Looking for suggestions on cooling

[medo145]

Looking for suggestions on cooling for the system in my sig. Currently the CPU is cooled with Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme in a push pull configuration. The cooler has had no problem keeping the cpu cool enough (100% cpu load), but my concern is that the entire case gets pretty hot when gaming.

Would it be worth it to get one of those aio water cooler cpu solutions, or would that not be as good as air cooler?

 

[Conumdrum]

If you get the best AIO out there, yes your temps could be a bit better with less noise but that's not going to help with case temps unless you put the AIO rad outside the case hanging off the back. You got a good air cooler already. If the case gets hot maybe get a better case. Tell us about your case and how it's set up for fans etc.

 

[Knufire]

Yeah, the all in one units would only really be a small bump in performance from a push/pull TRUE. Especially since the 2600K runs extremely cool, you don't need much cooling on that CPU.

Anything specifically worrying you (VRM temps, NB temps, etc?)

 

[medo145]

Here's a pic of the side of the case. I've removed the video support arm form the case and my psu is mounted at the bottom of the case. As you can see in the image, there are 2 intake fans and 1 outtake fan. The intake fans go over the installed HDDs, which add to the heat. The GTX670 generates quite a bit of heat when playing games as I play at 2560x1440 and settings maxed. I feel like the heat from the gtx + cpu heat doesn't get out fast enough and the heat just keeps building inside the case. The case panels are quite hot after a gaming session. I just don't think the components like all the heat, and if it can be avoided why not. Maybe I need a better case?!



link to newegg for more images

 

[Janus67]

It looks like there may be a fan bay at the top of the case. My guess is your are not expelling the hot air as fast as you're sucking it in.

If there is a fan bay at the top add a 120mm fan blowing out.

 

[medo145]

I forgot about that, I'm pretty sure there is actually a fan there already.

 

[Conumdrum]

No fan on top. There is only 2 intake and one exhaust fan. Not very good by today's standards. Get better case fans or get a new case. A new case would really be best.

120 x2 in, 120 x2 or 120/140 x3 exhaust. And possibly a side fan too. There are a million case choices out there.

 

[medo145]

there is a second outtake fan

 

[Conumdrum]

You have airflow from lower front out the rear top? Probably, most do. I'd suggest better fans. That case probably has pretty low RPM fans. Is there a front air filter? Check i, if full of dust clean it. Check temps again. If not much better remove the filter and check temps again.

 

[Knufire]

It's an aluminum case. Aluminum conducts heat much better than steel, that's why the side panels feel hot.

 

[doyll]

Side panels feel hot because the air inside of case is hot.. which means air going into cooler is already hot.. which means components run hotter.

Case is only a box.. not designed to radiate heat to be cool.. but to hold components and fans and circulate air through the case to be cool.

At a guess is hot exhaust off of your GTX670 is not being exhausting case and therefore mixing and heating the cool air coming into case. We need to get the hot exhaust separated from the cool intake..

Like already said, better fans.. fans with higher static pressure to overcome resistance in case like HDD cage, grills, filters, cables, etc.

Also try removing the unused PCI slot covers.. this often helps by allowing a good airflow from front to back by GPU.

 

[Knufire]

The GPU he has is a blower style cooler that exhausts air out of the back of the case.

 

[doyll]

Than much of GPU exhaust is out and away.

Still if case is hot to the touch it's not cooling properly.
I use a cheap indoor/outdoor thermometer with remote probe. Twist a piece of stiff insulated wire into last 20cm to position probe where you want it. Case temp should be 2-5c above room under max load. Helps figure out the airflow to coolers.

 

[ehume]

Actually, that's not a bad case.

First thing to do: remove all the slot covers from the backplane and see what happens to your temps.

Next, take that exhaust fan off your rear. With a push-pull on your TRUE, the pull fan will entrain case air and pull it out. If you need an exhaust fan, it will be lower down, among the graphics cards.

Lian Li uses pretty bad fans, and the HD cage looks to be rather restrictive. If it were my case, I'd have pull fans on that HD cage.