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so i've recieved my usb keys from friedcat, they work great! but they do get very very hot.. I had a gander and it seems there's a wafer of thermal material and then a solid 3(ish)mm metal plate and that's it for cooling. I've seen pictures around with passive radiators bolted on instead, is this something i should consider?

You'll probably have them in an USB hub. Just add a USB fan to the setup. I am cooling four of them with a single fan.

Any recommendations for brand, positioning..?

There's a thread with compatible hardware and software (including fans and hubs) here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=220905.0).

I'm using one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OJN250/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

very quiet, heatsinks are warm to the touch, not hot

you dont need anything geeky, just a regular household fan so the hot air doesnt just sit in one spot

True - though it can be very convenient to use USB hub to power the fan

A regular fan will also help circulate air around your house in the summer -- two birds with one stone!   ;D

I went with an even cheaper fan than the one LaserHorse posted, and it is working great (and is REALLY quiet).  My sticks are actually cool to the touch, and they've been hashing non-stop since I got them.  I do only have two sticks though, so YMMV.

http://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-USB-Powered-Portable-Cooling-Solution/dp/B003XN24GY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370753429&sr=8-1&keywords=Arctic+usb+fan (http://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-USB-Powered-Portable-Cooling-Solution/dp/B003XN24GY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370753429&sr=8-1&keywords=Arctic+usb+fan)

https://i.imgur.com/tELHgz7l.jpg

Ya - I like how that fan keeps the whole setup self-contained.  I needed an enclosed fan though … I have a very curious cat.

A small USB powered fan can help a lot. I did a small test today:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=229941.new#new

intron

LOL I went a bit overboard... But I had a bunch of extra AMD stock CPU coolers, so I removed the rear metal plate, thermal pad, applied fresh thermal paste, and voila, happily mining away at 335-340mh/s in a house that's about 80 degrees ambient with --icarus-timing short option on cgminer:

https://i.imgur.com/q1yIwW7l.jpg

wow, that might be a little overkill!

They are totally cool to the touch though, added bonus. I just need to add fan grill to back side, and it'll be finger/cat proof too. I have 4 of them like this, just for giggles. The air blows across my keyboard, they are quiet, and my hands don't get sweaty anymore...

It was fun, I had spare parts, I know since I cannot change the clock, I cannot push them higher... I don't want to mess with the crystals, but I bet you could boost these a lot if there were variable or socket-ed crystals...

I don't understand why everyone recommends expensive USB fans when traditional fans are much more effective.

And cheap.  I've got 120mm fans blowing on my rig, I paid exactly zero for these extras from my last system build.

edit: were you referring to traditional household fans?  If so, yes - more effective at the expense of more power.

The only shop around here that had little USB fans that stand up on a flxible shaft from the USB hub was Coles bookstore.

They seem to be intended though for people reading books a few hours a day on their Kindle or something as within days of running 24/7 both were dead...

Now I use one 120mm case-fan powered from a fan power connector inside a nearby computer.

-MarkM-