My Lian-Li case sides add 18C to temps!

Help!

I think I've diagnosed why my PC has been running so hot. With the case sides on (it's a Lian Li PC-V1110B) max CPU temp hits 100C, with the sides off it never gets above 82C (this is during Prime95 Blend test).

Anyone else got this case and experienced the same problem? I can't imagine that my cable management is so poor that it would add 18C to temps... that's an enormous jump... maybe it's got something to do with the extra fan I have pushing air onto the RAM and into the HSF?

Any ideas/help/commiserations would be appreciated!

EDIT: Rear Lian Li case fan is set to max speed setting, not middle or low.

FYI Spec:

Lian Li PC-V1110B
OCUK Gigabyte i7 Bundle @ 4011.09MHz @ VCore 1.3 (up from 1.275 OCUK setting)
Megahalems HSF (To replace Noctua, which was about 10C hotter)
Corsair 850W Modular PSU plugged into wall
5 x SATA HDDs
Fairly large GeForce 8800GT
XFI Extreme Gamer PCI Soundcard

System is currently unstable.

Typically, getting a change like that suggests poor airflow, as there is lateral turbulence being exposed rather than a linear airflow through the case from front to back. Can you stick up a picture of what fans you have and where, and indicate the direction of airflow?

thanks

here's an old pic:



Since this shot was taken I've added a few more HDDs and instead of the Noctua I now have a Megahalems in there.

Question:

My Megahalems Akasa Apache fan is attached to the end nearest the back of the case, sucking air out of the HSF and blowing out to the rear fan. Would it be better to move this fan to the other side of the HSF so it pushes air through it and out to the rear fan?

In my CURRENT setup (not as above):

1) air in from front case fan at bottom of case
2) air blowing ONTO RAM at middle top case fan
3) air blowing OUT of HSF and onto rear fan at top
4) air blowing OUT of rear fan
5) PSU fan as-is (blowing out presumably)

only difference from the pic above is the Megahalems and the fact that I have ONE Apache fan blowing OUT of HSF, not ONTO it or both.

In terms of airflow direction that seems fine. Seeing how many fans you have though, and how close together they are, I'm wondering if it's a mis-match in throughput that is leading to airflow being disrupted.

As an experiment, try running WITHOUT the rear case fan, and the fan you have over the RAM (Disclaimer - if you're overclocking then obviously keep the safety of your components in mind). The proximity of the 2 HSFs should ensure that airflow is unaffected, and you may find that you eliminate a disruption around the CPU and RAM.

P.S. The rear fan doesn't look connected in that picture anyways?

Thanks for your help!

The rear fan is definitely connected and running at max speed (using the little switcher on the back of the case).

I will try disabling it and see what happens. I'll also try disabling the middle case fan over the RAM.

I've attached a drawing of my system:

The Megahelem should be in push not pull ideally

right so move it over to the other side?

Posted By mothermachine
only difference from the pic above is the Megahalems and the fact that I have ONE Apache fan blowing OUT of HSF, not ONTO it or both.

Click to expand...

If l've read it right you have your CPU Cooling fan(Apache) facing the exhaust fan-

Prom Meg-->Fan(Apache)--> Exhaust Fan--> direction of air(out of case)

surely you get better temp's if you had-

Fan(Apache)-->Prom Meg-->Exhaust Fan-->direction of air(out of case)

If you had two fan's you could set them up as a push>pull config-

Fan(Apache)-->Prom Meg-->Fan(Apache)-->Exhaust Fan-->direction of air(out of case).

That's how i've got them set up on my Corsair H50-

Push-->Rad-->Pull-->direction of air(out of case).

Hope this help,s

Indeed.

I've just moved the Apache to blow onto the HSF and then the rear fan blows air out. (Moved it to other side of HSF in other words) as per your advice.

Temps have dropped a few C although I still have case sides OFF. Will test again with sides on once i've run Prime.

Thanks all so far!

Do you only have the one intake at the bottom infront of the HDDs ?

Yeh just the one at the bottom in front of HDDs.

Seems pretty unbalanced; one intake and 3 exhausts (PSU, GPU, CPU). Is the front of the case mesh or a solid wall ? I would mod some more fans on as intakes (1 or 2 should work well) to help get positive air pressure. And either buy another Apache for push/pull or move the existing one to push.
Its also worth noting that id the fan pulling from the back of the heatsink doesnt match upto the fan on the case (in airflow) then there will be a disruption which could lead to the same air running through the Megahalems over and over again.

Thanks Big,

I've now got the Apache on Push mode, which has dropped temps a few C, which is good.

To be honest this is supposed to be a top of the line case, pretty much - airflow really shouldn't be an issue at this price (paid about £125 for it...).

I think I might invest in a second Apache for Pull mode. Is there any way to make sure that the rear exhaust and Pull Apache will match in speed? Can it be manually set using software such as Speedfan, or does it need to be a hardware match?

Thanks,

what temps do you get running the processor at stock ?

any chance you can feed some fresh air into the top section of the case via a fan at the front by the cd/dvd drive ?

mothermachine said:

Click to expand...

Is that a partition that splits the top and bottom of the case? In your photo it looks like it, which would mean that the intake is only affecting the bottom partition and the top partition has no intake at all.

well spotted... there are gaps in the partition but basically no intake fan for the top (main) half of the case... weird.... i guess it might be possible to somehow install a fan at the front like that. i'll look into it.

not tried running this system at stock settings yet but i've just left prime running for about 4 hours and it's not crashed. yet.

thanks guys

You could get the Lian Li BZ-502, the Lian Li EX-33, or maybe the Lian Li EX-34N.

now that's a fantastic idea! thanks BlackBat - think I'll grab one of those. looks like a great solution!

cheers,