Need to sort out case airflow. Fan placing advice?

Hendrix89

I have always been unhappy with my case fan positioning. Just recently zip-tied on a 90mm fan (taken off Arctic Freezer!) and positioned it just above my main (120mm) intake fan, but much closer to the Tuniq Tower's fins. I have it blowing straight onto it, but no affect on my CPU temps at all Should I be facing more towards the copper base (pipes) of the cooler? Whats the best way to at least knock a bit off my CPU load temps?

As you can see here, the zipped fan is facing directly towards the heatsink fins. Wrong place to be putting it if I want to get lower temps?




Overview of entire case fan setup..


Also any suggestions on better fan placing in general?
My gfx card is idling too hot for my liking atm. 56-60C...

PogMoThoin

Hey m8, I got same mobo, cooler & case as ya, do this:



I've got the fan taped in position, wil do something more permanent later. Fan also cools the northbridge under the tower as i have it sitting tight to the ram.


Look @ where it got me with temps maxin @ 72-73' measured with core temp: My max oc so far
This is on vista, but vista gets buggy when i try 2 push higher, I'm in the process of installin Tiny Xp on a 5Gb partion on a seperate hd to get higher.

Also add another 120mm fan @ front by gluing it 2 the back of 3 blank bezels, like i've done here:

Hendrix89

Brilliant thanks! It's perfect that you have the same setup as me!

I will definately go ahead and strap a fan to the tuniq then. Going that close did cross my mind but I was weary about messing up the coolers airflow. It works for you so I'll go and try it:)

What do you think about me fixing the Arctic Freezer one you see in the first pic onto it?? Would that be too risky due to the fans odd design you think? Sorry I'm just so cheap as you may have noticed. I just can never get myself to spend money on fans:D I have always stripped em off any of my heatsinks I find lying around!

PogMoThoin

I have changed most fans in the case & have some on a controller, but the fan i've got on taped on2 the tuniq is 1 i bought in pc world, i think bout 12-15e. Cant see anything wrong with usin da arctic fan tho.

Hendrix89

Okay cool. The fan is nicely quiet aswell. I just hope the slightly extra weight isnt going to cause any future problems. Then again the Tuniq has those heavy duty springs...

Exactly how much of a temp drop did you get after placing the fan by the way?

Right now at 3.4 i'm hitting 69C in prime. I'd like to reach 3.6GHz.

PogMoThoin

I didn't notice a big difference in the core temps, maybe a degree or 2, but i did a difference in nb temps. The extra front 120mm will make more of a difference, I've removed the carbon filters from the front bezels & cut the metal @ back of the case behind the exhaust fan with a dremel to improve airflow:



I've also got my quad & tuniq lapped & am using cool labotratory tim. Chosen already replaced all the stock tim on the passive heatsinks on the north & southbridge on the mobo with arctic silver. All this helps to improve temperatures.

Hendrix89

Ah.. 2 degree drop won't be enough... I will see if I can find a cheap 120mm fan for the extra intake though as you say it'll make a difference. I think I might order one along with my monitor from OcUK. That way I won't be wasting that much on a fan... I can pay same shipping cost.

Anti

Did you use a dremel to cut the fan guard out, or did you gnaw it out with your teeth lol

PogMoThoin

Anti wrote:

Did you use a dremel to cut the fan guard out, or did you gnaw it out with your teeth lol

:rolleyes: naw, used a m8's small angle grinder. No1 sees da back of rig except me
Must get a nice fan guard in my next order.

awhir

PogMoThoin wrote:

:rolleyes: naw, used a m8's small angle grinder. No1 sees da back of rig except me
Must get a nice fan guard in my next order.

or just a sander ? :rolleyes:

Hendrix89

Okay can someone recommend a good 120mm fan?

Silence isnt as important to me as cooling efficiency, but if I could get both then I may as well...

Also I'd like to know what the BEST 120mm is. If it's worth it I might go for it.

The fan will be going in pretty much the same place that ACF fan is now (see first pic).

Thanks guys....gotta rush..

ricka05

What case do you have? Looks like one of the Termaltake towers...I have Armor-the one with 25 cm fan on the side panel . Maybe it wont make a big impact on CPU temperature ,but it could provide enough cool air for the whole system . I have 2*120 and 2*90 fans pushing air out but still i can feel it coming out from every gap and hole in tower.

Anti

The best fan i have found so far is the 1600rpm scythe s-flex.

ricka05

I don't know were to get them , but Sunon fans (i got them with Asetek WC kit) looks really impressive - quite and still manages to push a huge amount of air...
Edit:
[http://www2.asetek.com/default.asp?showPage=startside.asp&contentSection=2

Hendrix89

Cheers guys. ricka my case is the Armor.

I think I might go with that Scythe fan then. I have actually heard alot of positive things about the company. Price aint bad either.

awhir

scythe's 1600's are great.if you want the "best" fan as in air flow get a delta but it sounds like hoover ..

Hendrix89

Yeah I was just looking at the delta. I'm tempted cause as I said, I place cooling first. It is very pricey though....

OcUK don't have the Sythe 1600 in stock:mad: I hope it comes in in the next few days, before i'm ready to order my monitor...or forget the fan...

L31mr0d

Get yourself one of these babies if you want performance.

It pushes 220+ cfm's :eek:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de12gf.html

Hendrix89

Wow that looks like some beast:eek: I must have it!!

Probably not available from any UK or Irish sites though? Would be great if it was.

EDIT - Oh just noticed that site ships globally... Maybe I will go for it. I think I will do some more research on this thing before hand though cause, even though I don't usually mind case noise, I don't want to go deaf!

Hendrix89

Okay after all this debating in my head I have almost decided to go for this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-000-XI&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4

It's so damn cheap it's just hard to resist. The specs look good too no? I will also be getting one of dem pci exhaust blowers.

So any of you guys no anything about this fan? Never heard of Xilence before, it's cheap, and has good cfm rating.

I will be ordering this along with my monitor tomorrow so let me know if I should go ahead.

Would get the Sythe 1600rpm fan but it's out of stock...

awhir

dont sound great but w9 till anti comes..........

Hendrix89

Well hell I already ordered man! :eek:

I read the little reviews on it I could find and apparently it's one of the most silent fans around. I know thats not what i'm looking for, but it is 1400rpm and the only sythe fan in stock was only 1200rpm (and cost twice as much..)..

awhir

awhir wrote:

dont sound great but w9 till anti comes..........

na was sayin that as anti praises them.:rolleyes: