Problems with airflow - Page 2

which TIM and how much did you apply? i went the grain of rice method then spread it thinly over the cpu before applying heatsink. as5 btw.

Ye, Shin Etsu unless they changed that lately.

The only way to know is by trying it out. Turn your top fans around. Maybe try making the rear fan intake, although it would be intaking hot GPU air.

Still not sure why you just won't move the four 120s up top to exhaust, it'd be far quicker to try out then to speculate.

Hot air rises. Only use a cold air intake. Having an exhaust forces all air upward, including what may be cool air. Wasteful and noisy. Disconnect all but the bottom and lower front intake, and compare temps. Can't hurt to test it.

Also, you should never have the radiator on top. You never see them on the exhaust tips on cars for a reason.

Only careful testing will determine what fan intake and exhaust combination works best for any given application as there are literally tens of thousands of different PC case/hardware configurations which results in many possibilities.

Most people do not desire all exhaust fans in a PC case, commonly known as "negative pressure", because they draw in a lot of dust and do not necessarily direct airflow where it needs to go for best cooling.

By the same token the "positive pressure" PC case argument reduces dust but without an exhaust fan you are essentially trying to blow air into a closed box. This generally does not prove to be very effective in cooling the heat sources in a PC either.

Thus the best combination of intake and exhaust fans for each PC must be determined by actual testing to see what works well for that unique PC case and hardware package.

As far as TIM goes most people use about TEN times more than necessary - which is NOT good. Even the TIM mfgs. often recommend way too much TIM.

TIM is intended to fill the MICRO PORES, i.e. machining marks, scratches and tiny low spots in the heatsink base and CPU heat spreader. The ideal TIM thickness is almost zero... That means a translucent film only over the entire CPU heat spreader is plenty. TIM is an Insulator compared to metal-to-metal contact so more is bad, not good.
Edited by AMD4ME - 2/12/12 at 1:38pm

The built in temp sensors on the board, GPU, etc, should be just fine for temp ranges.

Now that you've got your idle temps with the weird top 4 120mm intake, try it out with the top 4 120mm as an exhaust.

IMO, your hand and your 'feel' has nothing much to do with the airflow, you're pushing air, and so therefore it SHOULD be cool.
When pushed for a long range, air will eventually warm up; and the issue is where it will warm up, whether it may be before or after it hit your heatsinks, etc.

Like myself and many have said, find your idle temps, game for a bit, (30 minutes), log out on the exact time, record temps and reset the fans.
Wait until roughly the same ambient temp or the same time of day (cold boot, or warm boot), and repeat with the changed fan directions.

IMO, again, there is no other way to test whether or not your air flow is sufficient, or just blows.

This doesn't seem to make much sense. The OP's case is not a cheap one. It has PLENTY of ventilation.

Basically, the OP needs to allow the laws of airflow (newtons law, bills law, whatever) to let air rise. whatever it is, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. When you suck air into a case, it exits at the same speed. Exhaust fans are redundant. It would make more sense to force the coldest air in first, thus lower front of the case and the bottom. Also, one should have the radiator OUTSIDE the case for optimum temps when using water cooling. The reason for this is that air that passes through the radiator cools the coils, thus the water connected to the coils.

Air Intake vs Exhaust.

1. Exhaust only

Exhaust-Only sucks air into the case from all possible angles. In fact, it just sucks air to the FAN from all angles. So, the air can come from the side, front, back, or bottom. As the bottom is the coolest air, we don't want side or back or front air making things too warm

2. Intake + Exhaust

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you suck air into a case, it leaves the case just as fast. To have exhaust as well, the exhaust forces any and all air upward and outward. As the intake is already at a desired rate, what good does redundant exhaust do? Heat rises on it's own, especially with intake propelling it.

3. Intake Only

Intake-Only brings air from the outside, and lets the laws of physics do their job. This is ideal with well ventilated cases. We don't want air getting trapped in a case. Cases that aren't well ventilated are poor quality anyways.


Radiator Location

1. When a Radiator is in the case, on the top, the hot air inside the case "cools" the radiator. That's stupid.

2. When a Radiator is in the case, on the top, the cool air outside the case cools the radiator. But the air that passes the radiator is hotter than the air that comes directly from outside the case. Thus, the air from the radiator is warming the interior of the case, which makes the radiator less effective. Better than option 1, but:

3. When a radiator is outside the case, the radiator isn't heated by the hot air in the case, and the air that warms the radiator doesn't enter the case. WINNING.




TIM:

This is simple. Lap the HS and the IHS to 2000 grit. apply a tiny amount of AS5. You want a VERY thin layer.

done.


I thought this stuff was common sense. Forgive me if any of this is confusing. let me know if I need to elaborate.

The funny thing is, spreading the thermal paste makes large air bubbles, no matter how thin, or how well you spread it. The pea method is the best. It spreads the paste where it needs to go, and does it in an even patter. The second best method is the Rice grain. This is the same as the Pea, only is covers more of the CPU, and can possibly spurt of the sides of the CPU, which is bad.

I recommend the you turn the Radiator around so it is pulling air from inside the case, This will make the airflow of the case alot better and will make everything a hell of alot cooler.

The way you have it OP, is basically ruining the airflow, the intake air is being disturbed almost, and wont travel to the rear of the case as well, thus making it hang around and get warm, ultimately making the rest of the components hotter.