w/ all this hw, should I get a blower too?

[gamefan]

8800GT 512
Antec Solo case
120 S-Flex rear
120 S-Flex front (either in front of or behind HDDs)
Corsair HX520W ps
Asus P5K-E/WiFi-AP mobo
Crucial Ballistix 2x 1GB 6400s
E6750 C2D
TR U120E w/ S-Flex
TR HR-03 GT w/ unknown 92 or if 120(S-Flex)
3.5" Vantec fan ctrlr
(2) 36.7 Raptor HDDs SATA suspended
7200.7 Barracuda HDD non-SATA suspended
X-Fi
USR modem
LG DVD non-SATA
floppy

The front 120 S-Flex fan may be right in front near the case side slits, or if the HDDs will be cooled enough I'll put the fan between the HDDs and the cards and build a shroud to the lower HDD cage to suck and then direct the air flow upwards to the 2 TR coolers - the air to cool the HDDs would then be sucked in, not blown over them.

I'm just thinking a blower for the vid card area may just be the ticket to success. I am currently NOT planning on it, but I want to ask some of you here to see if any "blower" would really help the eqaution. I do not want it, but....I know the hw I've got here will certainly be getting a little hot, especially with overclocking. It would seem this type of cooler (a "blower") could be specifically beneficial if thrown into the build mix.

There are two approaches to this (actually I am not entertaining the 3rd way: cutting my side panel):
1)using the holes on the rear of the case beside the pci slots to bolt to -Horizontal
2)using the pci slot(s) - Vertical

There are many companies making products for either of these two solutions. Lian-Li for instance make 2 different rear hole side blower options. May include side panel (I won't do this). Artic Cooling I believe, as well as maybe antec have the pci type. Below are just non-specific examples. I need specifics if possible.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=14433&vpn=CYCLONE BLOWER&manufacture=ANTEC
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=77194#
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3127373&CatId=804
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/50086377/DC_Blower_Fan.jpg
http://www.lian-li.com/product/product06.php?pr_index=52&cl_index=2&sc_index=10&ss_index=16&type=a

I will want a decent overclock with the listed components. I've got a pretty good jump on sewing this up. Couldn't be a "best ever" though- the price ain't going there, Starting with the Solo case, and these serious cooling products, I want to keep this build as QUIET as possible. Do you think that I should throw one of these "blowers" into the mix too? I would do that for : QUIET & fast & cool; ocability/piece of mind factor, package. But not just for the heck of it, and not if it'll add more noise and little cooling. Its a package deal. Its just about turning it up, keeping it cool, and making it QUIETER.

 

[nightelph]

What are your vid card temps? Put your hand behind your intake fan.. see how much air is actually getting blow across your HDDs. I found that my intake fan wasn't getting that much air across my hdd, continuing down to the graphics card. I upgraded the front fan, which now throws much more cool air down to the gpu intake. I also pulled the slot covers off the back pci slots. Honestly, I would tune up/ rework overall case flow before adding a slot cooler. A fan blowing on the ram however is not a bad idea; I have two side fans, so I'm covered.

 

[reclaimer122]

I think it would be great to see one of these PCI coolers that actually suck in air and blow it up to the video card. One made specifically for the GTS's and GTX's for example could blow cool air from practically ground level up and directly into the fan of a video card. Or is this just not possible with the kinds of fans in these?

 

[nightelph]

Thats exactly what these pci - slot coolers can do. However their intake would be right below the GPU exhaust. I still recommend tuning overall case flow.

 

[gamefan]

it isn't complete yet, no vid card, so no temps

well others have said the HDDs won't be too hot so that leaves me thinking I could put the front fan in the midddle (more for the TRs), but this says improve flow-through first, which may mean put the fan out front and grab more air

I am scared of high temps - I just don't like to see them, but I'll oc, and I want QUIET

The whole point of this blower Question is just for the thinking mans approach to conquering this problem

 

[BossBorot]

get a strong enought 120mm fan in the front and make sure that you feel air going towards the graphics card. If you are still worried then make something like I did in the following pic. It took me 5 mins of work, 8 screws, an old dvd case, an old pci bracket, and 2 80mm fans, since then I have made better versions with 120mm fans but dont have pics. The airflow from the intake near the hdd will push all the air out of the case still plus the homemade cooler will cool the gfx card without the noise of a blower. If you do this remove all of your pci slot covers off your case so that air can escape.

I wish I had a pic of a later one but unfortuanately I dont have a camera here. You dont need tape if you use nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts also hold far better too, and you can make it look a lot better if you take more time and use something other then sissors for everything like I did this first time heck I even poked the screw holes with sissors for this one. Also you can cut the bottom to fit a pci slot, like I did in this case, or any other slot you want to fit it in. On top of that it screws into the case like any other card so it is mounted well.