How much air is too much?

[danmna2626]

is there such a thing as toooo much ariflow in a computer case?i ask because i have a decent system settup in an old server case. the thing is HUGE and has 2 360 watt PSUs that i could hook some huge fans up to and prolly blow the ram sticks out of here seats lol.the more air the better.am i wrong?

 

[Bobnova]

There's a point of diminishing returns, but there's never really "too much".
You could populate the entire case with 252cfm Deltas, that'd destroy your ears in a few years and provide an awful lot of airflow. Too much? Not really.

 

[Dusnoetos]

I use a masive AC blower in my case to cool my cpu and video card..... All I can say is try to find the happy balence between noise and air flow.

 

[Diggrr]

There is a point at which you'll begin to lower temps fewer and fewer degrees even when doubling airflow, but it's not easy to guess where that point lies. Case structure, parts wattage, ambient temp and even humidity and local pressure will play a role.
I'd have to say it comes to a dollar thing...how many dollars are you willing to spend on air movers to shave another degree?

I've used a 12" x 12" squirrel cage blower on my case once, but it gained me a whole 4°C over the 300 CFM I already had (remote watercooling, so that was just case temp).
It cracked my front bezel mounts too.

 

[danmna2626]

ok well right on im gunna see JUST how muh air i can get blasting through this thing then

 

[Cigarsmoker]

When you get to about an F5 tornado strength then maybe it's time to think about turn down a fan or two.

 

[nightelph]

Post a PIC!

 

[Automata]

You have too much airflow when your heatsinks and surface mount devices get ripped clean off the motherboard.

 

[ehume]

You have too much airflow when your heatsinks and surface mount devices get ripped clean off the motherboard.

Then at least you'd have a clean motherboard.

"Surrender Dorothy!"

 

[Automata]

That is true, it would probably be a completely dust free environment.

 

[danmna2626]

Post a PIC!

will do

 

[danmna2626]

You have too much airflow when your heatsinks and surface mount devices get ripped clean off the motherboard.

hahaha

 

[XeoNoX]

when the temps start to go up instead of down!

 

[TsunamiJuan]

part of what you have to think about is heatsink design at the same time. One of the biggest problems with air cooling is that air currents develop that skim the surfaces and create drag and pockets of air that aren't really getting moved. The higher the airflow the more likely you are to encounter this effect. A perfect example of this is Noctua's nh d14, its extremely optimised for low air flow. Throw more air flow at it and you really dont really get any increase in performance out of it.

Other thing you need to think about as you increase airflow is how much more often your gonna need to clean your setup if the air is filtered, or clean your filters if it is . Throw a 252 cfm fan at a heatsink and it will packup with dust faster, thats just the way it works.

 

[SamSaveMax]

I have a 200mm fan with 650cfm output that I might try on my heatsink someday...don't know if it would help that much. The darn thing is freaking loud too.

 

[johan851]

That is true, it would probably be a completely dust free environment.

Actually, at those speeds the dust will form tiny impact craters.

It's too much airflow when your cat gets blown into the heatsink fins. Cats are an insulator, so it'll actually lower your temps. Not ideal.

 

[Cigarsmoker]

The biggest determining factor for me is noise. I don't like a noisy system so the more fans, the more noise. For me it's a balance between adequate airflow vs the amount of noise I'm willing to tolerate. This balance point will determine the amount of OCing I do.

 

[ehume]

part of what you have to think about is heatsink design at the same time. One of the biggest problems with air cooling is that air currents develop that skim the surfaces and create drag and pockets of air that aren't really getting moved. The higher the airflow the more likely you are to encounter this effect. A perfect example of this is Noctua's nh d14, its extremely optimised for low air flow. Throw more air flow at it and you really dont really get any increase in performance out of it.

Other thing you need to think about as you increase airflow is how much more often your gonna need to clean your setup if the air is filtered, or clean your filters if it is . Throw a 252 cfm fan at a heatsink and it will packup with dust faster, thats just the way it works.

Interesting notion. When I tested various fans on the Megahalems, I found that really cranking up the airflow got you ever-diminishing returns. With my current D14 testing I am able to get about another 5c more cooling with my most productive fan (175+ cfm) but I pay much in noise getting that extra bit.

 

[Bobnova]

You get boundary layers regardless of flow level, faster flow generally means more turbulence and thinner boundary layers.

 

[Knufire]

It's too much when you're putting in more dust then you're taking out heat.