- Back to homepage

Sub Zero with simple air cooling?

@ 2007/02/04

If you're living in very cold country, or winter has just set in, why not make the most out of those cold outside temperatures and overclock your CPU/Video card that bit further with simple air cooling?

"Over the weekend a blizzard has hit Michigan causing sub-zero temperatures, inches of snow, and zealous winds. This winter weather has caused the closing of shopping centers and community activities; public transportation systems and the Gerald R. Ford International Airport have also come to a halt. However, we took this opportunity to make the best of it with natural sub-zero overclocking. With the Abit AW9D i975X motherboard, an Intel Pentium 4 processor, 2GB of OCZ's Flex XLC PC2-9200 memory, and cooling provided by Mother Nature, we set off on a spontaneous overclocking adventure.

Comment from KTMitch @ 2007/02/04

If they are anywhere North of Saginaw, Michigan, there is definitely snow. I'm on the West side of the state and the snow right now is coming down sideways. I have family on the East side (Traverse City area) and they say the wind and snow is even worse. And if they are in the upper peninsula, they have a couple of feet of snow with nasty wind.

Even with -15 degrees, would the components create enough heat to melt any snow that got onto it?

I guess the biggest limitation of cooling a system naturally is that it is temporary. Great overclocking part of the year.... Or you could live really far north or south....

Comment from wutske @ 2007/02/04

Quote:

Originally Posted by KTMitch

I'm sitting here in northern Michigan. So far the coldest I've seen is -3 degrees F. Its 4 degrees right now at 3:14 PM.

Wouldn't the components get wet? With all of the wind gusts, even if it isn't snowing, your bound to get snow on the system. Unless you kept it in a garage.

I don't envy the guy using the system. Burrrrrr.....

There probably isn't always snow when it's freezing, and there probably isn't always wind when there's snow. The toughest thing about outside overclocking is getting your hardware back inside without getting it wet from condensation .

@jmke: they were just toying around with a dead motherboard

Quote:

but finally when attempting to push the system further with greater voltages the motherboard had finally given up.

Comment from jmke @ 2007/02/04

why are there pics of the mobo in snow? :/

Comment from KTMitch @ 2007/02/04

Comment from jmke @ 2007/02/04

how about some ice cold OC action?

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/02/04

It's 15°C below here today; highnoon

Comment from wutske @ 2007/02/04

Have done that too

. First inside, roomtemp 9°c, reached 2,5Ghz with my Barton2500+ @ 2V

.
A year later, outside, 0°c, didn't even get close to the 2.5Ghz, my cpu is probably used after 2,5 years of abuse

Too bad not every piece of hardware (like caps or a hdd) likes cold temps.

Comment from jmke @ 2007/02/04

I remember doing the same when it was freezing outside, so my CPU could reach 1.8Ghz at ~7°C room temp

http://www.madshrimps.be/upload/jmke/PC/newsys.php

All information and graphics contained in Madshrimps are sole property of the Madshrimps crew and may not be reproduced or copied in any manner without written permission from us.