More fans are not necessarily better

Tony343 · 2 Feb 2011 at 13:37

Having just upgraded my pc case I was looking at guides to optimum air cooling before I bought, and found this one quite interesting.

http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/pc_airflow_heat_cooling_guide/

I ended up with the antec 900 which I liked, had good reviews, and combines some of the best airflow features for cooling.

Hope it helps those looking for good air cooling cases...

Hzza · 2 Feb 2011 at 13:49

Antec 900 is a beast for cooling, but a dog for cable management

.

I still <3 it though.

Tony343 · 2 Feb 2011 at 14:03

Hzza said:
Antec 900 is a beast for cooling, but a dog for cable management .

I still <3 it though.

Tell me about it

got more zip ties in there than I can count, and I'm using a modular PSU to try and keep the cables down.

Had to run the top fan connector across the front over the g/card

otherwise it meant another power cable.

Hzza · 2 Feb 2011 at 14:05

I think I've got mine tucked under the edge of the mobo, looks horribly messy but still cools like a baws! Can't imagine what it'd be like with a few mods.

Might have to get the dremmel out in the summer

Scougar · 2 Feb 2011 at 14:57

They say time to idle, with shorter time being better. Am I missing something or wouldn't it be better for it to be longer time to idle temp, as the case took longer to warm up, because the fan's were removing the heat quicker?

They also didn't seem to test on load? Also, there is no mention that they cover up the holes not being used.

Tony343 · 3 Feb 2011 at 10:31

Scougar said:
They say time to idle, with shorter time being better. Am I missing something or wouldn't it be better for it to be longer time to idle temp, as the case took longer to warm up, because the fan's were removing the heat quicker?

They also didn't seem to test on load? Also, there is no mention that they cover up the holes not being used.

Time to idle is from max peak of cpu to idle temp - the quicker the better as this shows good airflow removing the energy from the cpu cooler.

Quote The system idled in its testing configuration for 30 minutes prior to Sisoft Sandra CPU burn-in (CPU Arithmetic Benchmark/CPU Multi-Media Benchmark) run 100% stress for 25 consecutive times. Unquote

I can only assume this is the stress test they put on the cpu, however, the point of this test was to valuate good airflow in reducing temperatures, not to stress the cpu to max load.
Good airflow will reduce temps quicker regardless of what they are peaking at.

We can only assume they were not idiots and ended up testing a colander

Scougar · 3 Feb 2011 at 10:32

Thanks for the explanation :-)

roadie · 3 Feb 2011 at 15:47

I run 2x92mm fans in, 1x120mm fan out, all under 1000rpm too. The case also has all vents and holes taped up so all air into it is forced through a filter. CPU temp at full load at 4.6Ghz is 65 degrees.