Help With Airflow [Picture Included]

Chocolinx · Post by **Chocolinx** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:34 am

Hi I just need some help with my case!

I've been trying to get the temperature of my HDD down, but I don't want to resort ot using the front 80mm fan that came with the case (Centurion 5) because it's just too darn loud. If you look really closely I added a 120mm Arctic-Cooling fan in the 5'25" bay and the cables go around the fan and leave an open path across to the rear fan (stock). Both 120mm fans are 5V'ed with that little cable you see going across.

The Harddrive is a Seagate 7200.8 400GB SATA. My idle temps are 42ÂºC and the room Ambient temp is 22ÂºC. That Idle temp is way above than those in the SPCR review I read even if I a count for that 1 extra ÂºC than their review. Also my idle system temp seems to be 36ÂºC and a CPU temp of 37ÂºC with a E6400 C2D. My Dad's computer downstairs (that has no Video Card) has an idle CPU temp of 26ÂºC (E6300). I thought these CPU would burn around the same temp, but they don't. And it's a HUGE difference.

Could it be my X1800XL heating up the overall amount of heat in my case? If it is, what would be the best solution? Even being creative would be good, arts and craft I could do!
Should I move those cables at top somewhere else? Because I'm not sure where to put them?
If there's any other info. you need on my case please ask so you can help me better ^^;

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:13 am

All the temps you report are perfectly safe. Don't get sucked into must-be-super-cool anxiety perpetuated by OC sites and heatsink makers.

HDDs are rated safe to >55C (42C is perfectly good!), GPUs are usually safe to >120C, with ~90C being where visible screen misbehaviors might start happening, and your CPU has built-in throttling to prevent it from getting burned (typically ~70C).

theyangster · Post by **theyangster** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:36 am

I'm probably the wrong person to ask about the creative part

but as Mike C said, all your temps are in the acceptable range.

However, it seems that the video cards exhaust is blowing straight onto the HDD perhaps causing it to a bit higher than usual.

you could try moving it lower, but then it wouldn't get as much airflow

The majority of air passing thru your system is between the two 120 fans which may be leaving your bottom half in the cold (or warm)

it all depends on how much money you spend on the addiction

j/k - I think you have a very acceptable system, temps are to expected with that video card installed

agus_c_o · Post by **agus_c_o** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:03 am

you could try to softmount your HD at the 5 1/4 bays
here are some ideas
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=19147

that way you will end with a quieter and cooler computer

BillyBuerger · Post by **BillyBuerger** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:04 pm

What if you threw the 80mm fan in the front at 5V? Or if it's not quiet enough, get a quieter 80mm fan at 5V. That way you get a little more airflow across your HD. Which is probably all you need.

Otherwise, I agree with what everyone else has said. Is there a reason you put the extra 120mm fan in the drive bays?

Chocolinx · Post by **Chocolinx** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 8:52 pm

BillyBuerger wrote:What if you threw the 80mm fan in the front at 5V? Or if it's not quiet enough, get a quieter 80mm fan at 5V. That way you get a little more airflow across your HD. Which is probably all you need.

Otherwise, I agree with what everyone else has said. Is there a reason you put the extra 120mm fan in the drive bays?

I was considering getting a quieter fan or even a 5V fan cable but I can't seem to find the cable. Fans I've found a few.

CoolerMaster 80mm Ultra Silent SuperFlo Bearing
Arctic Cooling 80mm AF8025 Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Nexus 80mm Real Silent Fan (No idea on Bearing)

I can get the first 2 locally but the Nexus one has to be order from Vancouver <.< NCIX.com. At a very high premium. But if you guys think the first two aren't quiet enough compared to a nexus I might take the leap.

Currently I'm working on an idea for suspending my HDD as well. But it's not working out to well at the moment o.O

UPDATE ON TEMPS: Well after running CPUBURN for about an hour here are my load temps! And Transfering 50GB worth of Data to another HDD.

CPU: 45ÂºC SYS: 42ÂºC HDD: 56ÂºC

I've always thought over 38ÂºC in a case was high. Even the Intel Box says 38ÂºC is needed for optimal use. HDD I think it can survive those temps right? At FULL blast fans (12V) my Case Temps drop to 35ÂºC on load and 33ÂºC on idle lol I wish to see that if at all possible. Do you think modding the cooling on my Video card would help?

Another Question! If I were to buy acoustic foam to put on the panels, since I'm replacing the Stock Cooling for an Ultra-120, should I just cover up the holes on the side panel? Would that help my airflow or kill it?

BillyBuerger · Post by **BillyBuerger** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 7:32 am

Chocolinx wrote:I was considering getting a quieter fan or even a 5V fan cable but I can't seem to find the cable. Fans I've found a few.

CoolerMaster 80mm Ultra Silent SuperFlo Bearing
Arctic Cooling 80mm AF8025 Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Nexus 80mm Real Silent Fan (No idea on Bearing)

For the most part, any lower or even medium speed 80mm fan at 5V will be plenty quiet. So any of those should probably work fine.

Chocolinx wrote:UPDATE ON TEMPS: Well after running CPUBURN for about an hour here are my load temps! And Transfering 50GB worth of Data to another HDD.

CPU: 45ÂºC SYS: 42ÂºC HDD: 56ÂºC

I've always thought over 38ÂºC in a case was high. Even the Intel Box says 38ÂºC is needed for optimal use. HDD I think it can survive those temps right? At FULL blast fans (12V) my Case Temps drop to 35ÂºC on load and 33ÂºC on idle lol I wish to see that if at all possible. Do you think modding the cooling on my Video card would help?

I think they tend to use the VRMs or somewhere rather warm for the "System" temp. Or it could be down towards the bottom near where your GPU is spewing it's hot air. Causing it to report warmer than the case really is. I wouldn't worry so much about that unless your other temps start getting higher. Or if you notice it "feels" pretty warm inside your case.

Chocolinx wrote:Another Question! If I were to buy acoustic foam to put on the panels, since I'm replacing the Stock Cooling for an Ultra-120, should I just cover up the holes on the side panel? Would that help my airflow or kill it?

Ohhhhhhh!!!! You have side air ducts. I hate those. Sure, they mean cool air for your CPU. But that also makes for an easy place for air to get in meaning that you probably won't get any air through the front which is where your hard drive is. If you cover them up, that may help your hard drive temps even without the front fan. Assuming the front of your case has enough open ventilation. But that could also bring up your CPU/GPU temps. I'd cover them up with something non-permanent and see how it affects your temps. Maybe cover the CPU vent but leave the GPU open or different configurations and see which works best.

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:10 am

At 56C, your hard drive will have a short life...

The problem I see is with the overall airflow. You are pushing air into the box near the top, and also exhausting near the top. But the main heat source is the graphics card, which is below the middle. And your disk drive is getting no air at all. The net result is that the bottom half of the case (which includes the motherboard sensor and disk) is not getting any cooling.

In this system, the graphics card is by far the largest source of heat. The CPU is a distant second. The stock Intel cooler will have no problem cooling the CPU even if the air around it is warm.

What you want is to have fresh air flowing from the bottom front to the back top.

I don't recognize your case, so what I'm suggesting may not work, but assuming there is a way to get fresh air into the box at the bottom of the front panel (maybe by knocking out the 5.25 bay covers), you should move the inlet fan to the bottom and put the disk somewhere else.

This will provide fresh air to the bottom half the system, including the south bridge and the graphics card, and exhaust the hot air from behind the CPU, which will dramatically lower all of your temperatures.

Also, please tell us what software you're using to report temperatures. To get accurate CPU temperatures you should use Core Temp, Everest or RMClock. These use the on-chip DTS. Many Asus boards use an onboard sensor that is really quite bogus.

I'm not sure about the P5B Deluxe, but the P5W DH Deluxe reports "case" or "motherboard" temperature based on an onchip sensor in the south bridge. In your system currently, the south bridge is getting no airflow and will be running rather hot.

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:13 am

Wow, I didn't know the case had side vents!!

For sure, cover those up. Tape some paper over them for now, but I'm betting you want to seal them permanently.

What case is this? We can give you better help if we have more detail.

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:21 am

Chocolinx wrote:the case (Centurion 5)

It's a Coolermaster, similar to the one SPCR reviewed, but with some changes, most notably the side vents. If you need more pictures than the review has, the link in my signature has some more.

Chocolinx, if you don't feel like taping, a relatively easy way to get rid of the vents is to swap the left and right side panels. They're interchangeable, although you will have to remove the CPU duct.

Chocolinx · Post by **Chocolinx** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:01 am

I'll try swapping the two sides today! If it really works a bit better I'll get some acoustipack or nexus damtek padding for the side panels and just completely seal off the holes.

NOTE: Does anyone know where I could buy a side panel without wholes though? I rather have my case look symetrical lol.

I'll undervolt the bottom 80mm front case fan it came with for now till I get my nexus 80mm that's coming in the mail.

Oh and I was using Asus Probe II to get my CPU Core temps because SpeedFan 4.29 couldn't seem to get my CPU temps for some reason o.O It read as 0ÂºC and that's not right at all. For GPU temps I used the ATi Catalyst/RivaTuner and System temp I got from SpeedFan.

UPDATE: Okay I switched the side panels and 5v the Front Case Fan and the rear back to 12V (don't have any other 5V cables to undervolt right now). Right now here are my temps idle:

CPU: 41ÂºC SYS: 36ÂºC HDD: 39ÂºC

So just having the front case fan on at 5V gave me a 10ÂºC drop O.O and a 3ÂºC drop on SYS temp! But the CoolerMaster fan still gives off a distinct noise. But overall the loudest thing in my case is my Video Card's stock cooling. I'm probably going to buy a VF900 soon and have that 5V too.

Another question, about nexus fans: Nexus offers a product that reduces 12V lines to 10V lines. Would undervolting a Nexus 120 and Nexus 80 Fan with this slight undervolt make a difference in noise at all, because these little things cost about $7 CND each, and I was thinking of getting 2.

Also can someone tell me how to turn off the Stock fan using RivaTuner? I just want to turn it off for a few seconds to see exactly how loud the rest of the system is...The stock fan really drowns out most of the other components.

Chocolinx · Post by **Chocolinx** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 11:39 am

I'll try swapping the two sides today! If it really works a bit better I'll get some acoustipack or nexus damtek padding for the side panels and just completely seal off the holes. (Which is better anyway? The acoustic seems like cheap foam I can get out of Hardware packaging o.O And the Nexus Damtek seems like hard foam that won't absorb anything O.o.

NOTE: Does anyone know where I could buy a side panel without wholes though? I rather have my case look symetrical lol.

I'll undervolt the bottom 80mm front case fan it came with for now till I get my nexus 80mm that's coming in the mail.

Oh and I was using Asus Probe II to get my CPU Core temps because SpeedFan 4.29 couldn't seem to get my CPU temps for some reason o.O It read as 0ÂºC and that's not right at all. For GPU temps I used the ATi Catalyst/RivaTuner and System temp I got from SpeedFan.

UPDATE: Okay I switched the side panels and 5v the Front Case Fan and the rear back to 12V (don't have any other 5V cables to undervolt right now). Right now here are my temps idle:

CPU: 41ÂºC SYS: 36ÂºC HDD: 39ÂºC GPU: 67ÂºC

So just having the front case fan on at 5V gave me a 10ÂºC drop O.O and a 3ÂºC drop on SYS temp! But the GPU went up by 5ÂºC on idle and the CoolerMaster fans both still gives off a distinct noise, especially the CM at 12V. But overall the loudest thing in my case is my Video Card's stock cooling. I'm probably going to buy a VF900 soon and have that 5V too hopefully that'll help, maybe?

Another question, about nexus fans: Nexus offers a product that reduces 12V lines to 10V lines. Would undervolting a Nexus 120 and Nexus 80 Fan with this slight undervolt make a difference in noise at all, because these little things cost about $7 CND each, and I was thinking of getting 2.

Also can someone tell me how to turn off the Stock fan using RivaTuner? I just want to turn it off for a few seconds to see exactly how loud the rest of the system is...The stock fan really drowns out most of the other components.

UPDATE2: Since I started using the Front Fan my GPU has been heating up a little higher than it should. A normal spin rate for it is 3400 RPM and goes to around 5500 when it hits around 68ÂºC...My computer just crashed for the first time in 2 weeks o.O Could this be becuase my videocard heated up too much and forced my system to crash? It's been spinning a lot more at 5500 RPM ever since I turned the front on. (This is when I'm playing Final Fantasy XI for 8 hours)

Help With Airflow [Picture Included]

Help With Airflow [Picture Included]

Re: Help With Airflow [Picture Included]