PSU Channel to the extreme?

[narrasuj]

I was reading another thread about which fan configuration (number in vs. number out, etc.) when I thought of this: if a PSU channel is useful in keeping the PSU cool and preventing it from ramping up, why not provide individual channels to each heat producing component and have the channels connect at the rear exhaust? By this I mean, a channel each from fresh air intake to the PSU, CPU, graphics card and hard drives that all meld into one channel that attaches to the exhaust fan. Thus, each component gets fresh, cool air and it's all exhausted via the exhaust fan. I'm sure it'd be a huge undertaking, but it seems that many in here aren't afraid of a little tinkering. If necessary, keep the PSU channel seperate from the rest of the channels (less workload on that single fan?). Good idea, bad idea, ridiculous idea?

My apologies if I placed this in the wrong forum, I was excited to explore the possibilities and share it.

[theyangster]

actually, I have tried this sort of thing only with the CPU and GPU though
here

for the standard ATX case and motherboard, things get real crowded fast

The two major heat factors would of course be the CPU and GPU
the HD can most likely be left alone

practically, in order to get any meaniful amout of airflow, you probably could only divide a 120 fan in two, any more and things woun't get enough airflow

right now, I'm currently thinking of a very radical system which will use one fan for regular use and turn on a second fan for intensive tasks, the entire system cooling will change, look for it soon

[datapappan]

Problem is, as Yangster is saying, the more duct surface you add, the more pressure drop you get. This is why you get better temps in a mid-tower than in an m-atx case. What happens if the duct is about the same length as the case, the positive effect on noise of cooling with cooler air, i.e. needing less air flow, is diminished if not eliminated by the higher impedance, resulting in the fan having to work harder, generating about the same noise as w/o the duct.

/ datapappan

[IsaacKuo]

It's pretty complex to do all that ducting, but relatively straightforward to acheive a similar effect by ducting all warmed air from each major heat producing component directly out of the case. Thus, the entire insides of the computer becomes a large source of fresh cool air. This can be acheived with several exhaust fans working in parallel (including the PSU fan). It can also be acheived with one or more intake fans, but it may be more of a challenge balancing airflow to the components.

[Felger Carbon]

PSU manufacturers want to sell product. Offering a quiet PSU helps sales, esp. to folk who hang out here. To the PSU maker, the purpose of the fan is to cool the PSU only, and only just enough in order to run as quietly as possible.

Not being a PSU maker, I have a different view. When I look at the rear of my case I see a 120mm exhaust fan and the exhaust port (no fan) of my PSU, which has 50-60% of the area of the 120mm fan. The fan on the PSU is a bottom-mounted 120mm.

I regard that ~.6 of a 120mm fan as a resource that can help me cool my case quietly. Instead of 1 fan running at 1200RPM, I can use 1.6 fans running at 800RPM each and get the same cooling, but much more quietly.

So I've modded all three of my PSUs. Removed the ball-bearing temperature-controlled 120mm fans and cut the wires. Installed GW NCB fans with the 3-wire connector brought outside the PSU so I control the RPM! Since the total AC power draw of my system is ~90W, my PSU receives far more cooling air than it needs, and I don't want to isolate the PSU air from my other internal chassis air.

This means my PSU is not as quiet as possible - but my whole computer runs more quietly than it would without this modification.
Just a different point of view.