PSU in Silverstone TJ06 too hot?

[Japesgalore]

I have this case:

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-tj06.htm

and the following setup:

amd64 3200+ @ 2.6Ghz, vcore @ 1.6v
x850xt pe @ 570/1200
passively cooled EPOX 9nda3+
Hitachi T7K250
NEC DVD/CD drive
Tagan 480 u22
Zalman ZM-MFC1 fan controller
blaa blaa stuff

I'd say I have a pretty decent air-cooled arrangement as far as this particular case (as in the box) is concerened. The Temjin 6, with its BTX style design, is apparently regarded as difficult to cool if one has a powerful gpu without an Arctic Silencer-styled heatsink

I have the following fans and heatsinks:

For intake: 120mm Papst 1600rpm/12v
Exhaust: 120mm Acoustifan 2000rpm/12v
Akasa system exhaust blower 2 slots above GFX card
CPU: CNPS 9500
VGA: VF700 CU

The exhaust blower seems to do a good job of catching the heat rising from the VF700. Apparently it moves 35cfm.

Now, the Tagan power supplies are well regarded for being very quiet (I'm surprised SPCR has not put any to the 'ulitmate' test yet). They, or at least mine, use 2 80mm fans in a push-pull configuration and rely on a 'load sensor' to determine how fast the fans should operate. Here's the company's data sheet: http://www.tagan.com/pages/products/2fo ... sh_web.pdf

The load sensor is where the issue might lie, as I think it means that, even if the case temp were 100C, the fans wouldn'd ramp up at all if the psu remained at below 50%load. I don't know the exact load of my pc but i imagine it to be not all that much, given that it's pretty bare in terms of devices. I'm really no expert though, maybe some of you might be able to inform me.

In ambient temps of 22C the GPU and CPU never exceed 65C and 43C. When gaming the GPU never gets that hot - that's an AtiTool artifact scan temperature. My case temp, according to the motherboard, wont exceed 34C when the fans are running at full whack.

The problem is that the top-rear of my case gets pretty damn warm to the touch when im in full-on gaming mode. The psu has a vent in the top of it to let some air out (or is that to suck air in?). Either way, I think the psu is bound to be hotter than the case just above it (again, correct me if I'm wrong).

The psu is indeed a long way from the cpu and gpu. It's the only thing exhausting air in the top half of this fairly large case. Also, my hard drive is mounted in the 5.25 drive bays inside some silent box thing, and not in the 'cage' beneath the psu. Could the relatively low temperature readings for the components in the bottom half mean that a lot of heat has risen to the top?

The question is, is it too hot? I've read that 50C is borderline. Is there a way of testing that without temperature sensing tools? Should I be at all concerned about it, given my setup as described above?

My solution would be to cut a hole to allow a low-powered 80mm fan to sit on the case above the vent on the psu. Though I'd rather not sacrifice any more silence. If you think I should put the fan in (or, rather, on), does it mean I ought to put an 80mm fan back into the front of the case to re-balance the pressure inside the case?

I hope that all made sense. Please, can someone give me a few words of advice, or reassurance, before I go hacking up my case. Thanks.

[EndoSteel]

First of all seal that vent with ducting tape, i think this should solve the problem.

[Japesgalore]

First of all seal that vent with ducting tape, i think this should solve the problem.

Hmmm, I'm really not prepared to do that. It's obviously there for a reason. Tagan really did their homework before they started making power supplies.

I've pretty much made up my mind to go with the case mod. Now the question is, do I put a 80mm fan back into the slot above the front 120mm fan? Noise is not the concern here - the pressure is.

For exhaust I will have a 66cfm fan at the bottom, a 35cfm fan above the graphics card, a weakish 80mm fan on the psu exhaust, and a weakish 80mm fan above the psu. I'm thinking of the Acoustifans which, surprisingly, start up when fed with less than 5v (tested with a resistor between the fan and the controller).

Am I right in assuming that the 56cfm Papst is insufficient for, er, inhilation? Adding a 35cfm fan above will be advisable? I guess I'm worried about dust (and maybe temps). Bear in mind that these values are for the fans running at 12v. Mine are all adjustable between 5v and 10.5. A couple extra slow fans at 5v won't make such a noticeable addition to the 'humming' I have at the moment, will it?

[EndoSteel]

It's obviously there for a reason. Tagan really did their homework before they started making power supplies.
I don't know what is it there for (most likely, to help cool CPUs in normal ATX cases), but with that duct open and pointing upwards the PSU recirculates hot air. Try at least to flip the PSU to prevent hot air from escaping through the duct.