How can you tell a case that has good airflow and cooling design?

[CordialSpam]

How can you tell a case that has good airflow and cooling design? I currenly have the Antec 3700AMB and it is running so hot around 38c system temp with 2 120mm fan 1 on back exuast and 1 on front intake, I think the probelm is that my room is so hot, and I think it would be better.
What is the difference between aluminum cases and steel cases? I know they weight differently, I have this old case that is made full of aluminum and it is so light, it is like 3x lighter than this antec and it is also cooler. Do aluminum cases cooler than steel cases? What are some other ways you can tell a case that can cools off your system very well and have good airflow?

[Dubbin1]

First off if your room is that hot then you will never get your computer to cool down much more. Second, a aluminum case will not cool any better then a steel case. Third, 38° is not that bad.

[Daewood]

my comp system temp runs around 37 to 40 c and until the ac kicks on and then it drops to maybe 36 at the lowest so your case will only go as low as the ambient temp in your room (cut a blowhole it might help exhaust all the hot air by the psu and the cpu)
just my .02

[apunkrockmonk]

You guys have high case temps.... I have a Lian-Li PC-61 (amazing case btw) with no added fan holes, and I've even replaced the fans with quieter fans that push less cfm then stock and I see 25°C Case temp with a 72°F room temp. 29°C with an 80°F room temp. 38°C? That seems absurdly high for a case temp, wouldn't your cpu be quite hot?

[Dubbin1]

Now wait a second here. Are we talking 38° case temp or 38° cpu temp? If its case temp then YES it is high. If its CPU temp then NO thats not all that bad. Its 80°F in here right now and my case is at 27°C and CPU is at 33°C.

[Super Nade]

Thermal imaging may be the answer. You may see the dead spots (areas with high tempratures). While working with infrared lasers I use a cheap CCD & TV or a handycam (yes! it works) to align/image the beam. I could see a spot 5 mm wide @ 10mW. My guess is you should be able to discern a rough thermal pattern in a dark room. {I have not tried it on a computer case.} .Alternatively, you may use a cheap thermal scope. It helps if you have a clear side case. You might want to sequentially enable fans to see how tempratures change. If you can capture a thermal image as a .bmp file, Matlab can plot the 3-D intensity profile very easily {a one line command}.

Hope this helps!

[Dubbin1]

Thermal imaging may be the answer. You may see the dead spots (areas with high tempratures). While working with infrared lasers I use a cheap CCD & TV or a handycam (yes! it works) to align/image the beam. I could see a spot 5 mm wide @ 10mW. My guess is you should be able to discern a rough thermal pattern in a dark room. {I have not tried it on a computer case.} .Alternatively, you may use a cheap thermal scope. It helps if you have a clear side case. You might want to sequentially enable fans to see how tempratures change. If you can capture a thermal image as a .bmp file, Matlab can plot the 3-D intensity profile very easily {a one line command}.

Hope this helps!

Oh Christ I think that is getting a tad bit carried away.

[CordialSpam]

I'm talking about my CASE (aka SYSTEM) temperature here, yes it is running hot, sometimes this thing even hits 40C, I might just cut TWO side holes and put TWO fans on side blowing on PCI/video cards and 1 blowing on chipset.

[kindred]

First off if your room is that hot then you will never get your computer to cool down much more. Second, a aluminum case will not cool any better then a steel case. Third, 38° is not that bad.

Aluminum has a better thermal conductivity rating than steel, and it's significantly lighter. My CPU temp is running at 25C idle and 38C load with only 2 Panaflo Medium CFM 80MM fans (1-side intake, 1-rear outtake). Proper fan placement is more important than case design. Your temps are normal if the surrounding air outside the case is warm. I love my air conditioning and it greatly affects my computer temps.

[Dubbin1]

Aluminum has a better thermal conductivity rating than steel,

I agree that that is true, but when it comes to a computer case it is not going to make any difference. Theres not near enough heat to see the difference.

I'm talking about my CASE (aka SYSTEM) temperature here, yes it is running hot, sometimes this thing even hits 40C, I might just cut TWO side holes and put TWO fans on side blowing on PCI/video cards and 1 blowing on chipset.

What is it, 90°+ in your house? Have you tried taking the side of the case off and see if it cools off any better?

[Super Nade]

Oh Christ I think that is getting a tad bit carried away.

Its not much work! A lot easier than putting thermistors/AD590's everywhere and designing the sensor! The image processing may be overkill, but you could learn soomething new about heat flow patterns.

Which makes me wonder what if the case was not painted or was carbon blackened, I'm sure shiny smooth Al radiates heat better than paint. Somebody creative could jazz up the unpainted case by attaching designs made of brass.If you are wondering about a thermocouple current set up due to a temprature gradient...your case is grounded :)

Just my .02.

PS* Do people go crazy before their first build while waiting for their parts?
FedEx man where art thou????????

[CordialSpam]

I agree that that is true, but when it comes to a computer case it is not going to make any difference. Theres not near enough heat to see the difference.



What is it, 90°+ in your house? Have you tried taking the side of the case off and see if it cools off any better?

Beleive it or not my parents don't turn the air condition on, so my room gets around 85+ with my PC on, but now it is just cool, around 75c beceause I'm using the laptop. (waiting for my new vid card, sold my old one)

[mattspalace]

Have you cleaned your air filter lately? I have the same case, and my temps are 31c for the mobo and 33c for the CPU. - My case is very quiet, but I also keep my place hovering around 72f.

[t_biggs]

Air filters won't help him. If your room gets to 85, you really can't do much. Tell your parents to turn on the AC. Its the only thing that can help. You can't cool something below the temperature of the air you're using to cool it. Temps will go down if you point a n osillating fan at the case while its open, only because you're room gets to 29, case 40. But when the room is that hot to begin with, its going to be very hard to get the case cooled.