Alum vs. Steel - which cools better TESTED

aphonos · Post by **aphonos** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 10:00 am

Folks around here have been saying for some time, with regard to case materials, that "aluminum cools better than steel" is a myth.

Finally, someone did a side by side comparison (at Systemcooling.com) using two Chieftec Dragon cases - one aluminum and one steel. Here's the linkage:

Aluminum vs. Steel Cases - Cooler or Not?

To give you a summary, he concludes that there is no difference in cooling between the materials.

Mike, Rusty, and Ralf, we knew you were right all along

, but it is nice to finally have some numbers/testing on this for those who may doubt.

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 10:52 am

LOL... that test isn't really a good test. Aluminium conducts heat better than steel. The CPU isn't really touching the case, so minimal conduction. Since everything should be decoupled (not touching the case), the case material has little effect. What if the cases were lined with Acoustipak?

Aluminium cases rattle more (due to lesser mass), and they usually cost more. But they are much lighter than steel cases. That's why they're good as a LAN case.

Cheers,

Jan

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 10:59 am

I know it's not their priority, but it's too bad they did not measure the noise generated while they're at it. It'll also be good to know if any of the fans are temp. sensitive (PSU and CPU fan).

I generally believe that there's minimal (if any) benefits temp. wise of using aluminum case. But to explore the role of case material in heat dissipation, would somebody be interested in running experiments with your case covered by a blanket? Making sure any airholes are uncovered, of course

vortex222 · Post by **vortex222** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:06 am

i would think that at the levels of heat that some of us run our computers, that aluminium might help about 1% or more. however my experence was that aluminium has always been harder to silence. and when u use acustipack like product, then you end up with somthing that is both hotter and noisyer anyways.

the waight thing is a bit of an advantage, but i rarly move my computer. and i like the fact my computer weighs 42 pounds. it gives me the impression that its built solid and such. tho i know weight has little berring on how solid it is.

my case is strong enough for me to sit on it when need be. and im 195 pounds. whereas aluminum wouldnt take by huge ass.

dukla2000 · Post by **dukla2000** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:35 am

I agree that to expect significantly lower temps from an aluminium case because of the aluminium, is a myth.

However, if you assume aluminium cases do disipate much more heat than a steel case, then you could conclude that comparison verifies that grey radiates better than yellow

Post by **Rusty075** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:41 am

Jan, that test is a near perfect test of whether aluminum cools better than steel when used as a case material. The simple truth is that when used as a "normal" case, its better conductivity is of no advantage. It's like painting racing stripes on your car and expecting it to go faster.

You could design a case to take advantage of Al's better conductivity, but Zalman beat you to it. For that case, being made of aluminum does improve its cooling. If that case were made of steel it would be more akin to an easy-bake oven.

aphonos wrote:Mike, Rusty, and Ralf, we knew you were right all along

Now just keep repeating that over and over, and everything will be just fine.

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 12:09 pm

Rusty075 wrote:Jan, that test is a near perfect test of whether aluminum cools better than steel when used as a case material. The simple truth is that when used as a "normal" case, its better conductivity is of no advantage. It's like painting racing stripes on your car and expecting it to go faster.

Dan has determined that black computers are faster. Imagine if one had a black aluminium case, with racing stripes??

Cheers,

Jan

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 12:24 pm

Okay, but what about aluminum drive frames? With normal use, a traditional hard drive frame directly contacts the sides. Surely aluminum should improve hard drive temperatures significantly, right?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:17 pm

Anandtech already did this a few years ago, using an Antec SX10x0 vs. some aluminum Chieftec Dragon. Their results were that the Al case ran about 1°C cooler, which probably isn't even significant.

vortex222 · Post by **vortex222** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:42 pm

well, one degree could meen the difference between my icecubes in my fridge melting or not. but that only serves to remind me i need a new fridge.

maybe i should get an aluminum fridge?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:51 pm

vortex222 wrote:well, one degree could meen the difference between my icecubes in my fridge melting or not. but that only serves to remind me i need a new fridge.

maybe i should get an aluminum fridge?

Just make sure it has a quiet compressor.

edcrane · Post by **edcrane** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 2:04 pm

Jan, that test is a near perfect test of whether aluminum cools better than steel when used as a case material. The simple truth is that when used as a "normal" case, its better conductivity is of no advantage. It's like painting racing stripes on your car and expecting it to go faster.

Bad analogy. Even beyond normal usage, there are no cases when paint stripes will increase the acceleration or maximum speed of a car in a measurable way. In contrast, there are methods by which to harness conductive advantage of aluminum over steel in a computer case (eg: a case which acts as a huge heatsink like the zalman, would most likely benefit from increased conductivity), they are just seldom seen in practice.

Post by **Rusty075** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 2:17 pm

Edcrane; clearly you've never watched "The Fast and the Furious", it proves that fancy paint will, in fact, make your car faster.

But yes, you basically restated exactly I what I said in the paragraph immediately following my "bad analogy"

edcrane · Post by **edcrane** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 4:28 pm

Rusty075 wrote: But yes, you basically restated exactly I what I said in the paragraph immediately following my "bad analogy"

Sure, I wasn't arguing with your reasoning. I just have a strange analogy fixation.

blackstar · Post by **blackstar** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:05 am

problem is, i cant stand the appearance of any steel cases at the mo - coolermaster and lian li seem to be focussing on alu.

Demogorgo · Post by **Demogorgo** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 7:23 pm

I'm glad that someone finally stepped up to the plate and put this widely believed superstition to the test. But I'm sure that the results would be different if you heatpiped the heatsink to the case somehow.

vortex222 · Post by **vortex222** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 9:06 am

if i were yo heatpipe my cpu to the case, then i want a copper case! cool looks AND 1 degree cooler then aluminum.

btw to ralf hutter, i did buy another fridge, tho it is steel rather then aluminum. it has a fairly quiet compresser, but a few mods to the guts of it has made it almost as quiet as my compter. and the adition of a beer tap in the front has made my new fride just as awsome as my compter, however it seems like the fridge is now beeing used more then the computer......

has anyone tried putting a beertap on there computer? would be awsome for lan partys. "the keg mod"

shathal · Post by **shathal** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 9:58 am

While "the keg mod" would be a good idea, it'd only be useful to contain coffee or some "hot" beverage.

I'd rather drink my beer cold, thank you very much. Maybe i'm weird in not wanting my beer (or coke?) to be warm - let alone hot

.

Now, what should go HAND IN HAND with such a Keg-mod, should be a cooling mechanism based on liquid nitrogen (or hydrogen) or somesuch, THEN you *COULD* get away with a nice cooling keg

.

pdf27 · Post by **pdf27** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 10:43 am

The coffee one's been done before...

shathal · Post by **shathal** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 1:57 pm

Oh yeah - thought I'd had a feeling of deja vu, just couldn't remember.

Anyway, I'd be far more impressed with the cold-cooling solution. Admittedly, not that near freezing (or even lower) temperatures are EASY to do in a case. 'Course, condensation becomes an issue too then...

Bleh ... pitty.

vortex222 · Post by **vortex222** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 4:25 pm

darn, im in love now.... lol i do keep a coffee pot inbetween my monitors

Alum vs. Steel - which cools better TESTED

Alum vs. Steel - which cools better TESTED

Re: Alum vs. Steel - which cools better TESTED

Re: Alum vs. Steel - which cools better TESTED