Most users here will probably chuck in a few a extra fans or have more advanced cooling (Eg water, phase etc) in the first place.

Still, the images are interesting too look at :)
Thrilla
03-20-2006, 03:28 PM
wow...

This is insane
http://static.flickr.com/46/113244257_1317bee305.jpg?v=0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/custompc/113244257/

ppl should cool their GFX more :) well at least the ones in those pics.
Breeze
03-23-2006, 03:06 AM
Now thats a camara.
Mr. Tinker
03-23-2006, 05:18 AM
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=93454
J-Mag
03-23-2006, 09:01 AM
Now thats a camara.

Yeah the colorized thermal cams are awesome, but they are a tad out of my buying price range
Breeze
03-23-2006, 09:29 AM
Yeah the colorized thermal cams are awesome, but they are a tad out of my buying price range
Only £29,999 out of mine ;)
ST4
03-26-2006, 01:28 PM
Hmm I think I will bring home my company's portable IR thermal camera and take a look at my own case! ;)
uOpt
03-26-2006, 06:28 PM
The hot graphics cards are normal. The GPUs are specified to a whole lot higher temperature than any other chip in a PC.

The chipset issue is lack of cooling there, I don't see how this is the case's fault.

The PSU on top is by definition a dumb idea, my newest build has it at the bottom (CM stacker 810). This is a legacy brainfart from the time where the PSU had the only exhaust fan. Today not only are there other exhaust fans, the PSU fans are often drastically reduced in RPMs to provide quiet PSUs. All that is dumb because the PSU suffers most lifetime reduction from heat of all components, and if it dies there is a real chance to take all your other components with it for company.

Harddrives mounted inside any kind of PC need a fan in front of them, without question. Very low RPM will do just fine because the surface of the harddrive is so large, so it's not a noise problem.
mnewxcv
03-26-2006, 06:44 PM
tell me why gpus arent on top of a video card? that way the heat would go right up and off. with it on the bottom, theres the core itself and pcb blocking the heat from rising. why dont they change?
uOpt
03-26-2006, 06:48 PM
tell me why gpus arent on top of a video card? that way the heat would go right up and off. with it on the bottom, theres the core itself and pcb blocking the heat from rising. why dont they change?

They are probably not "allowed" to invade the space about the PCB by more than a millimeter or so.

The sensible thing to do is to do it like Arctic Cooling Silencers, get rid of the GPU heat directly out the back of the case. Too bad they have so many small annoyances.
WeStSiDePLaYa
03-26-2006, 08:31 PM
big deal, mosfets reaching 70c is nothing at all. thats not even HALF of their rated specs. these are pointless imo.
Mr. Tinker
03-26-2006, 08:55 PM
tell me why gpus arent on top of a video card? that way the heat would go right up and off. with it on the bottom, theres the core itself and pcb blocking the heat from rising. why dont they change?
ASUS has a card coming out like that.
STEvil
03-26-2006, 09:28 PM
If i'm not mistaken these cameras also pick up EMI.
mnewxcv
03-26-2006, 09:28 PM
ASUS has a card coming out like that.


now why in the hell did it take em so long? Ive been talking about it for years.
Mr. Tinker
03-27-2006, 05:27 AM
I think it's out of ATX spec, but these days more and more products are breaking that spec anyway because the consumers don't care. Just look at heatsinks.

It's all about the bottom line, know what I mean?
Levish
03-30-2006, 01:02 PM
if those pics were taken with the side of the case off (which I think the camera needs) then they aren't very valid

and ambient must be darn high if their processors idle at 50c and load at 80c
Levish
03-30-2006, 02:09 PM
I was not insinuating that I knew how, just that airflow in a case is highly dependant on the sidepanel
Mr. Tinker
03-30-2006, 02:20 PM
I deleted my post after I figured it could probably be done with plexiglass. I wonder what they actually did.
Levish
03-30-2006, 02:24 PM
were those pics taken with a plexi sidepanel?

I'm not knowledgeable in infrared cams but I'd think it'd need a clear shot to the components to measure heat?
WeStSiDePLaYa
03-30-2006, 09:11 PM
were those pics taken with a plexi sidepanel?

I'm not knowledgeable in infrared cams but I'd think it'd need a clear shot to the components to measure heat?


cant get temps well through plexi, i know, my infrared thermometer cant measure through my side panel windows.