The grill at the lower back of the SOLO

[Shaman]

I'm 'window shopping' and wondering how many of you blocked the vent next to the expansion slots of the SOLO? If you did, did your temps increased significantly? If you didn't, how much dust do you find inside the case thanks to this grill?

I find it funny when cases come with front dust filters installed, yet they have huge vents at the back very close to the floor, which is where most of the dust sneaks in.

Wouldn't it be better like this?

[LAThierry]

I love your picture. Did you Photoshop it?

That lower vent acts as an intake on my Solo. I haven't had the guts to simply duct-tape it yet, but I found that by simply stacking 2 business cards on those holes (and also tucking them in the "lip" of the side panel) they tend to stay put due to the negative air pressure.

Of course, you have to place them after the computer has been turned on otherwise they may not hold.

[bonestonne]

i don't own a solo, but i do have an Apevia X-Dreamer, which has vents in the same place on the back of the case, and i put a piece of clear packing tape over it, folded over one of the edges so it can easily be removed, and i saw lower temps in my server. its marginally lower, because there are 4 drives right on top of each other in the drive cage, but lower nonetheless.

on my Cooler Master Elite 330, which houses my fastest/newest rig, i just finished taping over both of the vents on the side of the case, and oddly enough temps dropped by a lot, and now the PSU is blowing out much cooler air as well as the exhaust fan. not sure how much cooler the air is, but its cool enough to tell with the back of my hand.

[sanse]

I'm 'window shopping' and wondering how many of you blocked the vent next to the expansion slots of the SOLO? If you did, did your temps increased significantly? If you didn't, how much dust do you find inside the case thanks to this grill?

I find it funny when cases come with front dust filters installed, yet they have huge vents at the back very close to the floor, which is where most of the dust sneaks in.

i experimented with blocking this rearvent and found that temps increased significantly inside the case. especially in the right upper corner, where memory usually resides. there temps went up over 5 degrees celsius after blocking that rearvent.

[Shaman]

i experimented with blocking this rearvent and found that temps increased significantly inside the case. especially in the right upper corner, where memory usually resides. there temps went up over 5 degrees celsius after blocking that rearvent.

That's much more than I expected... I don't see how the memory area can benefit from the rear vent directly. Maybe the graphics card heated that spot up because it wasn't getting fresh air from the back anymore?

How much did the cpu temp increase?

[Shaman]

And yes LAThierry, it's photochopped.

[walle]

Hope you didn’t mind Shaman, you got me inspired

[sanse]

i experimented with blocking this rearvent and found that temps increased significantly inside the case. especially in the right upper corner, where memory usually resides. there temps went up over 5 degrees celsius after blocking that rearvent.

That's much more than I expected... I don't see how the memory area can benefit from the rear vent directly. Maybe the graphics card heated that spot up because it wasn't getting fresh air from the back anymore?

How much did the cpu temp increase?

the cpu temp did not change much. the scythe mine cooler with its 100 mm is very effective. i don't think the graphics card had anything to do with it, cause it vents it's warm air (a 2-slot forced fan construction) directly out the back.

maybe the stream of air from the rearvent directly to the rearfan gives more temp-difference between the memory area and the back of the case and thereby an added airflow from the right upper corner to the back of the case?

[Shaman]

Hope you didn’t mind Shaman, you got me inspired

Oh I don't mind at all, but you might wanna throw in a quiet PSU while you're at it.

[Shaman]

the cpu temp did not change much. the scythe mine cooler with its 100 mm is very effective. i don't think the graphics card had anything to do with it, cause it vents it's warm air (a 2-slot forced fan construction) directly out the back.

maybe the stream of air from the rearvent directly to the rearfan gives more temp-difference between the memory area and the back of the case and thereby an added airflow from the right upper corner to the back of the case?

Now I don't know, you confused me a bit with the last paragraph... I always thought, looking at pics of SOLO rigs here, that the fresh air drawn in from the front would travel across the memory area before getting to the cpu area. This should be especially true when the back vent is blocked, because all the air is coming in from the front that way, which means more air is travelling across the memory... if that makes sense..

[F for Fragging]

I had exactly the same question a few weeks ago, the absence of a dust filter near the holes at the back of the Solo seemed to defeat the purpose of a dust filter at the front. I e-mailed Antec, and received this reply:

Since air is being blown towards the rear of the case the opening should not have any effect on the amount of dust inside of the case. The reason there is an opening is for added ventilation near the PCI ports.

However, I don't get why it is necessary for the Solo now. My Antec SLK3700BQE doesn't have those holes. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I'll buy a Solo for my next system, taping it off won't look good.

[Shaman]

F for Fragging, I think what Antec said on the email only makes sense when you have two 92mm fans installed at the front, because if you don't have them, the air isn't gonna be 'blown towards the rear of the case'. It's gonna be sucked in from the rear of the case instead, because the vents at the back are less restricted than the vents at the front. They are also closer to the back fan, so they get 'preferable treatment'.

But I could be wrong...

[walle]

Oh I don't mind at all, but you might wanna throw in a quiet PSU while you're at it.

That's it Shaman, that PSU completed the picture

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I'll buy a Solo for my next system, taping it off won't look good.

You could take a piece of aluminium, brush it, drill holes in each corner, counter sink them and than mount it. It involves some work but might be worth it if you wouldn’t be satisfied with the tape look. Anyways, you’re most likely not going to stare at the chassis rear all to often thou

[sanse]

Now I don't know, you confused me a bit with the last paragraph... I always thought, looking at pics of SOLO rigs here, that the fresh air drawn in from the front would travel across the memory area before getting to the cpu area. This should be especially true when the back vent is blocked, because all the air is coming in from the front that way, which means more air is travelling across the memory... if that makes sense..

that's what i thought too, but it isn't true apparently.

that theory was also the reason i blocked the vent. but there is not much airflow in the right upper corner of the mobo in the solo. even with 2 92mm fans up-front.

temp of the southbridge lower on the mobo dropped about 3 degrees with the vents open.

despite 2 92mm fans in the front the case is still sucking in air through the rear-vents. you can easily test that with a piece of paper.

[Pauli]

...I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I'll buy a Solo for my next system, taping it off won't look good.

I'm not sure why anybody would even care what the back of their computer case looks like, but you could simply cover the holes with clear packing tape (as previously mentioned). Clean and effective.

[Shaman]

There was not much feedback in this thread regarding blocking the back vent, giving the number of Solo users roaming this forum.

Anyway, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the P182 instead of the Solo. Hope all goes well.

I'm probably gonna block the vents on the pci slot covers on that one.

[Tzupy]

Since the front intake of the Solo has only ~50 cm2, pretty restrictive IMO, the back vent provides a significant airflow increase.
If Antec wouldn't have made the front door hinged, the front intake could have had at least double the area, eliminating the need for the back vent.
Check my post in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=44067&highlight=&sid=03 ... ed36cdfcac