Question about case cooling

[XanaX0911]

Ok, I have a question about some cooling products. I just got an Athlon 1700 and want to try to keep the case temps down. I dont want to cut a bunch of holes in the case if I can help it though. I have a case fan mounted in the front pulling air in. The problem is the only thing blowing out is the power supply fan.

Does anyone have any experience with products like the 3DCOOL.com Twin Turbo, Bay Freezer, or Super Duper Slot Fan? Do these products move enough air to help out with the case temps? The most interesting of the products looks like the Bay Freezer. Anyone have any experience or advice?

[Breadfan]

I've seen that those products seem to typically lower case temps by about 2 or 3C. You'd get more cooling from an 80mm in the back of the case, but I'm guessing you don't have a premade spot for one...makes sense because if you did it would be a simple installation and cheaper too.

Those slot fans do help with circulation, but are typically less powerful than other case fans. And also, you have to consider the circulation itself.

First off, the PSU fan really only exhausts the PSU heat, and heat on the very top of the case. Even then, any heat ouside the psu would have to go through the cooling vents in the psu to be pulled out...and quite honestly the psu fan isn't strong enough to pull might air from the case through the psu.

I've found that one cases with an 80mm fan in the back near the cpu exhausting and one in the front inhaling, you get pretty good results. The reason is becuase the air path goes in the front of the case on the bottom, and streams up and across the cpufan and then out of the case. This provides a somewhat decent stream of fresh air where the cpufan can use it. Using this setup my cpu temps dropped considerably.

Then I picked up a new case for my system and it came with a blowhole on the side for an 80mm fan. It was almost directly over my cpufan. So, I put an 80mm in, blowing fresh air over the cpu, plus a fan in front sucking in, and a fan in back exhausting out...and ofcourse, the psu. That made a big difference as well. Holes aren't too hard to make...if you have a dremel and a drill. Optionally you can just use a drill to make a pilot hole, and a pair of tin snips to cut the circle...

Slot fans are easier to install ofcourse.

It's better than nothing, and should lower your case temps some, but not as much as other setups.

Mike

[Jeniva]

just cut a few holes and add your own fans...like i did..easy and cheap...
[EDIT: those are 120mm intakes..I have 4 80mm exausts in the case..an Antec 1040b]

[XanaX0911]

Hmmm just checked after a full day of operation and the cpu temp is at 49C while not doing much of anything. I'm guessing those slot and bay fans are not really gonna help much and what I really need to do is suck it up and try to rig up an 80mm exhaust fan to match my 80mm intake fan. It doesnt really look like there is a good place in the back of my case to put it but maybe I can rig something.

Jeniva: Where are your 4 80mm exhaust fans mounted?

[Jeniva]

Originally posted by XanaX0911
Hmmm just checked after a full day of operation and the cpu temp is at 49C while not doing much of anything. I'm guessing those slot and bay fans are not really gonna help much and what I really need to do is suck it up and try to rig up an 80mm exhaust fan to match my 80mm intake fan. It doesnt really look like there is a good place in the back of my case to put it but maybe I can rig something.

Jeniva: Where are your 4 80mm exhaust fans mounted?

Xana, the 4 80mm fans are mounted in the case,an Antec 1040b,the case comes with 4 places for 80mm fans,2 on the backside and 2 on the front

[XanaX0911]

Does that 49C idle temp (according to the bios anyway) seem fairly high for a XP 1700 with a Volcano 6cu+? I'm starting to think that if i'm gonna be rigging things up I might as well go with 2 big 120mm fans that do 108 CFM each, one for intake and one for exhaust. The room the computer is in gets fairly hot in the summer so I'm thinking the extra cooling might be worth it. Unfortunately my case doesnt really have spaces set aside for fans. Maybe its time for a new case soon ;)