[ChronoCabal]

Hey guys- after going down the SLI route and finding my cards overheating under load- I've decided to go for a CoolerMaster CM690II Advance with the larger side window, as in picture.



It has room for 10 fans, and comes pre-installed with 3 (front and side inlet, rear exhaust) I was planning on fitting my Domino ALC CPU watercooler (mounts in place of the exhaust fan), which gives me a spare fan to maybe put on the bottom? I've just bought a 5 fan speed controller (A NZXT Sentry LX), so I'm after suggestions on fan choices and locations for best airflow around the hot hot hot GPUs. Also- I don't know much about Positive/negative airflow- I keep finding conflicting reports about what it means and which is beneficial.



Also, the Coolermaster website mentions the ability to turn on an off the blue LEDS on the front fan using the front panel button- is it possible to carry this on to other fans- would they need to be a specific model?

Thanks in advance!

Also, the Coolermaster website mentions the ability to turn on an off the blue LEDS on the front fan using the front panel button- is it possible to carry this on to other fans- would they need to be a specific model?

Thanks in advance!

[ChronoCabal]

Just noticed the double paragraph- stupid iPhone!

Can anybody help?

[Conumdrum]

Fans with the ability to turn off the LEDs need more than normal wiring. Most LED fans have just the 3 or 4 wire inputs for speed control. You'd nee a speed control AND LED control on the fan.

So, basically, no.

The new case will help. Will it solve your hot SLI issue if the cards are right up against each other? Not a whole bunch, but it will help.

Don't worry a lot about positive/negative pressure. You want great airflow, thats done by lots of fannage.

[meeps]

I love this case, I in fact just got finished with a giant upgrade with it. Question for you, how many hard drives do you plan on having? Because it is imperative to remove the HDD cage for better airflow. Also, depending on how close together your GPUs are, it could be a good idea to use the retention bracket, and buy a 80x15mm fan to go inside it to blow cool air into the intakes on the GPU, it'll supply them with some fresh air (or at least get some air into the gap between the GPUs). The idea of using the retention bracket is only if you'd prefer not to mount a fan onto the window, if you don't mind having a fan on the window, definitely go with that route because it would be much more productive as far as airflow. Also, I'm pretty sure that the bottom spots next to the PSU only mount 120mm fans, just to let you know (unless you want to start drilling away at your case).

I attached a picture of the upgrades I finished nights ago, I still have to replace one of the heatsink fans because it is defective, and I want to attempt to hide the wires that are visible under the mobo tray, but it'll give you an idea of an option for your case. The setup is 3 intakes, 3 exhausts, all of which are Scythe Kama Flow 2 (the heatsink fans are different).

[Knufire]

I'd go front intake, side intake, and top exhaust.

Do your cards exhaust air outside of the case? If so, ducting the side intake to the cards might help. In a lot of cases, duct > more fans.

[ChronoCabal]

Thanks for the input, guys!

Yeh I'm only running 2 hard drives, and read on the CM website that the lower HDD cage could be removed for better airflow. I think the main reason for the overheating is down to my cheap case- it only has support for two fans (front and back), and it's rather cramped with the SLi setup so I figured that overall airflow mist be poor. Attached is a picture showing the GPU layout- there's not a bad amount if space between the cards, but only 1cm between between the lower card and the bottom of the case- which did concern me when I first installed the second card.





As mentioned above- I've always fancied this case anyway as it just looks like such a quality build- nice and roomy with plenty of cooling options.

I've just ordered a 80mm fan for the VGA bracket- thanks for that. Could I run both a fan on the window and on the VGA bracket- or is space an issue? (The case hasn't arrived yet, so I can't physically look)

Yeah the card vent most of their air outside, External Exhaust I believe is the expression?

Have you got any detailed pics of the ducting setup you've used? Does it make a big difference to the airflow, being directed?

[Knufire]

I haven't ducted yet, but I'm planning too . I have two 38mm on a fairly large heatsink, so having two fans right next to each other seemed a little pointless (pull fan and back exhaust). I've already moved then back exhaust fan to front intake and I'm going to duct the pull fan straight out of case. Basically putting in external exhaust on my CPU.

[CubemonkeyNYC]

I'd like to make two suggestions, based on my extensive testing with the 690 case line. You can see what I've done below is to 1) add a high front intake fan using zip ties, and 2) block off the top front exhaust. #1 pulls is air directly for the CPU, which is then pulled through the heatsink and exhausted. #2 keeps the cool air from being exhausted through the top before it has time to hit the cooler.

I used incense smoke to test the various setups, and I found this to produce the best cooling.

Front top intake:


Blocked top exhaust:

[meeps]

Originally Posted by CubemonkeyNYC

I'd like to make two suggestions, based on my extensive testing with the 690 case line. You can see what I've done below is to 1) add a high front intake fan using zip ties, and 2) block off the top front exhaust. #1 pulls is air directly for the CPU, which is then pulled through the heatsink and exhausted. #2 keeps the cool air from being exhausted through the top before it has time to hit the cooler.

I used incense smoke to test the various setups, and I found this to produce the best cooling.

Front top intake:


Blocked top exhaust:

I like this idea and actually dabbled with it at first, my only concern is this: With the 690 II line, we only have 4 5.25 bays, so in my case I'd have to mount the CD-Rom to the bottom bay and then mount the fan further from the front towards the back of the bays. I'm assuming the obstructions would limit the amount of airflow but would it still help more to try it out? The tunnel would essentially be from the 2 middle bay grills to the fan set back about 4 inches.

[CubemonkeyNYC]

Originally Posted by meeps

I like this idea and actually dabbled with it at first, my only concern is this: With the 690 II line, we only have 4 5.25 bays, so in my case I'd have to mount the CD-Rom to the bottom bay and then mount the fan further from the front towards the back of the bays. I'm assuming the obstructions would limit the amount of airflow but would it still help more to try it out? The tunnel would essentially be from the 2 middle bay grills to the fan set back about 4 inches.

I was going to tell you to just try it out, but when I pictured it I realized that the DVD drive will make it so that the fan would need to be right next to the RAM. That would make it pointless. You really want the airflow to be coming from the front mesh.

See if you can fit one or two smaller fans in the space. and seal the area around it.

[ChronoCabal]

I've also got a double-bay fan controller in the front- so an extra fan there may not be an option. I'll have a lookie once it's all together.

I've ordered 4 NZXT rifle bearing fans for the top and bottom of the case, as I read that the sleeve-bearing fans fitted as standard get a bit noisy in a horizontal position. I'm going to have all 4 wired through the controller for a balance between performance and noise.. Hopefully!

[ChronoCabal]

After a bit of a delay due to work commitments and my general lack of PC building skill (doing the smallest task took me forever lol), it's all back together and working! The overheating problem is now cured- the two cards don't reach above 60c under load, and the upgraded NXZT fans with the Sentry LX seem both cool and quiet, and the SLi setup rules in the few test games I've tried. Pleasing results so far!