Media PC from old laptop

[elfensky]

So.

 

I have an old HP Pavillion laptop laying around. The thing works fine, but hearing the fan go louder than a lawn mower makes me it's near the end of it's lifespan. The temperatures themselves are about 60-70 on average when not under load, reaching 90, 100+ when benchmarking/...

Now, what I want to do:
Seeing as I don't use it anyway, I want to try creating a Media PC form it. Ripping out the mobo/internals and putting it under my TV.

I even got as far as thinking up a case for it, but then I discovered a problem:
My original idea consisted of a vertical design, putting 3 120mm PC fans at the bottom, pushing cool air in from the bottom. But here's the problem: - HOW does one power PC fans without a PSU? I've thought of wiring the fans to USB ports (2usb/fan), but would that work? Are there any better options?

Why 3 fans? I want them to go relatively slow, so I get a very quiet build. Like I said above, the current single fan is so loud, I can't even hear the lawn mower over it.

Any thoughts? Is a project like that even feasible? Or should I just abandon it together and make a media PC from desktop components?

PS: excluding the fans themselves and materials for the case, I'd like to spend less than 50$ (e.g.: fan adapters/...)


 

[Captain_Slow]

So.

 

I have an old HP Pavillion laptop laying around. The thing works fine, but hearing the fan go louder than a lawn mower makes me it's near the end of it's lifespan. The temperatures themselves are about 60-70 on average when not under load, reaching 90, 100+ when benchmarking/...

Now, what I want to do:

Seeing as I don't use it anyway, I want to try creating a Media PC form it. Ripping out the mobo/internals and putting it under my TV.

I even got as far as thinking up a case for it, but then I discovered a problem:

My original idea consisted of a vertical design, putting 3 120mm PC fans at the bottom, pushing cool air in from the bottom. But here's the problem: - HOW does one power PC fans without a PSU? I've thought of wiring the fans to USB ports (2usb/fan), but would that work? Are there any better options?

Why 3 fans? I want them to go relatively slow, so I get a very quiet build. Like I said above, the current single fan is so loud, I can't even hear the lawn mower over it.

Any thoughts? Is a project like that even feasible? Or should I just abandon it together and make a media PC from desktop components?

 

 

Get a cooling pad and replace the thermal paste

 

some cooling pads use standard 120mm fans althought they are often quite large.

[elfensky]

Get a cooling pad and replace the thermal paste

 

some cooling pads use standard 120mm fans althought they are often quite large.

 

Hmm... That is a possibility, but seeing as the go under then laptop it would become a horizontal design.. Still, it's a possibility I suppose... Do you know any good ones? I mean, more often than not, all I read about cooling pads is they're a waste of money and don't do anything to keep the temp down...

Seeing as most are powered by USB (5.0v) the fans cool very well... Perhaps getting an AC powered one is an option.

[Toddwjp]

Hmm... That is a possibility, but seeing as the go under then laptop it would become a horizontal design.. Still, it's a possibility I suppose... Do you know any good ones? I mean, more often than not, all I read about cooling pads is they're a waste of money and don't do anything to keep the temp down...

 

put cooling pad on side problem solved

[Captain_Slow]

Hmm... That is a possibility, but seeing as the go under then laptop it would become a horizontal design.. Still, it's a possibility I suppose... Do you know any good ones? I mean, more often than not, all I read about cooling pads is they're a waste of money and don't do anything to keep the temp down...

 

how big is your laptop?

[seiny]

Could also be that the fans are dirty. clogged up and yeah a thermal paste change is in order. I don't think it's a good idea to rip it all out and put it under the tv, just cleaning this whole thing out can cost you less than $50

[elfensky]

put cooling pad on side problem solved

If it only was that simple hah. I wanted a vertical air flow, from the bottom to the top. Looking back, simply going horizontal with the fans directly under the CPU/GPU might be a better idea.

 

how big is your laptop?

15.6" afaik

 

Could also be that the fans are dirty. clogged up and yeah a thermal paste change is in order. I don't think it's a good idea to rip it all out and put it under the tv, just cleaning this whole thing out can cost you less than $50

Oh believe me it won't, I took the laptop apart a while ago, blowing and cleaning away all the dust. It didn't help, the fan (single one) kept sound the same. l will probably change the termal paste (if it's even possible, not sure how it was build and if it was possible to get there)