Optix

Since I am about to order components for my i3 budget build next week I wanted to check and see if any HH members are running or know of someone who is running a bottom to top airflow in this case rather than the standard front to back as well as comments and opinions on whether or not this is a viable way to keep temperatures down.

I'm not going to fill every spot with fans due to my budget but my plan is to leave out the front and possibly rear fans while filling up the bottom and top two spots with quality high CFM/low db SilenX fans with fluid dynamic bearings. Any open fan spots will have a filter in them because my rig attracts dust like crazy!

Here are my thoughts on why a bottom to top scheme would work well.

- I have never had a problem with a hard drive overheating or even reaching a level where I feel more cooling was needed and could only really see it being a requirement if I am running constant scans or diagnostics where the drive is being accessed for a long time or possibly a high RPM drive, all of which is highly unlikely.

- Cool air brought in from the bottom would be fed to the video card but also up towards the top of the case for the heatsink, which will be more than welcome since I'm gunning for 4Ghz+

- The power supply does not need a front fan to supply air because it will be pulling it in directly from bottom.

- I will be filling both top fan spots, which should pull more air out of the case then a single exhaust fan mounted in the usual location on the back of the case.

- Warm air goes up anyway so why try to change the direction?

The CPU socket area seems really crowded and since I plan on overclocking with a fairly large aftermarket heatsink, this may be my only option.

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mkk

That will work nicely. In general I'd still put a fan in the rear outlet, as there should be room for one even if it looks crowded. CPU coolers usually blow towards the rear unless you can reorient the fan or turn the cooler a quarter.

Space the harddrives out as much as possible and they will be fine. Don't block off the front entirely when you dust proof. Regular filters should still allow for some air to pass.

You could of course also get an AMD quad core for the price of an i3, in case you haven't already considered that.

Optix

Pointing the cooler up towards the two 120mm exhaust fans shouldn't be an issue. I actually think I'd have a harder time orienting it towards the back to the case based on some pictures that Anonemous posted in the Thermaltake V3 thread a while back.

I'm not too worried about the hard drives but I'll leave at least one empty bay between them. It should help with hiding excess SATA power cables as well.

As for the AMD quad core, I'm not an Intel fanboy but that is all I know, plus they overclock like nobody's business. An i3 overclocked to 4.3Ghz can come close to an i5 750. Yay budget builders!

Thanks for the info though.

I'd still like to hear thoughts on the bottom to top setup I have planned.

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anonemus

Wish I could help you here as I'm a V3 user. I filled up all 120mm openings with cheap fans (1 front intake, 1 bottom intake, 1 top exhaust and 1 rear exhaust).

With my CPU cooler, I couldn't fit another 120mm fan that's just above the cooler.

In my case, more than the presence of fan, I really should clean up my cable management first.



What cooler will you use? Mobo?

Optix

I'll be going with a Cooler Master 212 Plus (best of the best budget cooler) with a SilenX iXtrema Pro fan and another 4 of them in the case. High CFM/low noise. I'm tired of having a loud case with flashy LED's all over the place. It is time for function before fashion.



I should have more room in the CPU area since the Gigabyte H55M-USB3 is wider than your G31. Because the heatsink is 120mm wide but only 51mm deep instead of being 120mm all the way around like your Ninja I may have no choice but to point it towards the top unless the CPU socket is placed lower on the motherboard than yours.

Another point in favor of bottom to top air flow.

I'll just have to see what the fit and finish is like when it all gets here.

I do have some suggestions for cable management though. There is an opening just above your PSU that you can route a ton of cables through. Corsair PSU's generally have long leads. Just be sure you don't overlap the cables too much. I hear that there is not much room behind the motherboard tray. You can also hide some cables behind the 3.5" drive bays or up above your top hard drive/below your optical drive.

You would be surprised the difference in temperatures cable management can make. Oh, and zip ties are your friend. Don't be afraid to loop them through the raised motherboard stand offs.

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anonemus

I'm actually looking forward to using that Hyper 212+ sometime in the future. It's also a favorite among V3 users in my country-- both bang-for-the-buck products!

I did try to route my PSU cables through the cut-out next to the PSU. But the clearance is so narrow that even two SATA cables bunched together will make it hard for the side panel to close.

Still I plan on doing proper cable management when I have the time. For now, I keep on changing small components that it's a hassle to tie and untie zips...

Optix

Looks like I will be filling all of the fan spots after all but I'll be moving the included blue LED fan to the front. The CFM rating is much lower than the SilenX fans I am putting it so the case will feature a predominately bottom to top air flow.

I'll post up some pictures in the show off your new gear thread when it is assembled and the cables are routed.

For now...I wait...with no computer.

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Optix

If Thermaltake were a person I would hit them...hard...a lot.

I ran into clearance issues on everything EXCEPT for the heatsink of all things. The V3 is just poorly designed and I hope someone gets in trouble for it. The two top fans don't fit where they should because Tt didn't leave enough room between the top edge of the motherboard and the top of the case so they completely blocked my 8-pin power connector and the top row of latches on all DIMM slots.

To top it off they put the bottom fan too close to the PSU so that isn't fitting right either.

Looks like I need to find another case...

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anonemus

Precisely the reason why I'm thinking of upgrading to a Lancool K-62.

I wonder if the Tt V5 is better than the V3, though?

OldBuzzard

You guys really need to take a good look at the Cooler Master 690 series. Especially the 690 IIs. They are some of the best mid-tower cases available, plus they aren't all that expensive

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Optix

The V3 sucks balls.

There is NO clearance between the top of your motherboard and the top of the case meaning you will not be able to install fans if your 4-pin/8-pin connector or DIMM slots are up at the top of your board.





In these pictures the motherboard isn't even all the way up towards the top of the case so the connector and DIMM slots will be covered even further. Plus the bottom fan is too far back and interferes with the power supply.



Good price tag, terrible design. I can handle the case flexing some and the panels being pretty thin but there is NO excuse for a bad design, especially not from a company like Thermaltake who has been around long enough to figure this out.

As soon as I have the money for a new case I'm ditching this cock up.

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Optix

Double post.

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anonemus

Thanks for the pics!

I share your sentiment but every time I try to look at the available cases here in my country at the same price range, I find myself being thankful about my V3. Of course later on I would like to upgrade, but in doing so I have to step up to another price range.

But so far, my V3 is serving me well...

Optix

I could handle having the fans mounted incorrectly -if- I was able to use all 4 screws in each location. Since I can't the silent fans that I paid a little extra for are making excessive vibration making the rig louder than it should be.

Instead of a whoosh I get a whoosh-hummmm.

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anonemus

You might try using these as fan mounts?



BUFFER B1-Accessory-Product-DEEPCOOL - ENJOY YOUR COOL LIFE!

It's quite popular for V3 owners here...

Optix

That still won't work because the holes that I am using for mounting the fans are not actual mounting holes. They are the grill holes that I just managed to get lined up.



The SilenX fans come with silicone mounting plugs but nothing is lined up in order to use them.

Those mounts certainly do look like they would hold things solid though. Much more robust than the ones that came with my fans.

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