My PSU has an "economy mode" that turns off the fan most of the time the computer is barely being used (you know, like posting to USENET). However, naturally the design assumes it will be right side up. Does having it on its side and allowing the fan to stop present any overheating hazard to components? Of course normally heat rises. I just cleaned it out. You know how dirty stuff gets when a fan is running 24/7. My GPU fans turn off when the system is idle most of the time. Would be nice for the PSU fan to be off during most of the time too. Thanks.
OT: Computer power supply on its side?
Started by ●September 13, 2020
Reply by ●September 14, 20202020-09-14
On 09/13/2020 07:29 PM, John Doe wrote:> My PSU has an "economy mode" that turns off the fan most of the time > the computer is barely being used (you know, like posting to > USENET). > > However, naturally the design assumes it will be right side up. Does > having it on its side and allowing the fan to stop present any > overheating hazard to components? Of course normally heat rises. > > I just cleaned it out. You know how dirty stuff gets when a fan is > running 24/7. My GPU fans turn off when the system is idle most of > the time. Would be nice for the PSU fan to be off during most of the > time too. > > Thanks.Are you lonely or something?
Reply by ●September 14, 20202020-09-14
A regular nym-shifting (probably drunk) troll... -- Corvid <bl@ckbirds.org> wrote:> Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!aioe.org!.POSTED.yhxzq0GkjhLBn92zR4Tlsw.user.gioia.aioe.org!not-for-mail > From: Corvid <bl@ckbirds.org> > Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design > Subject: Re: OT: Computer power supply on its side? > Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2020 21:11:20 -0700 > Organization: The 27 Club > Lines: 17 > Message-ID: <rjmqh8$1oqq$1@gioia.aioe.org> > References: <rjmkij$oqh$1@dont-email.me> > NNTP-Posting-Host: yhxzq0GkjhLBn92zR4Tlsw.user.gioia.aioe.org > Mime-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > X-Complaints-To: abuse@aioe.org > User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Splendorbird/38.8.0 > X-Notice: Filtered by postfilter v. 0.9.2 > Xref: reader02.eternal-september.org sci.electronics.design:608026 > > On 09/13/2020 07:29 PM, John Doe wrote: >> My PSU has an "economy mode" that turns off the fan most of the time >> the computer is barely being used (you know, like posting to >> USENET). >> >> However, naturally the design assumes it will be right side up. Does >> having it on its side and allowing the fan to stop present any >> overheating hazard to components? Of course normally heat rises. >> >> I just cleaned it out. You know how dirty stuff gets when a fan is >> running 24/7. My GPU fans turn off when the system is idle most of >> the time. Would be nice for the PSU fan to be off during most of the >> time too. >> >> Thanks. > > Are you lonely or something? > >
Reply by ●September 14, 20202020-09-14
On 14/09/2020 03:29, John Doe wrote:> My PSU has an "economy mode" that turns off the fan most of the time the > computer is barely being used (you know, like posting to USENET).I thought most computers were designed to do that as the fan is thermostatically controlled. If the circuitry isn't generating heat, why should the fan be on anyway?> However, naturally the design assumes it will be right side up. Does > having it on its side and allowing the fan to stop present any > overheating hazard to components? Of course normally heat rises.I doubt it would make any difference provided you keep all ventilation slots clear. Although usually seen upright, I have seen lots of boxes kept on their sides without problem for many years.> I just cleaned it out. You know how dirty stuff gets when a fan is > running 24/7. My GPU fans turn off when the system is idle most of the > time. Would be nice for the PSU fan to be off during most of the time > too.It doesn't even have to run 24/7. Fans and ventilation channels eventually get filled with crud even if the fan is on very intermittently. -- Jeff
Reply by ●September 14, 20202020-09-14
On 9/13/2020 10:29 PM, John Doe wrote:> My PSU has an "economy mode" that turns off the fan most of the time the > computer is barely being used (you know, like posting to USENET). > > However, naturally the design assumes it will be right side up. Does > having it on its side and allowing the fan to stop present any > overheating hazard to components? Of course normally heat rises. > > I just cleaned it out. You know how dirty stuff gets when a fan is > running 24/7. My GPU fans turn off when the system is idle most of the > time. Would be nice for the PSU fan to be off during most of the time > too. > > Thanks. >There aren't any vents for convection on the top side of any ATX power supply I've ever seen, if it's running high-power it expects forced air front to back. They're often mounted sideways in compact ATX enclosures as you can see here: <https://www.sliger.com/includes/products/ki/cerberus_x/CO-PSU-ATX.jpg> So nah I don't expect it expects any particular orientation when it's low-power enough to shut down the fan. Not the same situation as what I've heard about some LCD and plasma displays that expect convection in the vertical orientation and may overheat when mounted horizontally.
