Wow.. airflow really does make a huge difference.

daedal · Sep 12, 2005, 03:56 AM

So I've got my PC running on my desk, totally apart. The motherboard sitting on it's cardboard box, DVD-ROM on the desk and two hard-drive on other boxes. It's been running fine but I noticed that my temperatures skyrocketed during the last week or so.

Today was a bit warmer than usual outside and while I was playing world of warcraft, I noticed that my video and CPU's temps both hit 60c and I started to notice some artifacting. I shut down WoW and launched ATITool to see what it could find. Immediatly, ATITool started getting some serious artifacts so I shut everything down and sat back to think about what was going on.

Of course, air flow! The only fans I had running on my temp setup was the CPU's which is pointing down and my video card's. So the setup was seeing no airflow at all basically. So I plugged two 120mm fans and sat them on top and on the side of the motherboard, sitting on some cabling and BOOM! Ambient temps dropped over 15 degrees celcius, CPU went down almost 15c too and the video when down about 12c. Amazing what simple air flow can do, huh? Just thought I would share.

Before - Abient: 36c+, Video: 50c+, CPU: 50c+
After - Ambient: 26c, Video: 35c, CPU: 38c

CDsDontBurn · Sep 12, 2005, 04:09 AM

nice

. Didn't know that it made that big of a difference.

But may ask why your system is apart for the time being?

Lelisevis · Sep 12, 2005, 04:23 AM

I like airflow

At the moment in my Thermaltake Armor which runs happily fanless I have 4X120mm fans (2in/2out), 2X80mm fans (both out) as well as my Evo-33 on the CPU. Seems odd till you realise that the airflow that lot provides mean with the aid of a fan controller I am running pretty near silent when the cpu is halfclocked through RMClock. Great for working and web browsing.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Sep 12, 2005, 02:01 PM

If I close the side panel on my case it creates sort of a vacuum and my GPU temp and CPU temp drop about 10 degrees.

I need a rheostat though or the noise kills me sometimes

daedal · Sep 12, 2005, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

nice

. Didn't know that it made that big of a difference.

But may ask why your system is apart for the time being?

Laying some paint on my frame.

Matth · Sep 12, 2005, 03:33 PM

That's a surprise... that additional fan airflow over components that are in the open makes that big a difference - particularly for the graphics card in the vertical plane, as you'd expect it to shed warm air better than it would in the normal tower case positioning.

ReDGuiTaR · Sep 12, 2005, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matth

That's a surprise... that additional fan airflow over components that are in the open makes that big a difference - particularly for the graphics card in the vertical plane, as you'd expect it to shed warm air better than it would in the normal tower case positioning.

Not really since his motherboard is laying on a box and hot air move up it may have create a " hot air bubble" over his mobo ... adding fan that take fresh air from the side create a blow that break the bubble and cool the components ...

H3X4D3C1M4L · Sep 12, 2005, 08:00 PM

The most important thing is convection, you want the most amount of exhausting out so you get a suction effect. Works like a charm.

daedal · Sep 12, 2005, 09:23 PM

Man I wish I had a camera. Everybody loves my setup. The two 120mm fans are just kinda "floating" over the motherboard as they're lying on the PSU's ATX and P4 cables, hanging over the chipset cooler and the other one lying on it's side, hanging uder the first one. Hey, it works. :P

CDsDontBurn · Sep 12, 2005, 11:41 PM

take some pix man

NUCLEARWINTER · Sep 13, 2005, 12:45 AM

yea, i wanna see too please

daedal · Sep 13, 2005, 01:04 AM

I know.. I need a camera.
We're getting a huge retroactive pay in two weeks so I'll be paying off my Visa (yay!) and getting a camera then.

Scooper · Sep 14, 2005, 08:20 AM

You want to watch the fans with too much negative pressure in the case.
Neg pressure is what I like to see but watch that the fans aren't working too hard. They can wear out quicker and, more importantly, draw harder on the p/s or MoBo connector if they're working hard.

I have one of those ASUS Vento cases with the two air intakes on the front. They're functional!
Two 80mm fans, one each for the intake ducts (green LEDs in a green case - comes with one stock fan).
A 120mm exhaust fan below the p/s, and the exhaust fans in the p/s itself.
This results in the negative pressure I like, which is then relieved most effectively via the ducted passive vent in the door. A long duct that terminates just above my (stock atm) CPU heatsink.
That makes nice flow in the case and a steady flow of fresh cool air directly into the front/intake of my CPU cooler.

I like it.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Sep 14, 2005, 02:07 PM

Negative airflow isn't a problem unless the only air coming in is from an intake fan.... as long as you have vent holes it balances out with drawing air in.

Sandok · Sep 14, 2005, 02:35 PM

Well I got 5 fans in total (120mm and 80mm) and I must say, ICY temps

H3X4D3C1M4L · Sep 15, 2005, 01:26 PM

My temps are damn cool too considering that most of my friends think 55 on idle is a good temp for a presscot

CDsDontBurn · Sep 15, 2005, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H3X4D3C1M4L

My temps are damn cool too considering that most of my friends think 55 on idle is a good temp for a presscot

It's alright

. mine has a closer average idle temp of 50

.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Sep 16, 2005, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

It's alright

. mine has a closer average idle temp of 50

.

Oh you mistake me....

I don't idle that high, I idle between 26 and 30.

My load is more near 45 - 50.

CDsDontBurn · Sep 16, 2005, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H3X4D3C1M4L

Oh you mistake me....

I don't idle that high, I idle between 26 and 30.

My load is more near 45 - 50.

lol, i know that. i was referring to my idle temps

. my idle temps are closer to 50 than 55 like your friends

HawgsHead · Sep 22, 2005, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daedal

So I've got my PC running on my desk, totally apart. The motherboard sitting on it's cardboard box, DVD-ROM on the desk and two hard-drive on other boxes. It's been running fine but I noticed that my temperatures skyrocketed during the last week or so.

Today was a bit warmer than usual outside and while I was playing world of warcraft, I noticed that my video and CPU's temps both hit 60c and I started to notice some artifacting. I shut down WoW and launched ATITool to see what it could find. Immediatly, ATITool started getting some serious artifacts so I shut everything down and sat back to think about what was going on.

Of course, air flow! The only fans I had running on my temp setup was the CPU's which is pointing down and my video card's. So the setup was seeing no airflow at all basically. So I plugged two 120mm fans and sat them on top and on the side of the motherboard, sitting on some cabling and BOOM! Ambient temps dropped over 15 degrees celcius, CPU went down almost 15c too and the video when down about 12c. Amazing what simple air flow can do, huh? Just thought I would share.

Before - Abient: 36c+, Video: 50c+, CPU: 50c+
After - Ambient: 26c, Video: 35c, CPU: 38c

Yep,Yep....When I get into bed at nite I will sometimes pull the covers up over my wife's head and make a little "airflow" of my own!....Just wanted to share that!

Dyre Straits · Sep 22, 2005, 03:01 AM

AirFlow is exactly why my next case is going to have at least one topside air vent for a fan. I'd prefer more if I can find one.

SFOSOK · Sep 22, 2005, 03:13 AM

just take a spear and make your own airflow.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Sep 22, 2005, 08:58 PM

A jigsaw and a drill is all you need, a spear won't do it lol...

Lelisevis · Sep 23, 2005, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

AirFlow is exactly why my next case is going to have at least one topside air vent for a fan. I'd prefer more if I can find one.

Try the Thermaltake Armour case chassis, massive topside vent and I got a 120mm fan blowing out through it.

bstef9950 · Sep 23, 2005, 01:26 AM

Ok here goes let me describe my rig.I built it about 6month's ago,+been adding here and there since.

Powered by- AMD-3000+ Barton 333 ddr Asus A7N8X Nvidia N-Force2 Dual channel mobo

Video Card-Nvidia-BFG6800GT,OC 256 mb agp8x core clock 370mhz memory clock1.00ghz

Storage-Western Digital 120gb cavier 7200rpm 2nd HD WD 80gb

Ram-Ultra XL Extreme LOW-Latency PC3200 400MHz 2x512 1024MB

Power Supply -Antec NeoPower480wattv2.0 atx12v pci express ready unique cable-management it's a monster

custum high Grey Alumnum window fan with blue neon lighting 6Ultra neon colored fans

This is already my 3rd video card in here but definitly the best yet-there it is

Dyre Straits · Sep 23, 2005, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lelisevis

Try the Thermaltake Armour case chassis, massive topside vent and I got a 120mm fan blowing out through it.

I've been eyeing several cases lately. There's a computer show coming to town around mid-October. I'm going to at least wait to see what they have. A few vendors come in with some nifty cases and other stuff.

Asmoday · Sep 23, 2005, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

AirFlow is exactly why my next case is going to have at least one topside air vent for a fan. I'd prefer more if I can find one.

Well, the Antec P180 has a 120mm top exhaust...

Lowfat · Sep 23, 2005, 07:40 AM

I think i have pretty decent airflow, and only use two case fans. both intake

Dark Lord · Sep 23, 2005, 07:57 AM

my thermaltake Xaser 3 has a total of 3 intake, 4 exhaust. should be 4/3 but it seems to run cooler this way.

right now ive got 2 front intake, 1 top exhaust, 2 rear exhaust, and 2 side panel fans. the lower fan is an intake which forces air under and over my video card, then the fan right above that is an exhaust which sucks out all the hot air from the video card and some from the cpu.

currently my cpu is 32C and my case is 26C

H3X4D3C1M4L · Sep 23, 2005, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asmoday

Well, the Antec P180 has a 120mm top exhaust...

My 20 dollar crap case has 80 MM holes wherever the jigsaw attacks it

Sep 12, 2005, 03:56 AM	#1
daedal Uber Coffee Drinker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Gatineau, Quebec Posts: 2,250 Rep Power: 0	Wow.. airflow really does make a huge difference. So I've got my PC running on my desk, totally apart. The motherboard sitting on it's cardboard box, DVD-ROM on the desk and two hard-drive on other boxes. It's been running fine but I noticed that my temperatures skyrocketed during the last week or so. Today was a bit warmer than usual outside and while I was playing world of warcraft, I noticed that my video and CPU's temps both hit 60c and I started to notice some artifacting. I shut down WoW and launched ATITool to see what it could find. Immediatly, ATITool started getting some serious artifacts so I shut everything down and sat back to think about what was going on. Of course, air flow! The only fans I had running on my temp setup was the CPU's which is pointing down and my video card's. So the setup was seeing no airflow at all basically. So I plugged two 120mm fans and sat them on top and on the side of the motherboard, sitting on some cabling and BOOM! Ambient temps dropped over 15 degrees celcius, CPU went down almost 15c too and the video when down about 12c. Amazing what simple air flow can do, huh? Just thought I would share. Before - Abient: 36c+, Video: 50c+, CPU: 50c+ After - Ambient: 26c, Video: 35c, CPU: 38c __________________

Sep 12, 2005, 04:09 AM	#2
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,790 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	nice . Didn't know that it made that big of a difference. But may ask why your system is apart for the time being? __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Sep 12, 2005, 09:23 PM	Thread Starter #9
daedal Uber Coffee Drinker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Gatineau, Quebec Posts: 2,250 Rep Power: 0	Man I wish I had a camera. Everybody loves my setup. The two 120mm fans are just kinda "floating" over the motherboard as they're lying on the PSU's ATX and P4 cables, hanging over the chipset cooler and the other one lying on it's side, hanging uder the first one. Hey, it works. :P __________________

Sep 12, 2005, 11:41 PM	#10
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,790 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	take some pix man __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Sep 13, 2005, 12:45 AM	#11
NUCLEARWINTER Reap What You Sow. Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Louisville, Kentucky Posts: 1,135 Rep Power: 65 System Specs	yea, i wanna see too please __________________ insert witty comment here!

Sep 12, 2005, 04:23 AM	#3
Lelisevis Howlin at the moon Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,663 Rep Power: 0	I like airflow At the moment in my Thermaltake Armor which runs happily fanless I have 4X120mm fans (2in/2out), 2X80mm fans (both out) as well as my Evo-33 on the CPU. Seems odd till you realise that the airflow that lot provides mean with the aid of a fan controller I am running pretty near silent when the cpu is halfclocked through RMClock. Great for working and web browsing.

Sep 12, 2005, 02:01 PM	#4
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	If I close the side panel on my case it creates sort of a vacuum and my GPU temp and CPU temp drop about 10 degrees. I need a rheostat though or the noise kills me sometimes

Sep 12, 2005, 03:33 PM	#6
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	That's a surprise... that additional fan airflow over components that are in the open makes that big a difference - particularly for the graphics card in the vertical plane, as you'd expect it to shed warm air better than it would in the normal tower case positioning.

Sep 12, 2005, 08:00 PM	#8
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	The most important thing is convection, you want the most amount of exhausting out so you get a suction effect. Works like a charm.

Sep 13, 2005, 01:04 AM	Thread Starter #12
daedal Uber Coffee Drinker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Gatineau, Quebec Posts: 2,250 Rep Power: 0	I know.. I need a camera. We're getting a huge retroactive pay in two weeks so I'll be paying off my Visa (yay!) and getting a camera then. __________________

Sep 14, 2005, 08:20 AM	#13
Scooper -=[DHzer0point Team]=- Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 0 Rep Power: 0	You want to watch the fans with too much negative pressure in the case. Neg pressure is what I like to see but watch that the fans aren't working too hard. They can wear out quicker and, more importantly, draw harder on the p/s or MoBo connector if they're working hard. I have one of those ASUS Vento cases with the two air intakes on the front. They're functional! Two 80mm fans, one each for the intake ducts (green LEDs in a green case - comes with one stock fan). A 120mm exhaust fan below the p/s, and the exhaust fans in the p/s itself. This results in the negative pressure I like, which is then relieved most effectively via the ducted passive vent in the door. A long duct that terminates just above my (stock atm) CPU heatsink. That makes nice flow in the case and a steady flow of fresh cool air directly into the front/intake of my CPU cooler. I like it. __________________ Monitor Dell 2405FPW 24" Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Memory 2x 1GB Corsair XMS 3200C2 Pro 6-3-3-2 Processor Athlon64 4000+ @2.6 GHz Hard Disks 2x 74GB WD Raptor 10,000rpm - RAID-0 Sound Card Audigy2 ZS Gamer Limited Edition Video Cards 2x BFG 7900GTX OC 512 @670/1640 - SLI Motherboard Asus A8N-SLI Premium Optical Disks 2x DVD Rom/RW (?/MSI) Power Supply Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI Operating System Windows XP SP2 Chuck Norris can believe it's not butter

Sep 14, 2005, 02:07 PM	#14
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	Negative airflow isn't a problem unless the only air coming in is from an intake fan.... as long as you have vent holes it balances out with drawing air in.

Sep 14, 2005, 02:35 PM	#15
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 0	Well I got 5 fans in total (120mm and 80mm) and I must say, ICY temps

Sep 15, 2005, 01:26 PM	#16
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	My temps are damn cool too considering that most of my friends think 55 on idle is a good temp for a presscot

Sep 22, 2005, 03:13 AM	#22
SFOSOK 939 Goin Strong Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Ontario Posts: 7,033 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	just take a spear and make your own airflow. __________________ Warning - Explicit Content Preceeding METAL!!

Sep 22, 2005, 08:58 PM	#23
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	A jigsaw and a drill is all you need, a spear won't do it lol...

Sep 23, 2005, 01:26 AM	#25
bstef9950 -=[DHzer0point Team]=- Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Chicago,IL Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	Ok here goes let me describe my rig.I built it about 6month's ago,+been adding here and there since. Powered by- AMD-3000+ Barton 333 ddr Asus A7N8X Nvidia N-Force2 Dual channel mobo Video Card-Nvidia-BFG6800GT,OC 256 mb agp8x core clock 370mhz memory clock1.00ghz Storage-Western Digital 120gb cavier 7200rpm 2nd HD WD 80gb Ram-Ultra XL Extreme LOW-Latency PC3200 400MHz 2x512 1024MB Power Supply -Antec NeoPower480wattv2.0 atx12v pci express ready unique cable-management it's a monster custum high Grey Alumnum window fan with blue neon lighting 6Ultra neon colored fans This is already my 3rd video card in here but definitly the best yet-there it is

Sep 23, 2005, 07:40 AM	#28
Lowfat Xtreme Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Grande Prairie, AB, Can Posts: 4,254 Rep Power: 101	I think i have pretty decent airflow, and only use two case fans. both intake __________________

Sep 23, 2005, 07:57 AM	#29
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	my thermaltake Xaser 3 has a total of 3 intake, 4 exhaust. should be 4/3 but it seems to run cooler this way. right now ive got 2 front intake, 1 top exhaust, 2 rear exhaust, and 2 side panel fans. the lower fan is an intake which forces air under and over my video card, then the fan right above that is an exhaust which sucks out all the hot air from the video card and some from the cpu. currently my cpu is 32C and my case is 26C __________________