Cooling questions 1

[electronicsfreak]

Ok I just recently purchased a new case and im trying to make things cooler however no matter the arrangement of the fans it does not seem to make a difference. First let me explain the fan setup and then ill explain the arrangements I have. My processor normally runs at around 52-53C . I am trying/hoping to get at least to 48 lol. Anyways I have 2 fans in the back of the case, one on the side. I have tried a few arrangements to try and get the best possible air flow. I have tried having the one fan on the side of the case blowing with the 2 in the back of the case blowing out. I also tried flipping one fan in the back blowing in the case and leaving just one blowing out with the other side blowing in. Have also switched to side blowing out while one in back blows in towards the processor fan. All of these arrangements make little to no difference in temp.

Basically what is the best way to run these fans? Also will open spaces where ide slots go , I have removed the metal covers to them. Just wondering if that will cause the airflow to act up?

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[mainegeek]

electronicsfreak,
What are you running for a cpu?
52-53C isn't a big deal.
Copper Based heatsink?
Pad or Thermal Compound?

These are the areas that I would focus on first.

 

[electronicsfreak]

Im using amd athlon xp 2600 thoroughbread core, running at 2.1 GHz, artic silver with thermaltake volcano 9 fan running at full speed 4800 rpm. Copper/metal mixed, round circle on bottome of heatsink is copper while rest is aluminem I believe. Yeah I know 53 is fine, it doesnt start having problems till it hits 60 as thats when its starts being fussy and I know its die point is at 85C , Im just trying to get it as cool as possible with these fans. Main reason these fans since ive added maybe have dropped it a whole 2 degrees. Im about to pull it off and clean it again and clear off the old paste. I clean it about every 2 months.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[Aussie2]

You might try some fans in the front of the case so that you get a straight through flow .I to have had a lot of heat problems until I fitted a all copper heat pipe cooler now I don't bother checking temps because it always low

 

[rvnguy]

Also will open spaces where ide slots go , I have removed the metal covers to them.

These openings could be short circuiting your air flow.

This subject has always been a penchant of mine. If one is good then four is 4x better, not the case in of itself.

You want/desire a blanced & directed path of air flow for most standard systems. So as not to cause a flame issue, this should be neutral(same volume in as out) or slightly to either side, positive (more in than out) or negative(more out than in). there are proponents to either side if this. I tend to think most systems are negative, owing to the PS fan and rear panel fans(out) with passive front input low. The path is normally preferred to be low front(inflow) and out high rear. All else that interfers with this is suspect.

There are some things that can't be omitted, like cables, drives & cards. These all disrupt air flow to some extent. By careful routing you can minimize their influence. Try to route them along the back of you case out of the center of the air path.(have a look at a factory MAC's cable routing).

I try to get the in box air temp as close to that of the air outside. This is the air that normally is picked up by the cpu fan, and the cooler the better.

For a couple of extreme systems that I have worked on, I found this arrangement to assist in providing the coolest air to the CPU. As the Volcano 9 has a 80mm fan you might condider this. Get 2 of these, stick them togeather and port them to the rear panel with fan on the rear panel blowing in (you are lucky if there is a fan port close to lining up) make up small variances with aluminum tape. see this:

http://www.xoxide.com/ductingmod.html

I prefer this to the accordian type of ducting mod for this is smooth and less disruption to air flow.

Hope you find this useful

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[electronicsfreak]

Yeah that gives me info on what I needed. As I did not know about that duct, will be ordering it soon if I can. As the way my airflow is right now is just as you described. A bit more on the output then the input. As for decreasing noise level yeah that will be good considering when they said this thing was "silent" they either had it in low mode or was deaf lol as when full speed it is far from silent. It is a good fan though. I will also be covering up the openenings by the pci slot in a couple of days when I get around to finding them lol. Anyways I will let you know the results from that. Appreciate the info.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[paparazi]

electronicsfreak
As CPU temps seem to be your main concern then the best you can do "with air" is to have a direct feed of fresh air to your CPU fan.
As you already have a side case fan all that is needed is some sort of duct from this fan straight over the CPU heatsink/fan unit.
Obviously the limitation being how warm the air is in the room where you PC operates.
I have often thought that one of those flexible pipes uses on portable air conditioning units would make a perfect duct to hang out a window as the coolest possible air supply to a side case fan/ duct blowing on a CPU.

Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[electronicsfreak]

That would work good providing it wasnt becomming summer lol. Ive thought about moving the computer to the air vents but 2 problems with that. Number one it will only work when the air is going and second when heat comes on ill have to move it. Anyways one thing that works real good is if i take the side off and turn my commercial fan on it lmao. That works pretty good although I prefer leaving side on. Anyways Ill just get the duct and live with the temp as it appears unless I switch to water cooling which im not going to do or put a bigger fan on this temps not going to get much better except when I have the air going.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[rvnguy]

works real good is if i take the side off and turn my commercial fan on it

This is a fairly positive indication that your air flow is unbalanced and/or insufficient.

If you spec out the fans as to flow capacity and try to monitor the inside case air temp vs the outside ambient (plot it) you will probably see a somewhat major variance. Attempt to bring the flow total up with different or additional fans.

Make a change and monitor again over a period and see the change, either better/worse or no significant change.

Strive for as close to ambient inside the case as is practical.

The ducting mod will get the CPU this ambient air directly and as long as staying with air that is the best that can be accomplished. I will also add to the inflow balance of the setup, as this fan normally draws air that is already inside the case. You will need additional exaust with this.

Are you 'Overclocking'??

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[electronicsfreak]

Actually no im running the processor at its normal speed. I may be wrong but the reason I think the fan makes a difference so much is because it blows air to it at a high speed. As the fan I had blowing to it is a very powerful one, its not your average 10 dollar fan but an actual commercial fan. One that sounds like its going to lift off lol. I have my computer case under the computer desk. I think that kind of restricts airflow to it. As for switching the fans around ive did a few switches already.

As for adittional fans Im running 3 fans on the case as it is. Dont have money to buy anymore things as it is nor do I have the room unless they make a fan cooling device that sits in a cdrom or floppy slot.

2 main reasons im trying to get this temp further down, first in case it gets warm in here it will still run good without fussing. As we just got our central air fixed recently and also sometimes I take it to lan parties and they arent always cool and amazing how fast a room heats up with 10 or more computers lol.

Im hoping when I put the pci slot covers back on as soon as I get to finding them that will help improve it. Thanks for the advice from all that I have gotten so far.


There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[csargent1]

I would recommend possibly looking at a different CPU cooler. I used to use ThermalTake, and I was getting a lot of heat. I then went to a Zalman Fatality and I am in the 40's. The fan is amazing! I also have a 64 bit AMD processor. I also went with the Zalman Fatality for my GPU cooler. I am running a 7800GTX video card. I have not had a problem since.

On a side note, I am also running a ThermalTake power supply. I absolutely hate it. The fan in it already is making a ton of noise. My SLI board isn't getting enough power either. I would avoid ThermalTake if at all possible!