cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Advanced Cooling for Older Rigs

Seda
Level 8
Hi,

I have a bit of an unusual project and I'm looking for some advice before I start diving into it. I was scheduled to replace my primary and support workstation by 2020 but it looks like I'm going to need my current ones to last quite a while longer. These are older systems and they unfortunately cannot be replaced by anything on the market today due to issues that are probably outside the scope of a hardware thread.

This is the current primary system (in a Thermaltake Chaser MK-I case) (prepare to laugh, she's an oldie):

CPU : AMD FX-9590
Memory : 32 GB (4x Corsair 8GB Vengeance Modules) DDR3-1600
Board : ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z
Video : 2x ASUS-Branded AMD Radeon 7850 TOP PCIe
Audio : Creative X-Fi Titanium HD PCIe
WiFi : ASUS PCE-AC68 PCIe
Storage : 1x AMD-Branded Radeon R7 120 GB SSD & 4x WDC VelociRaptor 500 GB Mechanical & 1x WDC Black 1TB Mechanical
PSU : Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1200W

The second system is similar, but it uses 2x Radeon 7790, an FX-8350, a Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 and a Thermaltake 875w PSU - and it is in a Thermaltake Overseer RX-I case.

If you've gotten this far, you will notice these systems are ancient in computing terms; the technology is primarily 2012-era. However, I need it and I need it to keep working. They're rock-solid stable at present, and haven't given any thermal issues - but Australian summers can be brutal and I need them to last as long as possible. Currently, cooling is provided by (aside from the stock case fans) a Corsair Hydro H60 per system.

I would like to install a cooling solution that provides something better for the CPU, and something for the RAM, Video cards, and the motherboard. The hottest component of both systems at present appears to be the motherboard circuitry located to the left of the processor (near the back I/O panel). This certainly gets much hotter on the Crosshair than it does the Sabertooth, but both are a concern. I have not performed much liquid cooling before - only all in one units - so in addition to wanting to do something to older workstations, I'm potentially entering new territory.

Advice would be greatly appreciated. What type of stuff should I buy? Should I replace the cases? Would full liquid cooling be ideal, or would an improved AIO cooler and a new case be sufficient?

Apologies if this is in the wrong sub forum or if this question is so weird it doesn't belong in any forum. I don't really know where else to get this kind of advice. I'm used to building computers to last, but these workstations get thrashed on a daily basis - I'm worried about them long-term.

Note; if it's relevant, I'm running Debian GNU/Linux, so software-controlled or driven cooling devices are probably not ideal.
66 Views
10 REPLIES 10

Nate152
Moderator