I need advice on cooling my case

Hi everyone,

I'm using Thermaltake Soprano case currently(http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Chassis/midtower/soprano/vb1000sws.asp) with stock fan(2x120mm and 1x92mm side). My PSU is Scythe Kamariki 2 550W(92mm fan) and CPU cooler is Scythe Ninja Plus with original 120mm fan. I overclocked my 930D to 3.6G at 1.25V(BIOS). Here are my temp :

Idle :
CPU - 52C
System - 40C
HDD - 38C
7600GS - 58C

Load(2x Prime and 3DMARK06 loop)
CPU - 68C
System - 45C
HDD - 42C
7600GS - 65C

Room temp - around 30C.

I know my PC is freaking hot. Even I run my CPU at default speed, temp doesnt really goes down because Im at 1.25V. I'm not sure what is the cause but Im planning to add some fans and do clean up some cable. My PSU comes with tons of cables and I don't need some of them.

My PC is quiet at the moment, I can hear only HDD sound and something like light wind tunnel sound. What Im planning to add is :

1)Get a 72cfm 28db 120mm fan for exhaust. The PSU's 92mm fan doesnt help much so I think I've to get a powerful exhaust fan. Or should I get a 93cfm 37dB fan?

2) The current Thermaltake exhaust fan will be moved to replace Ninja's original fan. Does Ninja benefits a lot from high speed fan? My 930D is extremely hot even though I'm using Artic Silver 5.

3) Im getting another HDD so Im planning to get a 5inch disk rack with 80mm intake fan. My PC will have intake from top(80mm) and bottom(thermaltake stock 120mm) now. Will it help much or I should a powerful intake fan to replace Thermaltake stock and place my HDDs on the current 3inch bay?

4) The stock Thermaltake 92mm fan is currently blowing in air directly on top to the ninja. Should I change the direction to blow out or remove it?

I want to keep my PC as quiet as possible but at the same time reduce the temperature. Should I replace all my 120mm fans get more powerful ones or replace the exhaust and get the 5inch HDD rack?

Before you start of buying all sorts of (cool ) stuff, a few stupid questions:
1) Did you run your case ope with a room ventilator (or simular) blowing in it, and what are the temps? (Running open case with room vent gives the best air flow, then you know if its an case fan/air flow issue)

2) did you seathe the HSF properly or did you reseathe it?

(and uhh swapping the ninja fan is a good idea, it isn't a very good fan for the HSF. But I doubt your thermaltake case fan would help alot... Case fans are case fans...)

Thanks for reply. My room doesnt come with air cond. I run my pc with case close. Never tried running with case open but I think temp will go down if I do that.

I did took off the ninja once and reseat it. I got 1-2C lower. So you think i should change ninja's fan to a powerful one? Any recommendations? I'm trying to keep the noise minimal.

wyemarn said:

Thanks for reply. My room doesnt come with air cond. I run my pc with case close. Never tried running with case open but I think temp will go down if I do that.

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Try it and see by how much. With good case cooling, there shouldn't be much of a drop. THis will tell us how much of your problem is case cooling (which is why you actually have to try it).

I did took off the ninja once and reseat it. I got 1-2C lower. So you think i should change ninja's fan to a powerful one? Any recommendations? I'm trying to keep the noise minimal.

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That usually helps, but at the cost of more noise.

I've done testing with side of my case opened and closed.

Room temp : ~30C

2 Prime95 instances

Side of the case opened
CPU - 66C
System - 45C

Side of the case closed
CPU -69C
System - 45C

System temperate didn't change much but CPU temp gone up 2-3C. My side cover comes with a 92mm blowing directly on top of the ninja. Please advise.

Id stick a really powerful fan on there see what ur temps are then... you may have to just live with noise for a cool pc.

flamerail said:

Id stick a really powerful fan on there see what ur temps are then... you may have to just live with noise for a cool pc.

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replace all the fans or just the exhaust fan? Ive 2 fans on my mind now. 1700rpm,72cfm,28dBA or 2400rpm, 92cfm,37dBA. Does the 20cfm worth 9dBA?

wyemarn said:

replace all the fans or just the exhaust fan? Ive 2 fans on my mind now. 1700rpm,72cfm,28dBA or 2400rpm, 92cfm,37dBA. Does the 20cfm worth 9dBA?

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Depends on your priorities...
For the temps and the oc potential it would definately help

Oh yeah, since the temps didn't drop too much I'd replace the fan on the HSF rather then the case fans

It sounds like the main problem is the ambient temp being so high, but I guess there's not much you can do about that. My suggestion would be a better HSF or a bigger fan on the HSF.

Gnufsh said:

It sounds like the main problem is the ambient temp being so high, but I guess there's not much you can do about that. My suggestion would be a better HSF or a bigger fan on the HSF.

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Better heatsink then a Scythe Ninja plus? :S Doubt it help alot

Can I fit a 38mm thick fan onto ninja with original clips? Or I should use it as an exhaust? How about intake? Should I keep the stock Thermaltake fan or get a better cfm one? Get another 120fan bracket using 5.25inch drive bays ? Any comments on this product? http://www.ainex.jp/products/ff-503.htm (Sorry, it's in japanese)

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You could use a 120x38mm fan on the Ninja but you might have to modify it rather than use the original clamps (either zipties, glue [not superglue], or a more elegant solution), but it should work.

2) did you seathe the HSF properly or did you reseathe it?

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I'm still wondering about this. When you installed the Ninja what kind of thermal grease did you use, and did you only use a thin layer of it on the IHS?

http://www.ainex.jp/products/ff-503.htm

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Looks like it's just a bracket to fit a 120mm fan in 2 5.25" bays. You can replace the fan with whatever, but it'd give you more intake and you could mount HDD's in your top bays with adapter brackets to keep them cooler. I doubt it would decrease your cpu temps by much givin that your ambient is already pretty high though.

grumperfish said:

You could use a 120x38mm fan on the Ninja but you might have to modify it rather than use the original clamps (either zipties, glue [not superglue], or a more elegant solution), but it should work.


I'm still wondering about this. When you installed the Ninja what kind of thermal grease did you use, and did you only use a thin layer of it on the IHS?


Looks like it's just a bracket to fit a 120mm fan in 2 5.25" bays. You can replace the fan with whatever, but it'd give you more intake and you could mount HDD's in your top bays with adapter brackets to keep them cooler. I doubt it would decrease your cpu temps by much givin that your ambient is already pretty high though.

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Thanks for your advice. I used Artic Silver 5 for thermal grease. I applied a small dot in the center(around 3-5mm width) on the CPU HSF and then installed the Ninja.

It's summer now and temp will go lower after this. i just want to keep the temp at minimum level to ensure stability. Even without overclocking the temp doesnt go down.

Ok guys, finally Ive made my decision. Im planning to get these stuff :

1) 120mm x 38mm, 2000rpm, 92cfm, 29dBa fan for exhaust
2) 120mm x 25mm, 1700rom,72cfm, 28dBa fan for the ninja
3) 120mm fan bracket for 5.25inch bay.

My HDDs will be moved to the 5.25inch bay behind the 120mm fan bracket. The current Thermaltake exhaust fan(41cfm) will be used for the 120mm fan bracket.

So from :
1)Intake - TT 120mm 41cfm,21dBa
2)CPU - Scythe 120mm 43.5cfm, 23.5dBa
3)Exhaust - TT 120mm 41cfm,21dBa
4)Side panel - TT 92mm 21dBa
to :

1)Intake(bottom) - TT 120mm 41cfm, 21dBa
2)Intake(5.25inch bay) - TT 120mm 41cfm, 21dBa
3)CPU - 120mm, 72cfm, 28dBa
4)Exhaust - 120x38mm 92cfm, 29dBa
5)Side - TT92mm 21dBa

1) How much noisier my PC will become?
2) Will my CPU and PC become cooler more than 5C?
3) The side panel fan should I blow onto ninja, blow out or removed it?

I like my big typhoon, personally, but I wouldn't trust TT fans in my case. For the exhaust 120x38mm fan you'd do well to look into a sanyo denki, for the intakes and larger CPU fan you could look into a Delta, and then run it all off of a couple fan controllers [either the noise isolator (3x20W/channel) or sunbeam rheobus(20W/channel as well)]. Alternatively you could get a sanyo/delta for the CPU and then get much quieter 120mm Yate-Loon's for the intakes with a 92mm Panoflo on the side panel.

1) TT's fan noise levels are generally exaggerated and you'd probably end up with a much louder case. See above.

3) Having it blow into the case as an intake would be best. It wouldn't directly help the ninja but it would help cool the motherboard/videocard most likely.