Idea for a basic case mod

[Boozebeard]

Hello, not sure if this is the right place to put this. So I've ran into a situation. This is my current PC case. I really love it but it doesn't really agree with my new graphics card (EVGA classified 780) as the heat sink blasts the air out to the side and as you can see the case has no form of ventilation on the side panels.

Taking the side panel off gives me a massive 10c difference to the gpu underload and I really want to push the OC on this card so I was thinking about doing a basic mod to add some ventilation to that side panel but I need advice.

At first I was thinking about adding a fan or two to the side but I'm not sure if that would mess up the air flow as the fans on the GPU would be trying to suck air into the heat sink while the side panel fan would be trying to push air out of the case from the same area. So maybe simply having a grill in the same fashion as the one on the front would be a better idea.

What do you guys think?

 

[Boozebeard]

I dunno, I think the problem is the the hot air has no where to go rather than needing more cool air. It's got 3 intakes (1 front, 2 top with a radiator) and only one exhaust at the back near the top at the moment. Not really interested in getting a window, was just thinking of getting a grill where the card is exhausting, in the same style as the front.

If I decide to do that does anyone have any recommendations of where I could get it done? I'm guessing you'd need at least a pillar drill to do it accurately, which I don't have access to.

 

[Boozebeard]

That sounds like a good plan actually. It's just got the default Lian Li fans. Might be worth replacing them? Not sure if the front can take a 140mm, I'll have to check. The power supply does actually take up the bottom third of the mesh and exhausts out that way but it still sounds like your idea would be good.

I'll try flipping the top fans and see if it makes much difference.

Edit: Actually I've got 2 vipers lying around. I'll put them on the rad.

Edit 2: What does uprated mean?

Edit 3: Ok yeah it does take a 140 on the front. I think I'll just try putting vipers on the rad, making them exhaust fans and get a 140 for the front.

Edit 4: I just realised the fan it came with is probably already 140mm. Not sure it's worth replacing.