Other methods for moving air
 

I was just wondering if there are other methods of moving air besides the conventional fan.

Convection: hot air is thinner than cold air and will go up, cold air does the opposite. If you install warm components in the bottom of your case, _some_ flow will result from it, but it is doubtful that enough flow can be generated for cooling purposes.

Blowers (technicalliy not fans, but still quite the same)

Compressors?

AFAIK, that's about it.

How does that ionic breeze thing work? I'm pretty sure it is bullshit, but does it charge air and then move it to an oppositely charged area to move air around?

I thought u needed a huge voltage to move air like that? The ionic breeze doesnt strike me as a high power machine...

Actually, I think it is fairly high voltage, just extremely low current. I had a little one and it warned expressly about not opening up due to the components. I think it is somewhat along the lines of an inverter for a cathode.

How well did it work and why don't you have it anymore?

hmm strange enough, i remember a fan offered in edmund scientific a few years ago that was piezo electric. i believe that it worked by vibrating a some metal element. perhaps, someone else has heard of it......

How about a piezo-electric butterfly? :D


I'd be uncomfortable slapping a high voltage unit in a PC case; it's just asking for trouble.


Is there a specific requirement to this alternate method? i.e. quiet, low-power, etc...

I assume quiet would be one of them otherwise there would be no point in not using fans. :shrug:

Yes, definetly it has to be quiet. I own a dual Xeon PC and the noise is killing me slowly. :) I have customised the PC a little to reduce noise and the biggest source of noise is the power supply at the moment.
But, I was just hoping maybe there is better, efficient, way to move air in a PC.
Thanks for your replies.

Get your hottest components (CPU,GPU) watercooled with an Eheim pump and some undervolted fans (like PAPST's) on the rad...
That should give you nice noise levels...

IF you really want to stick to air, try undervolting fans. You can make some fans allmost inaudible if you undervolt them.

@ the PSU: buy an extra quiet one (Passive, watercooled, variable speed fan) or try to mod your existing one by replacing the fans with extra quiet / undervolted ones.

I have allready invested in two Swiftech heatsinks, and I'm kinda pressed for funds at the moment. I think if I quiet the power supply I'll be OK. The CPU fans are speed adjustable, so I'll just have to find a compromise between noise and CPU temperature.