cooling - fan placement/temps

[techmob]

my setup is

asus p5w ph deluxe
E6600 2.4ghz core duo
2gb corsaid 6400 ram
1x320gb sata2
1x400gb sata2
1x tv tuner card
Ati x1950 pro
1x dvd rw
hiper 580w psu
case - asipre x-crusier

i have
1x 120mm exhuast fan
1x 80mm fan blowing out of the top
2x 80mm fans on the front (intake)
1x stock intel fan (soon to be Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro )
1x side panel duct to channel cpu

NB: the psu has a 120mm fan which either draws air into the psu from the case or blows out, this is very close to the 120mm exhaust fan and cpu fan, not sure if this is having an affect on the cooling?

All fans are blowing at max, there is no managment on the fan controls being used

current idle temps with everest and thermal analysis tool - cpu temps are the same with both programs

from everest
Temperatures
Motherboard 46 °C (115 °F)
CPU 40 °C (104 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1 52 °C (126 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2 50 °C (122 °F)
GPU 56 °C (133 °F)
GPU Ambient 50 °C (122 °F)
Seagate ST3320620AS 43 °C (109 °F)
Seagate ST3400633AS 38 °C (100 °F)

Cooling Fans
CPU 2789 RPM

Voltage Values
CPU Core 1.24 V
+3.3 V 3.33 V
+5 V 5.15 V
+12 V 10.40 V
+5 V Standby 4.99 V

...............

this is not an overclocked system and is all running at stock speeds

one thing i will say about this case, the front design is really poor, as it has a front door on it, which is mostly closed, so the two 80mm intake fans are not having a great affect on the cooling i don't think, and not only that the air holes on the front of the metal case, where the fans get mounted are not ideal and are some what hindered.

as pictured here

so there is my current setup, is it wise having 2x 80mm intake,(i can only fit 2x80mm at the front) with 120mm exhaust and 1x80mm blowing out of the top

also the side window has a vent and also a air duct which is aligned over the cpu fan

as pictured here

any suggestions on how i should have the fans etc


if you got this far

thanks for reading

 

[The Laughing Ma]

Hmmm that setup isn't far off what I have.

My case has the same problem as yours with the 2 x 80 intake fans but my system has an LCD plonked right in the middle of the two fan intakes.


Anyway here goes I have

3 x 80mm
1 x 120mm
1 x 92mm

and a

Zalman CPU cooler but my original case came with the same CPU intake funnel yours has but to fit the Zalman that has to be removed.

Anyway I have mine set up as follows.

120mm fan located on the side of the case blowing directly on the GPU.
2X 80mm fan intakes at front bottom sucking air in and blowing it towards the GPU and bottom of the Mobo and I have the 2 PCI metal guards on the rear of the case removed so that the GPUs heat is channelled right out the back of the system.

I have one 80mm fan located in an empty HD slot located sucking air in from the front this blows air right over the top of the RAM heatsinks and towards the intake for the Zalman CPU cooler this in turn is then blown straight at the 92mm out take fan.

The GPU is so big it splits the system in two so I've tried to created two corridors of air to cool the two hottest parts of the system.

I would love to show you some images but I've lost the lead to connect my digital camera to my PC. Anway

34C idle for Mobo
36C idle for OC'd E6600
47C idle for my 8800

oh and nice choice of PSU I use one of them as well.

 

[techmob]

cheers for that

it does seem since, i put the x1950 in and tidied my case, the temps have gone up slightly

i used to have the smaller card x1650, so i think it's understandable that the temps will go up a bit.

I also have some of the cables hidden above the hdd's, but this is where the front fans push air through, which it will block it a little, and with the poor ventilation with the front door this doesn't help

looks like i will have to remove the air duct above the cpu aswell when i get this new cpu cooler, and might stick an 80mm fan in it's place if it helps

i will also try removing a back plate above and below the gpu

not sure how i would be able to mount a fan above the hardrives, is it a hardrive cooler you are using or a standard 80mm fan

if you can get some pictures took, that would be sweet, interested to see yours or anyones setups for comparisons and ideas

thanks

 

[WJA96]

Would you try something for me? Turn off everything except the GPU cooler, CPU cooler and the fans in the Hiper PSU (aren't there 2 in that model, both extraction?).

If possible, close off the vent above the graphics card and the one above the CPU cooler (tape a bit of card over them or something).

What should now be happening is that your PSU and GPU coolers are forcing hot air out of the case and hopefully it is being sucked in the front of the case. Your case temperatures will increase (and possibly even your CPU temperatures, but if you can let it run for 30 minutes and record the end temperatures.

Then turn on the rear 120mm fan and do the same.

Then one front 80mm and measure again.

Then do the other front 80mm and finally uncover the side vents one at a time turning the side fan on before uncovering the bottom fan.

What I would hope this exercise will show is that, actually, most of your fans are just messing up the airflow and you'll get maximum benefit from just running the rear 120mm together with the CPU, GPU and PSU coolers.

I would also check that your CPU cooler is seated properly as it's quite hot for a non-overclocked CPU. When you fit the new one, make sure you read and understand the instructions. Unless you follow the correct locate/click/click process you get air bubbles trapped under the cooler and poor performance. It's MUCH easier to fit a big cooler like a freezer 7 pro with the motherboard out of the case.

Something else you might want to look at is the QFan settings on your motherboard. You may find that you have QFan turned on in the BIOS and that it is giving you higher CPU temperatures because it thinks you want quiet.

Finally - there is something wrong with the CPU fan speed reading - it looks like it's reading twice as fast as it should be running. I suspect that a multiplier needs setting to 0.5 in Everest or something.

 

[techmob]

i will give that a go thanks

as for the cpu fan reading, i am pretty sure the bios reports the same, i have it running at full whack and all QFan disabled

 

[techmob]

i have stripped my pc, and re ran the cables and have now dropped the temps from

Temperatures
Motherboard 46 °C (115 °F)
CPU 40 °C (104 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1 52 °C (126 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2 50 °C (122 °F)
GPU 56 °C (133 °F)
GPU Ambient 50 °C (122 °F)
Seagate ST3320620AS 43 °C (109 °F)
Seagate ST3400633AS 38 °C (100 °F)

to

Temperatures
Motherboard 43 °C (109 °F)
CPU 36 °C (97 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1 47 °C (117 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2 47 °C (117 °F)
GPU 53 °C (127 °F)
GPU Ambient 47 °C (117 °F)
Seagate ST3320620AS 39 °C (102 °F)
Seagate ST3400633AS 35 °C (95 °F)

just from better airflow.

....................

i am going to replace my side panels air duct, because i will be fitting an arctic freezer 7 soon, and the fan will be faced in a different position, so this duct will serve no purpose, as far as i am aware

i will be replacing it with an 80cm fan, just to add a little extra cooling

do i want this fan blowing in or blowing out of the side panel?

the arctic freezer, will be drawing air to the back of the case, where the 120mm exhaust fan should pull the warm air out

which way should i have the fan on the side panel, is it best to blow air into the direction of the heatsink?

cheers

 

[WJA96]

I am going to replace my side panels air duct, because I will be fitting an Arctic Freezer 7 soon, and the fan will be faced in a different position, so this duct will serve no purpose, as far as I am aware.

Correct

I will be replacing it with an 80cm fan, just to add a little extra cooling

Cooling what? It's going to be right on top of the CPU cooler. It may not fit at all actually.

do i want this fan blowing in or blowing out of the side panel?

Well, it's going to disrupt your airflow either way. If it's blowing in then it will be disrupting the airflow through the CPU cooler and out the back of the case. Yes, you will blow cold air in, but it will be sucked out the back almost immediately. If it is blowing out, then it's going to be pulling air up at either side of the CPU cooler, slowing that air down and making the CPU cooler less efficient.

That vent only makes sense if your CPU cooler needs cold air blown down on it directly from above - like the stock CPU cooler. Otherwise it's actually bad for cooling.

 

[techmob]

i was thinking it could help direct some cool air towards the heatsink, as the arctic freezer, will be drawing in air from the direction of the front of the case and directed out through the heatsink and out through the 120mm exhaust fan

directing an 80mm fan from the side panel, directly onto the heatsink, it would not be aimed at the fan of the cooler, because this would be facing the front of the case, and the heatsink would be facing directly to the side panel to an extent, so i thought having a fan blowing onto that, would also help keep it cool

no?

cheers

 

[DataKraft]

hi techmob.
Your biggest problem is the lack of flow through those fan mounts. Presumably, the rear fan has a similar "mesh" in it's way. The air flow is being severely impacted. You should try to remove at least the holed sections.
Noise should also reduce as well, since the arrangement is acting like a siren.

Dat

 

[WJA96]

i was thinking it could help direct some cool air towards the heatsink, as the arctic freezer, will be drawing in air from the direction of the front of the case and directed out through the heatsink and out through the 120mm exhaust fan

I'm racking my brains for a way of explaining this to you. Think of the air as a stream of water. It's pouring into the case at the bottom, flowing up to the AC7, through that and then out the back of the case.

Now pour about half as much water again directly on top of the cooler. Where does it go? It can't go through the cooler because the top is solid, so it has to pour down the sides. When it pours down the sides, it crosses the stream of water passing through the cooler. That will disrupt that flow and make it slower. And it doesn't matter whch way you channel that water - in or out of the case, the argument holds good.

Did you ever try turning the fans off and watching the temperatures? If you do, you will learn so much about how to cool your case. Case cooling and air fluid flow dynamics are counter-intuitive. You would expect that more fans = better cooling, but in almost every situation, it doesn't. It usually makes it worse.