• SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    You jest, but my college roommate did this and taped a dryer hose to it, with one end stuck out the window.

    In the middle of winter.

    He dropped out of the CS department and went on to get a business degree, since that was more his speed.

    • njordomir@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Minus the thing about pumping freezing air into a computer where it will condense and fry everything, is there a reason other than the noise why a big fan like this couldn’t effectively cool a computer?

      • lime!@feddit.nu
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        2 months ago

        when it goes below zero C outside, moisture content drops to 0%. with enough static pressure to keep the inside air out of the case it would be completely fine.

        we had a long-running research project on this very thing at uni, they basically built a data center with no walls and ran it all through the winter. no damage, although they did have to periodically brush the snow off the servers so they didn’t get too warm due to airflow restrictions.

        • njordomir@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          That sounds likes fascinating project. I Iove it when people do interesting projects instead of taking the low hanging topics like everyone else.

        • drosophila@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          2 months ago

          That sounds really interesting. I never thought about it that way before but I guess (dry) snow isn’t very conductive.

          Are there any articles about or pictures of this project out there anywhere?

          • lime!@feddit.nu
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            2 months ago

            i thought there was, but unfortunately the computer society seem to be having issues with their infra at the moment so i can’t find anything other than the DC3 blurb on the “systems” page. i remember it being called “dc3” because it was a “data cube”

            I know that it started when this video from the university of Helsinki was being passed around in spring of 2013 and we all thought it was hilarious… then during summer break some guys started building a makeshift platform in one of the courtyards.

      • sorrybookbroke@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        If done right no, there’s no reason other than noise, size, and power usage. It also might pick up small things which could impact the components if the fans are strong. At worst it may push them out of place. That last two are pretty unlikely though.

        It my be hard to ensure airflow as small pockets of a may form due to turblance that can’t exit the system however.

        All in all though there’s no reason why a big ass fan couldn’t work and if airflow to the heat generating components is right it would be better at cooling

      • zurohki@aussie.zone
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        2 months ago

        Pointing a desk fan into a computer works fine and is a useful troubleshooting step if you suspect something is overheating, but if you need to do it that probably means heatsinks are clogged with dust, aren’t sized appropriately or aren’t making good contact. So you really should fix that problem.

  • ceenote@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    You could get a whole-ass air conditioner free from the office if you want it bad enough.

  • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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    2 months ago

    Where are they buying $700 case fans?

    They are getting ripped off, most cost around 25€

    • Draconic NEO@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 months ago

      PC fans are very cheap though, most aren’t $700 but even if they were, old decommissioned computers are cheap or even free an the fans in those will likely work well enough anyway.