best way for good air flow without new case

Spurs986

Spurs986

Spurs986

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Good air flow advice

I have an xblade case.. quite old and poor cable management etc...


I have an aegir sd128264 heatsink quite large with a 120mm fan

the side fan on the xblade case is a tiny fan which just about shuts but means the fan blowing directly next to heatsink fan which is blowing air through the heatsink fins.

I ahve a front fan as well which looks to be blowing air into the case too.


i ahve just brought anotehr 2 120mm fans (one for heatsink) and one for back of the case.. but not sure whether I should a, use both and b, if I do what to do with them

i assume id want the 120mm to join the other 120mm fan for heatsink blowing air through the fins, but then it menas its right next to the other 120mm fan on the rear (which I dont know whether should be exhaust or not)....

my graphics card is being rma'd as its 100c but want to make sure its not due to airflow.

psu isnt modular either, and no cable control on case
 
Clean all the dust out and cable manage it as best as you can.

In general, you want the intakes toward the bottom of the case and the exhausts towards the top, and close to the hottest components. Ideally you also want more inward CFM than outward to create positive pressure, thus reducing the dust intake.

Just remember that heat rises, so work with it where possible.
 
I cant really see what is at the front of your case but I would put a SP120 in the lower front pulling in air

Rear SP120 pulling in air

Cut a hole in the bottom for and SP120 pulling air in and attach feet to the case.

Cut 2 holes in the top and fit 2 x SP 120's pushing Air out
 
anthony566 said:
I cant really see what is at the front of your case but I would put a SP120 in the lower front pulling in air

Rear SP120 pulling in air

Cut a hole in the bottom for and SP120 pulling air in and attach feet to the case.

Cut 2 holes in the top and fit 2 x SP 120's pushing Air out
Click to expand...

You mean AF120's yeah? their the case fans SP120's are the rad fans.
 
ubersonic said:
You mean AF120's yeah? their the case fans SP120's are the rad fans.
Click to expand...

Depending on how restricted the front intake is by HDD cages etc, a SP120 might be better. They're not just for rads, they're for any instance where a higher static pressure is needed due to restriction.

However the rest being exhaust will be fine on AF.
 
With new GPU's using more power / making more heat than CPU's the old "air in at front and bottom and out back and top is not as good an idea as it used to be. We don't want to move the hot GPU exhuast up to feed CPU cooler. Air in top in front of CPU intake or top of front in front of CPU cooler (optical bays) and air out back usually works very well. Removing unused PCI covers will help let out GPU heat. Often a side fan helps supply air directly to GPU... and sometimes it helps as an exhaust. Need to try it both ways to see which works best.
 
I have to disagree. You still need air flow from the lower/front to aid cooling of the GPU. Most of which that create big heat, using their own cooling setup throw most of that heat out of the back through vents built into the unit's design. Heat-soak from the GPU into the CPU heatsink, given that there's sufficient airflow will be so minimal that it's hardly worth mentioning.

As for putting fans in the optical bays, for most users it's highly impractical and for a great deal of cases would require some form of modification to the front facia of the case itself.

Also with pretty much every case design now, the PCI slot covers are ventilated so removing them is pointless.
 
Resident said:
I have to disagree. You still need air flow from the lower/front to aid cooling of the GPU. Most of which that create big heat, using their own cooling setup throw most of that heat out of the back through vents built into the unit's design. Heat-soak from the GPU into the CPU heatsink, given that there's sufficient airflow will be so minimal that it's hardly worth mentioning.

As for putting fans in the optical bays, for most users it's highly impractical and for a great deal of cases would require some form of modification to the front facia of the case itself.

Also with pretty much every case design now, the PCI slot covers are ventilated so removing them is pointless.
Click to expand...
*Didn't say anything about not using lower front intake.
*Only reference GPUs' move heat out the back.
*"Heat-soak" (never heard of it before) from GPU into CPU heatsink... well, every degree hotter the air going into CPU cooler is a degree hotter the CPU will be.. so if GPU raises air temp to cooler by 4c the CPU will be 4c hotter.. and it can do that easily You can call that "minimal" if you want but to me it's a significant increase. Seems only logical to vent that hot air out of case instead of moving it up to CPU cooler. Highest stock CPU wattage is 130watts. Many GPUs' are 200+ watts now.

Many cases have grill covers on optical bays.. usually the same pattern as used on lower intake grill.

Ventilated PCI slot covers are at least as restrictive as vent grills.. and vent grills restrict 29-71% of the airflow according to a study by Silverstone.
http://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?tid=wh_chessis&area=en
 
doyll said:
*Didn't say anything about not using lower front intake. - My bad, the way your previous post read seemed to infer not using it

*Only reference GPUs' move heat out the back. Plenty of non-reference cards are vented for heat to move out the back. I'm no expert so go ask the GPU guys.

*"Heat-soak" (never heard of it before) Perfectly valid term. Mostly from my youth when modifying cars, refers to excess heat from a source(usually exhaust manifold/turbo) getting into places where it shouldn't, like the intake.

from GPU into CPU heatsink... well, every degree hotter the air going into CPU cooler is a degree hotter the CPU will be.. so if GPU raises air temp to cooler by 4c the CPU will be 4c hotter.. and it can do that easily You can call that "minimal" if you want but to me it's a significant increase. Seems only logical to vent that hot air out of case instead of moving it up to CPU cooler. Highest stock CPU wattage is 130watts. Many GPUs' are 200+ watts now.

Someone needs to brush up on thermal dynamics. IF I'm stood outside and the temp is 20° and I'm 30° and then the air temp raises to 24°, you're suggesting that I'll raise to 34° which wouldn't happen

Many cases have grill covers on optical bays.. usually the same pattern as used on lower intake grill. Some, not many. I can't think of a popular case that does.

Ventilated PCI slot covers are at least as restrictive as vent grills.. and vent grills restrict 29-71% of the airflow according to a study by Silverstone.
http://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?tid=wh_chessis&area=en
Click to expand...

The 71% is only for those cases that use circular vent holes, which I don't remember the last time seeing any on a case, even cheap ones and I have to question bias on the whole study given that surprise surprise Silverstone's own product came out top.

Show me an independent study. I'm not saying they're wrong but too much of a coincidence their product being No1
 
Non-reference cards draw air in their face and vent everywhere so yes, some out the back too.

As for brushing up on thermal dynamics, please do. You are not a radiator with a CPU under you.

If you have 25c intake air into a radiator that is cooling a CPU to 50c and raise the that intake air to 30c you CPU will raise to 55c.. This is assuming no change in fan speed. Please try it. Test with your room at 20c and raise your room to 25c. Your CPU and GPU will do the same 5c increase. Same applies at idle with 20c ambient and 25c CPU.. Raise ambient to 22c and CPU goes up to 27c. Simple way to see is to check you room and CPU temp first thing on a cool morning and again mid afternoon in the heat of the day.

Silverstone doesn't own a patent on wire grilles. They use wire grilles on their case and explain why. Many case companies use hexagonal grilles.. and they are only 1% less efficient than wire grilles like Silverstone uses.

If I post something in error than I have no problem with anyone showing me I'm wrong. If someone need a better explanation to something I've posted please ask. But Resident, this vendetta you have against me started months ago over Corsair coolers and has no place on this forum. It needs to stop.
 
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doyll said:
Non-reference cards draw air in their face and vent everywhere so yes, some out the back too.

As for brushing up on thermal dynamics, please do. You are not a radiator with a CPU under you.

If you have 25c intake air into a radiator that is cooling a CPU to 50c and raise the that intake air to 30c you CPU will raise to 55c.. This is assuming no change in fan speed. Please try it. Test with your room at 20c and raise your room to 25c. Your CPU and GPU will do the same 5c increase. Same applies at idle with 20c ambient and 25c CPU.. Raise ambient to 22c and CPU goes up to 27c. Simple way to see is to check you room and CPU temp first thing on a cool morning and again mid afternoon in the heat of the day.

Silverstone doesn't own a patent on wire grilles. They use wire grilles on their case and explain why. Many case companies use hexagonal grilles.. and they are only 1% less efficient than wire grilles like Silverstone uses.

If I post something in error than I have no problem with anyone showing me I'm wrong. If someone need a better explanation to something I've posted please ask. But Resident, this vendetta you have against me started months ago over Corsair coolers and has no place on this forum. It needs to stop.
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Oh stop with the 'Oh woe is me, people have it in for me' when people have a different opinion than you or dismiss your "facts". It really is childish. I've dealt with people like you in both my professional and personal life. You have a psychological need to be right all the time and will insist you are even when you're wrong and anyone who goes against that is trying to attack you.

None of what I've posted above has been attacking you at all. If you can't hack someone having a differing opinion and/or stating facts that conflict with your opinion then maybe the internet isn't the place for you.
 
Resident said:
Oh stop with the 'Oh woe is me, people have it in for me' when people have a different opinion than you or dismiss your "facts". It really is childish. I've dealt with people like you in both my professional and personal life. You have a psychological need to be right all the time and will insist you are even when you're wrong and anyone who goes against that is trying to attack you.

None of what I've posted above has been attacking you at all. If you can't hack someone having a differing opinion and/or stating facts that conflict with your opinion then maybe the internet isn't the place for you.
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And again you come back trying to ridicule and berate me personally.. with no a single word about cooling.

This is not good for the forum. I'm asking you again to please stop it.
 
doyll said:
And again you come back trying to ridicule and berate me personally.. with no a single word about cooling.

This is not good for the forum. I'm asking you again to please stop it.
Click to expand...

I'm answering an accusation you've made against me. Did you expect me just to ignore it? You were the one to bring it to a personal level by accusing me of a non-existent vendetta in order to try to make me look like the aggressor. Again I'll say stop acting like you're the victim. It's an act that everyone sees through.
 
The way you reply to my posts is aggressive. Showing some restraint and forum etiquette to to this great forum by responding in a more relaxed manner would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You in advance.
 
Just because I challenge your opinions and 'facts' doesn't mean I'm being aggressive.

If I feel/know you're wrong I will post and correct you. Whether you like this or not is not my problem, this is how forums work.
 
Just "challenging" someone's opinion and/or data may or may not be aggressive.
Your replies often do not acknowledge what is valid in my post but only attack a small part of post with little or no acknowledgment of anything else. Then when I calming point out how I came up with my statement and back it with data you often again ignore my valid reply, pick one small part of my post and again attack. That is being aggressive and not carrying on a normal discussion.

I sometime get short with your posts because you are most often being agressive.. so I'm also partly to blame. Let's both work at keeping our exchanges more cival. :)
 
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