Cooling efficiency?

[Tomi_s]

Before my temps were 50C at idle and 52-56C in stress. Back then I had only one 80mm case cooler at the middle back of my case (besides the CPU and power coolers :rolleyes: ). This week I added one 80mm cooler to the low front of my case, and my temps "dropped" to 48-50C at idle and 52-54C in stress. Today I added a sielf made "tube" to direct the front cooler´s air better to the mainboard (I can post you a picture maybe at the end of the week! :cool: ). The thing what bothers me, is the only 1cm x13cm sized air hole on the front bottom of my case, which is the only way the front cooler gets it´s air! Would the front cooler be much more efficiency, if I do some more venting holes where the cooler is? :?: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

PS. The noise is horrible, if I adjust the front cooler to 3000rpm! (because of the very narrow intake hole :( :( )

[Tomi_s]

Oh, I forgot, because of the tube I made, my idle temp is now constant 48C and Stress temp max 52C! :) :) :)

[hkb]

Hell Yeah! :thumb:

Opening up the hole in the front, dumping all that oem garbage surrounding the fan helps more than I can describe. Getting rid of the oem crap as the "AIR FILTER" will give a temp boost right away.

On one case, I cut the front hole out (none of the metal grill-work/square holes. Major flaw in case design. All arguments go elsewhere as within the day there's 20 that I know of (alone) that have done this.

Also I got rid of the 80mm fan and replaced with a Panaflow 120. Needless to say it brought the temps down radically. I did have that crazy 120 delta-like powerhouse in there along with the extra noise, but I switched to the Panaflow and its great flow made up for the 'Power' (and noise) of the other fan and does it quietly to boot.

You don't need massive intake, just a good volume. So by my experience you are doing the right thing and don't look back... Don't forget that getting the hot air out is just as important. My case is COOLER with the front intake and the rest are exhaust. 2 rear, 1 top, 1 side... I used to have 2-80's on the side pointing at the gpu and cpu (somewhat). Turned out that I got better all around temps by exhausting the rest.

That last line is incredible even to me. All linear logic points to the opposite, but my thermomitors aren't fibbing. Don't follow this blindly. If fans are there already then it takes nothing but a little time to reverse them and see the result.

My latest: Aluminum case, ati9700pro, xp2700+ (@default), pc3500ddr, 2 atapi, 3 hd's.

best,
Keith

[Tomi_s]

I should also probaply cut the metal grill off from the rear cooler. The metal is covering roughly about half of that exhaust hole! (and it also generates this nasty humming noise) :( Why can´t the case designers leave the cooler holes totally open!!! There is almost in every case some stupid metal grill to slowing down the air intake/exhaust! (and it also generates noise) If you really need the "finger protection grill" :rolleyes:, you can put it there by your sielf! (and at least the gold coloured model, not some stupid gray metal) : omg: :D :D

[dryadsoul]

Hey tomi, if you wanna experiment a lil with those fans....
try putting them all to exhaust.......and sealing any holes/cracks
in the case with tape.........it's called Negative Air Flow.......have used it in about 1/3 of high end gamer setups that i have built
and depending on the systems components......it can and does
work wonders on the right setup. And Yeah, i always remove
any/all sheet metal from blow holes.......front/rear or wherever
they are located......but front air filters are a must have unless
you live in a totaly dust free environment.....which might be
for you at least during the frozen winters:rofl: :wow: :cheers:

[Tomi_s]

I´m just wondering, how good the front cooler pushes the hot air out, if the hot air is in the upper part of the case, or will the air spread equally to the whole case? :?: :?: That negative air flow doesn´t seem very reasonable, I mean the cool air must come from somewhere to the case...right? :?: :wow:

[hkb]

:bounce2: Wow, I'm glad I said something about what someone called negative airflow. Thought I'd get flamed, torched, and kicked for good measure.

From the side fan(s) & rear, you should feel the heat come out. Some areas are a lot hotter than others, but it's normal cause we have cpu's and psu's near the top, and midway on the side we have graphics... And though I don't like, leaving a filter on the front intake(s) is really a better thing to do. Another benefit to this negative venting (like that title) is your inside should be a ton cleaner than it was previous... :2cents:Two months gave me a truly thin layer (not much) of dust on the back of the video card and other card. If things were still the standard way I'd have a heavy layer of dust adding to the heat.

Keith

[Tomi_s]

Yeah, I´m sure that the negative airflow will keep the dust away! :D I´ll have to try that out sometimes. :cheers:

[dryadsoul]

Look Tomi, it takes little to zero effort to reverse your fans
to checkout Negative Airflow....& i had my doubts and tried
it any way as that was the only sure way i could dismiss the
concept as BS.........and wow:wow: it isn't bull shyte..........
and it works best with a serious CPU Heatpipe as long as you
plug every last crack/hole so it is not simply sucking air back in through those same holes. All i am saying here is give it shot
you have nothing to lose and possibly every thing to gain for
nearly no effort on your part. And it was actually a theory
which was perfected and still in use by NASA............. : peace2:

[Tomi_s]

I just "fill" my case with a noise insulating material and switched the cardboard made cooling tube to aluminium one. I also cut off the "air filters" from the front and the back. When I get a drill from my cousins and get those cooling holes on the front of my case, I think my temps will drop another two degrees. We´ll see. BTW, the sound insulating material works pretty nice! :) :)

I can try that negative airflow sometime, but now I really don´t want, because I got my cooling tube work so well! I will keep that in mind dryadsoul. ;) :)