-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: inkleput{at}isp.com
> Felix Miata  said:
> 
> >It isn't nonsense that forced air cooling is superior in cooling
> >capacity to simple convection and radiation cooling,
> 
> I don't think anyone said convection/radiation gives greater cooling 
> than forced air.  The question is, does a given system need forced  air
> cooling.  I'd say that special machines with high heat output 
> definitely do.  There are those that simply do not and will not,  for
> whatever reason.  There are those all between these extremes.
> 
> Jim L, via eCS 1.15 version of OS/2
> -- 
>

  Hi Jim
  I'll take a stab at answering that "challenge".  When one uses
the word "need" it obviously in this case must be considered
conditional since there are systems that will at least function, after a
fashion, with no fans whatever.  I think Felix has done very well at
bringing up the importance of data and I have touched on stability.  There
may be little value in considering long term life since most PC systems,
reasonably cooled, will outlast their usefullness, but it is worthy of
consideration to the overall reliability, smoothness of operation, and
general "user feel" to the quality of experience what the cost is
versus said effects and experiences.  The cost, both initial and operating,
of active cooling has to be one of the biggest bangs for buck possible
IMHO.  If you have considerable experience with electronics, and I have
been a repairman/builder for many years and thus have considerable
experience with what tends to happen in the real world of how people use
electronics and h

ow they expire or "go down", you learn at the gut level that heat
truly is the number one enemy of all electronics, even, or possibly even
*especially*, heaters.  I am not suggesting that anyone here is
inexperienced nor "blissfully ignorant" and maybe those of us who
have made a living from the repair of electronics are simply over-sensitive
and paranoid, but I can tell you for certain that you will never regret a
dime spent on cooling if done with any modicum of reason.  It is likely
foolish to spend $150 on a water cooling kit for a $300 computer, even
though the cooler can move up to the next one and the next one at upgrade
time, but it is not utterly crazy when you consider the benefit over
lifetime of that cooling unit.  IMHO The only argument qualified is
"Must I spend that much to achieve that level of performance or can I
get reasonable equivalency for less?" and opinion is all we have when
we are dealing with conditional circumstances such as "need" when
we are not speaking i

n absolutes.  The bottom line is that virtually *All* electronics can
benefit from cooling, even relatively low output devices.  It truly is not
a bad idea to add a fan to your TV since it is likely it will not outlive
it's usefullness and a fan will indeed prolong it's usefull lifespan.  The
so-called "whisper fan" business (and other forms of cooling as
well) is absolutely huge and spans many, many pages of any electronics
supply catalog or engineering handbook. "A word to the wise is
sufficient" and one such word is "thermalelectric".
just my twapence
Jimmy

PS
  since you mentioned 65% efficiency of PSUs you may have noticed that all
PSU specs should mention operating temps for all specs.  It does you no
good to have an event spec that only occurs at "alice in
wonderland" temps since sometimes the falloff rate with increased
temps is logarithmic and fairly often catastrophic.  Thus a cheap PSU might
benefit most from improved cooling and fans are cheap.


 
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