Best way to setup fans for cooling?

I recently built a screamer of a comp.

Specs:
Core i7 2600k (Not OCed yet)
16gb DDR3
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO Mobo

The thing is that I don't have the best cooling. I have a cooler master hyper 212 plus for the CPU, but that's IT. Right now, my temps are running around 52 degrees celsius pretty stable, but I'm worried those will shoot up once I start overclocking without the right cooling.

I have 2 questions. 1) The case I bought (5 years ago) is incredibly cheap, and didn't come with much ventiliation. Literally the only hole in the thing is where the CPU fan shoots out it's hot air. Now fortunately, the side of the case that you remove is made of clear plastic so you can see inside the case, therefore very easy to drill into. So I plan on drilling a ton of holes into the side of the case to get some airflow, and I would like to attach some fans to those holes. If I counted correctly, I have space on my mobo to power 2 more fans, so I would like to know the best way to accomplish adequate ventilation. Should I got for 2 huge fans? 2 little ones that spin fast? Are there adapters available to use my power supply to power more fans?

2) The graphics card I'm currently using (Which is about 4 years old) is a 9800gtx+. I will NOT be using this comp for gaming (music production ONLY, and don't want it bogged down with anything), so the card is only in there to take the video load off the CPU. Now, this GFX card can put out quite a bit of heat as it is HUGE, and takes up 2 slots worth of space, and extends all the way back to my hard drives. Will the GFX card produce a lot of heat if it isn't being used heavily? That is will it still get hot just by the act of using it? And if so, would it be a better idea to get a cheapo 30$ GFX card with less heat output to bring down the ambient temperatures in the case?

Any other advice you guys can give me would also be welcome.

Any chance of getting a link to your case on say, Newegg (even if it's old they may still have a deactivated page for it), or some pictures from the front/back/side and inside? Good cases aren't that expensive; unless you want to mod your existing one for fun, it'd be a lot simpler to just drop $50-$100 on a decent, new case.

And yes, the 9800GTX is going to be hot and power hungry even at idle. If you want to spend the money, something like a GT520, GT430 or a HD6450 will do what you need. Although I'd give some thought to just trying it with the HD3000 IGP. I sincerely doubt that you will see *any* difference in performance during either general use or music production using the IGP. IGPs aren't what they once were; the HD3000 is probably roughly on par with a GeForce 6800 with DX10 support.

My experience has been that Windows doesn't manage memory as well as it could above about 12GB anyhow, so even if your production software can address that kind of RAM (which I suspect it can't, although that's just a guess) you're not going to see any real difference from giving up a couple hundred MB of system memory to the GPU. And the GPU core itself is basically independent of the CPU core, so you're not really burdening the CPU at all by using it; at worst you're giving up a bit of memory bandwidth but I really don't think that's a big deal for your application. Like I said, I'd just try it.

The best way to get a good airflow of the CPU, put some 140mm fan or 120mm fan in front of the case with high rpm. and good ventelation in the rare fan and side panel.

If you want to drill a hole with your case also put some exhaust to the top panel even 1 fan with good rpm will be okay. Also put on the side panel exhaust to be cool the Graphics card.

I am in a temp configuration. I plan to have 4 fans (2 intake, 2 exhaust) on the case and external CPU cooling.

I currently have an H80 (2x 120mm fans in series) plus 3x 120mm fans and a fan on the power supply. Two fans on the front blowing in, intake. The H80 installed opposite the instructions, with the fans blowing out, exhaust. The last fan, exhaust, is on top at the rear.

I also have a Radeon HD 6870 which exhausts air from the case.

I installed the H80 as exhaust to sort of balance intake and exhaust air flow. I want lots of air moving through the case.

My case has lots of filtered (screens) openings on the front.

In the futu

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=693473
I suggest going for high air pressure like this with max fans available.

Here are some pictures of my case. I am unemployed right now (I sold guitar pedals and amps to afford the computer), so I don't want to spend money on anything I don't have to. Meaning if I can mod the case to acomodate fans, then I will do that to save some money.

I will however be purchasing a cheapy GFX card to bring down the temps.

I think you should buy a new case. Your description of your old one says you need a new one. Good cases are inexpensive these days.

For ideas, look here.

As long as there's air going in and air going out Youl be fine just play arround.with them amd.see what works best for ya everyone's case is different

I would put a decent 120 fan in the side panel right in front the processor. Like theocnoob said a would shoot for high air pressure (more blowing in than out). You can also cut the mesh finger guard stuff our where the existing fans are to increase the fan's efficency and air flow.

As for the videocard I would suggest under clocking it which will cool it down and use less power.

In general terms, try to have flow form the front bottom to the back top, left to right in and of itself is not important, if it is not impeded by wiring or cards etc. I have the antech 902 case which i cannot reccomend enough, 2 big fans up front blowing in 1 massive fan up top towards the back blowing out and another rear fan blowing out, pretty much just what i described....

Thanks for the case pics, that gives me a better idea of what you're dealing with. I've got one more question for you: How much do you care about noise?

Either way, I'll throw in my $0.02, the only thing that'd change based on your answer is what fans I'd recommend.

Given that you don't want to replace the case right now, there's a lot that can be done with this thing without spending a lot of money. I mean, you could just pop the side of the case off and direct a box fan into it. Seriously. Cheap, fast, easy, works great. Just a bit ugly.

Barring that, here's what I'd do:

1. The fan grill on the back of the case is an awful design. Cut it off. Just follow the edge of the raised, stamped area and cut the whole blasted thing out. It's going to cost you a ton of airflow when you install a fan there.
2. Install a 120mm fan in the back of the case as an exhaust. If it won't clear the CPU fan, move the CPU fan to the other side of the heatsink, and have it blow through the heatsink toward the back of the case (I hope it's blowing toward the back of the case now...)
3. Install two 120mm fans in the side panel; one about parallel with, but at least 40mm to the right of, the right side of the CPU heatsink (or at least 25mm, if 40mm is too much to leave clearance on the other side for the 5.25" bays), and the other directly below the first, so the top of the fan is roughly parallel with the top of the video card. I think the window is big enough to support that. If not, go to 90/92mm fans. Install them as intake fans.
4. Direct some airflow across the video card by either removing the 2 slot covers directly below it, drilling holes in them and reinstalling them, or replacing them with some of the vented covers that are available.
5. Clean up that wiring. Ziptie the excess and stuff it in an empty 5.25" bay.

As far as the fans themselves go, I'm assuming that you don't want to drop $15-20/fan for really nice fans, and I'm also assuming that you don't want to deal with something like this, which is a very high quality fan that's worth a lot more than they want for it, but you'd need to wire it yourself because it comes without a connector.

If both of those assumptions are correct, I'd pick up something by Yate Loon; these, these, or these, depending on how much noise you're willing to put up with and how much airflow you want. They're cheap sleeve bearing fans; they're not even close to the quality of the Japan Servo fan I linked earlier. But for what you pay for them, they're better than most (perhaps all) of the alternatives and they're good enough.

Either way, you'll need 3 fans; 2 for the side of the case, 1 for the back.

siorus has a great plan for you, try that first

bigben6 said:

siorus has a great plan for you, try that first

Click to expand...

Or

1. Remove Side Panel
2. Buy roll of ducktape and 1 box fan
3. ???
4. Profit!

Siorus said:

Thanks for the case pics, that gives me a better idea of what you're dealing with. I've got one more question for you: How much do you care about noise?

Either way, I'll throw in my $0.02, the only thing that'd change based on your answer is what fans I'd recommend.

Given that you don't want to replace the case right now, there's a lot that can be done with this thing without spending a lot of money. I mean, you could just pop the side of the case off and direct a box fan into it. Seriously. Cheap, fast, easy, works great. Just a bit ugly.

Barring that, here's what I'd do:

1. The fan grill on the back of the case is an awful design. Cut it off. Just follow the edge of the raised, stamped area and cut the whole blasted thing out. It's going to cost you a ton of airflow when you install a fan there.
2. Install a 120mm fan in the back of the case as an exhaust. If it won't clear the CPU fan, move the CPU fan to the other side of the heatsink, and have it blow through the heatsink toward the back of the case (I hope it's blowing toward the back of the case now...)
3. Install two 120mm fans in the side panel; one about parallel with, but at least 40mm to the right of, the right side of the CPU heatsink (or at least 25mm, if 40mm is too much to leave clearance on the other side for the 5.25" bays), and the other directly below the first, so the top of the fan is roughly parallel with the top of the video card. I think the window is big enough to support that. If not, go to 90/92mm fans. Install them as intake fans.
4. Direct some airflow across the video card by either removing the 2 slot covers directly below it, drilling holes in them and reinstalling them, or replacing them with some of the vented covers that are available.
5. Clean up that wiring. Ziptie the excess and stuff it in an empty 5.25" bay.

As far as the fans themselves go, I'm assuming that you don't want to drop $15-20/fan for really nice fans, and I'm also assuming that you don't want to deal with something like this, which is a very high quality fan that's worth a lot more than they want for it, but you'd need to wire it yourself because it comes without a connector.

If both of those assumptions are correct, I'd pick up something by Yate Loon; these, these, or these, depending on how much noise you're willing to put up with and how much airflow you want. They're cheap sleeve bearing fans; they're not even close to the quality of the Japan Servo fan I linked earlier. But for what you pay for them, they're better than most (perhaps all) of the alternatives and they're good enough.

Either way, you'll need 3 fans; 2 for the side of the case, 1 for the back.

Click to expand...

Wow! Thanks a LOT sirious! That sounds like a great plan, that I'm totally going to be doing! 1 question though, how should I go about getting rid of the grill on the back of my case that's blocking airflow. Will I need a special tool? Is it a cheap tool available at a hardware store? It's part of the case and cannot be easily removed without grinding the metal. The side of the case is no problem because I can take off the plastic part.

The ideal way to get the grill off would be to go at it with a Dremel and the #426 fiberglass reinforced cutoff wheels, the #420 heavy duty cutoff wheels, or the #409 cutoff wheels (you'll probably need more than one; how many depends on the thickness of the case, whether it's steel or aluminum, how impatient you are and how steady your hands are). That'll also work for cutting the holes in the side panel window, although it'll melt the edges of the acrylic to an extent.

If you haven't got a dremel, you can make do with drilling starter holes in the corners of the grill, then cutting it out with tin snips (depending on the type and thickness of the metal) or a hacksaw blade using one of those holders that look like this: http://www.rgrechandson.com/images/products/large-996-Hacksaw-blade-holder.jpg

Be sure to deburr the edges with sandpaper, a file, and/or scotch brite pads.

sorry for my last post i was on my phone and didnt see the link lol yea id do as he says and cut out that rear fan spot ( be sure to leave the fan mount holes) put one fan there and one in the front of the case infront of the HDD bay

I don't have any tools other than screwdrivers, and pliers, so it looks like I'll be making a trip to the hard ware store.

Thinking about it, if I'm going to be sawing it, or grinding it, or drilling it, I'm going to need to take all the pieces out of the case right? So no filings fall onto the motherboard, etc.

Man, this is more work than I was expecting it to be!

Buy a cheap cutting tool, have a friend hold a shop vac where your cutting and cover the rest with plastic wrap for the time being and hold the wrap on with masking tape... itll be 10 min of setup....

If you're going to drill a hole, get a nibbler. I used tin snips, but won't again now that I have a nibbler. It cuts without distorting anything.