The Importance of Cooling Components in Electronic Systems

One of the most critical aspects of designing and building electronic systems is ensuring that all heat generating components operate within their rated temperature limits. The primary method for achieving this is through the dissipation of waste heat to the surrounding air. However, there are several factors that can impact the effectiveness of heat transfer.

To effectively dissipate heat, two main conditions must be met: a lower ambient temperature and sufficient air movement. Ambient temperature refers to the temperature of the surrounding environment in which the system operates. Ideally, the ambient temperature should be cooler than the operating temperature of the components being cooled. However, this is often not possible, especially when dealing with systems that are enclosed in a box or other casing.

This raises an interesting point: most electronics are designed and built to operate within a specific temperature range, but they are also surrounded by a casing that can retain heat and reduce airflow around the components. This means that even if the ambient temperature is lower than the operating temperature of the components, it's unlikely that the air being used for cooling will be cooler as well.

In addition to these issues with ambient temperature, there's another factor at play: noise. In order to effectively cool a system, fans are often necessary. However, fans can also introduce their own set of problems, including dust accumulation on the fins of heatsinks and in the moving parts of fans themselves. This can significantly reduce the effectiveness of cooling, making it more difficult for the system to operate within its rated temperature limits.

Another challenge associated with using fans is ensuring that they do not work against each other. When all fans are pushing air out of the case, they can create a situation where they are essentially canceling each other out, reducing their overall effectiveness. Conversely, when all fans are pulling air into the case, they can create a negative internal pressure that pulls in dust and reduces airflow.

So, what's the solution to this problem? The answer lies in finding a balance between intake and exhaust airflow. Ideally, you want to lean towards positive internal pressure, which means that there is more air being pulled in than pushed out. This allows for better cooling efficiency without introducing too much noise or dust accumulation.

To achieve this balance, it's essential to consider the specifics of your system. While conventional wisdom may suggest that hot air rises, this has very little impact on the actual operation of a computer system. Instead, the focus should be on ensuring that there is sufficient airflow and minimal dust accumulation in areas such as mesh panels and optical drive bays.

When it comes to managing airflow, filters are often necessary to prevent dust from entering the case. However, using pantyhose has been shown to be an effective alternative for those who don't have access to specialized filters. The key is finding a balance between intake and exhaust airflow that works for your specific system.

Finally, it's worth noting that there is a sponsor of this video: Squarespace.com. Their web-based management system allows you to quickly create your own beautifully customizable functional website without any additional hassle. They provide logo makers, templates, and flexible scalable hosting solutions to ensure that your site will remain up-to-date as online traffic grows. To learn more about Squarespace and save 10% on your purchase of a new website, visit squarespace.com and use the code "linus" at checkout.

In conclusion, cooling components in electronic systems requires careful consideration of several factors, including ambient temperature, airflow, noise, and dust accumulation. By understanding these challenges and finding effective solutions, you can help ensure that your system operates within its rated temperature limits and remains efficient over time.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enlet me tell you guys i have seen some crazy stuff on that internet which no no no not that or oh sorry i misunderstood yeah yeah like that gaming or workstation computers with multiple processors be they cpus or gpus have become more common in recent years and how to keep them cool the advantages of which we cover here is an incredibly hot topic for obvious reasons now the heat generating components in your system are going to have heat sinks attached to them you can learn more about these here and here and why we need them but the main thing you need to know for this video is that unless you start getting into some pretty exotic stuff the way all that heat generating componentry stays within its rated operating temperature is by dissipating waste heat to the surrounding air the trick here is that heat transfer relies on two main things for best effectiveness a lower ambient temperature so how hot the air around the heat sink is and more air movement the first one's a bit tricky living somewhere cool or using air conditioning helps a lot but because most electronics are surrounded by some kind of box the air being used to cool them can be considerably hotter than the rest of the room hurting cooling efficiency not to mention that the room itself can begin to heat up during heavy use i mean we could just pull all that stuff away but i guess running your electronics unprotected can have unforeseen consequences and even if we don't want to go overboard and head outside although i heard it has great graphics indoors you'll find plenty of other hazards too like pets and children so i guess we're stuck using enclosures to keep our expensive stuff safe so let's focus on strategy number two make the air move fast by adding fans but that has some drawbacks too there's noise but also one that's potentially more problematic a silent killer all around us dust dust clogs the fins of heatsinks reducing their effectiveness gunks up the moving parts of fans reducing their effectiveness and is just plain gross and adding more airflow adds more potential for dust to accumulate unless you do it responsibly so how do you practice safe cooling balanced airflow fans can be configured in one of two ways intake pulling air into the case or exhaust pushing it out but the internet is full of debate about the merits of having more of one or more of the other so let's put it to rest if you had all your fans pushing air out first they'll all be working against each other reducing each other's efficiency and second because fans move air rather than creating it they have to get the air they're exhausting from somewhere so the internal air pressure will be negative relative to the room and the case will pull air in through nooks and crannies where dust can accumulate and also be pulled in the other way around trying to inflate your computer like a balloon by having everything as an intake has the same problem with the fans working against each other but the advantage of blowing air out of the small holes in the case to prevent dust from entering there but of course that doesn't help if you're not filtering the dust out of the air that's being pushed into the case by a fan so that my friends is the ultimate solution a reasonably balanced airflow scheme that leans on the side of positive internal pressure so you're not canceling out any of the work that's being done with filters on the intakes so that you don't have excess dust coming in and don't worry if you can't afford filters used pantyhose works great something to note here is that surprisingly the conventional wisdom of hot air rises actually has very little impact on any of this so the most important takeaway is balance if you don't have a fancy smoke machine like the one silverstone uses to test their cases just watch in the longer term for dust accumulation in areas like mesh panels and areas around optical drive bays and if you're starting to see that in spite of your filtered intakes it might be time to adjust the ratio of intake to exhaust for your system speaking of systems sort of squarespace.com is the sponsor of today's episode of fast as possible their web-based management system see i i brought that around somehow allows you to quickly create your own amazingly customizable functional beautiful website they provide a logo maker templates that will make your site look great on desktop and mobile without any additional hassle and they even take care of your flexible scalable hosting solution so you know you can rely on your site being up as online traffic to your business grows squarespace is very reasonably priced and if you head over to squarespace.com linus you can save 10 on your purchase of a brand new website using offer code linus so thanks to squarespace for sponsoring this episode and thanks to you guys for watching it like this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment suggesting future episodes as fast as possible and also leave a comment if any like squarespace sites you have i do actually read the comments on my videos so i'd love to check them out whether it's a blog or whether it's a store or whether it's a portfolio or something like that love to see that anyway i think that's pretty much it guys thanks for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe if you haven't alreadylet me tell you guys i have seen some crazy stuff on that internet which no no no not that or oh sorry i misunderstood yeah yeah like that gaming or workstation computers with multiple processors be they cpus or gpus have become more common in recent years and how to keep them cool the advantages of which we cover here is an incredibly hot topic for obvious reasons now the heat generating components in your system are going to have heat sinks attached to them you can learn more about these here and here and why we need them but the main thing you need to know for this video is that unless you start getting into some pretty exotic stuff the way all that heat generating componentry stays within its rated operating temperature is by dissipating waste heat to the surrounding air the trick here is that heat transfer relies on two main things for best effectiveness a lower ambient temperature so how hot the air around the heat sink is and more air movement the first one's a bit tricky living somewhere cool or using air conditioning helps a lot but because most electronics are surrounded by some kind of box the air being used to cool them can be considerably hotter than the rest of the room hurting cooling efficiency not to mention that the room itself can begin to heat up during heavy use i mean we could just pull all that stuff away but i guess running your electronics unprotected can have unforeseen consequences and even if we don't want to go overboard and head outside although i heard it has great graphics indoors you'll find plenty of other hazards too like pets and children so i guess we're stuck using enclosures to keep our expensive stuff safe so let's focus on strategy number two make the air move fast by adding fans but that has some drawbacks too there's noise but also one that's potentially more problematic a silent killer all around us dust dust clogs the fins of heatsinks reducing their effectiveness gunks up the moving parts of fans reducing their effectiveness and is just plain gross and adding more airflow adds more potential for dust to accumulate unless you do it responsibly so how do you practice safe cooling balanced airflow fans can be configured in one of two ways intake pulling air into the case or exhaust pushing it out but the internet is full of debate about the merits of having more of one or more of the other so let's put it to rest if you had all your fans pushing air out first they'll all be working against each other reducing each other's efficiency and second because fans move air rather than creating it they have to get the air they're exhausting from somewhere so the internal air pressure will be negative relative to the room and the case will pull air in through nooks and crannies where dust can accumulate and also be pulled in the other way around trying to inflate your computer like a balloon by having everything as an intake has the same problem with the fans working against each other but the advantage of blowing air out of the small holes in the case to prevent dust from entering there but of course that doesn't help if you're not filtering the dust out of the air that's being pushed into the case by a fan so that my friends is the ultimate solution a reasonably balanced airflow scheme that leans on the side of positive internal pressure so you're not canceling out any of the work that's being done with filters on the intakes so that you don't have excess dust coming in and don't worry if you can't afford filters used pantyhose works great something to note here is that surprisingly the conventional wisdom of hot air rises actually has very little impact on any of this so the most important takeaway is balance if you don't have a fancy smoke machine like the one silverstone uses to test their cases just watch in the longer term for dust accumulation in areas like mesh panels and areas around optical drive bays and if you're starting to see that in spite of your filtered intakes it might be time to adjust the ratio of intake to exhaust for your system speaking of systems sort of squarespace.com is the sponsor of today's episode of fast as possible their web-based management system see i i brought that around somehow allows you to quickly create your own amazingly customizable functional beautiful website they provide a logo maker templates that will make your site look great on desktop and mobile without any additional hassle and they even take care of your flexible scalable hosting solution so you know you can rely on your site being up as online traffic to your business grows squarespace is very reasonably priced and if you head over to squarespace.com linus you can save 10 on your purchase of a brand new website using offer code linus so thanks to squarespace for sponsoring this episode and thanks to you guys for watching it like this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment suggesting future episodes as fast as possible and also leave a comment if any like squarespace sites you have i do actually read the comments on my videos so i'd love to check them out whether it's a blog or whether it's a store or whether it's a portfolio or something like that love to see that anyway i think that's pretty much it guys thanks for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already\n"