Leaving side panel off?

Nymins

Nymins

Nymins

Soldato
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Ever since i got my 8800GTS, the overall case temperature has gone up as you could imagine. I did a test today and found that with the side panel on im getting ~60C idle and with it off im getting ~52-53C idle.

The case im using is a generic, plain brand and i only have 1x80mm fan at the back. Now i know everyone else says not to leave your side panel off because of dust collection etc, but what if i just had it off when im on the pc and put it back on when im not? Or should i just get another case fan? Because i can see a grill at the front of the inside my case, but the whole front on the outside is completely solid so i cant really see where the air would come in.

Thanks for any help.
 
To me it sounds like you could do with a new case, but I'm guessing thats not a very helpful answer.

PK!
 
Clock down your 8800 in 2d mode and it will be (slightly) cooler.
Increase the 8800 fan speed to a point where you are still happy with the noise.
Take off a PCI backplate cover to let some air out.
Get one of those ~80mm exhaust blowers and sit it in the next available pci slot.
Add a fan at the front. Even with no specific vent, it should help airflow.

:)
 
60c idle seems about average with these
a good case will probably only get you 54-55c idle at 60% fan speed
 
With the case side off, it will reduce overall temps, but then you end up with no airflow over the ram and NB/SB heatsinks. I discovered that my NB gained 10-15 Degrees with the lack of airflow with the case side off (I had temp hard drives connected up).
 
Thanks for the tips guys. Ill probably just leave it on after reading that these cards are stable at these temps. However, after i play a GPU intensive game (like the Airborne demo) my idle temps stay at 66C. Is this normal after playing games like that?
 
Mine will go from 50c idle with 54% fan to a max of 66c with 70% fan under load then back down to 50c idle with 54% fan.
It will probably take 1 minute to drop back down to idle temps.
 
Ok, i bought 2x80mm Xilence fans and a 120mm Xilence fan for the front of the pc. I 7v'ed the 120mm to make it a bit more quiet, however, going from only one 80mm case fan at the back to two at the back and one intake, the temps on my GPU have only went down about 3 degrees. The fans shift a good amount of air, the same as Yate Loons or Sharkoon's.

Do cases determine the overall temperature? I have the cables tucked away as much as possible. Just seems like a wasted £15 on case fans that only dropped temps by a few degrees.
 
Cases do make a large difference in what temps your hardware will have.

Its all down to getting the main airflow running in the same direction. As in previous threads, it has been discussed that the vacuum effect does work considerably better. I have just fitted 2 x 8cm intake fans on the side panel of my case along with a 12cm front intake and 12cm rear exhaust.

Now because the pressure of intake is greater than the exhaust, the cold air will flow around the case and by having the exhaust fan as high as you can get it on the back the better as it will draw the hot air out.

Hope that makes sense :)
 
I think i get it :P Im pretty sure i have the fans the right way round. When the fan is pointing outwards (meaning the sort of 'X' design on the fan is pointing outwards) that is the position for exhaust isn't it?

And the 120mm at the front is position in the same direction but the 'X' shape on the front of the fan is pointing into the case, thus meaning intake?
 
Nymins said:
I think i get it :P Im pretty sure i have the fans the right way round. When the fan is pointing outwards (meaning the sort of 'X' design on the fan is pointing outwards) that is the position for exhaust isn't it?

And the 120mm at the front is position in the same direction but the 'X' shape on the front of the fan is pointing into the case, thus meaning intake?
Click to expand...

When installing fans, generally if you have the fan with the sticker/badge on it pointing outwards then its drawing air out. Vice Versa and its drawing air in.

A quick way ( and I mean quick ) is to put a lighter to the fan and see if it blows out or draws the flame in. Only do it for a second though!!!!
 
Wiggins said:
When installing fans, generally if you have the fan with the sticker/badge on it pointing outwards then its drawing air out. Vice Versa and its drawing air in.

A quick way ( and I mean quick ) is to put a lighter to the fan and see if it blows out or draws the flame in. Only do it for a second though!!!!
Click to expand...

Or just look on the fan to see if it has the rotation and flow arrows on it :p
 
Yea unfortunately there are no markings to tell you which way the air flows.

I took some pictures of them in motion (obvious they look still because it is a picture, but the pc was on at the time):

Back fans in exhaust:

dscf2688dz1.jpg


The front fan in intake:

dscf2689sf6.jpg


Is this the right configuration?
 
Guys, put your hand behind the case where the fan is. If there's significant air coming out then it's extracting, if there's not then it isn't!
 
hi guys,

i've always wondered about this... in nymins' post above (the one showing the cpu cooler and the 2 rear exhausts) if you have too many fans "sucking" air from an area, do you not create a vacum which in turn starves each fan of airflow. In this instance, you have the cpu fan, 2x exhaust fans, and the psu fan above sucking air from the same physical space, surely each of these fans is reducing air flow for the others in some way and thus reduce effectiveness?

This is addressed with some of the monster cpu coolers you can buy now which can be oriented so that the fans point from front to back and thus create a proper air flow from front to back of case.

cheers
ian
 
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