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Question about cooling for custom case build.

358 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  OC-Guru 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

I'm planning on building a custom case for the component set I just bought. (I know, typical new member statement. But I'm really gonna build it, I swear!) The case will be largely cubic in shape, though slightly taller that its width & depth. The dimensions will be roughly 30cm wide, 30cm deep, and 40cm tall. I plan to mount the mobo horizontally at the bottom of the case, with the drives and PSU at the top. The front of the case will be mostly open, with a 230mm fan installed, and maybe some smaller fans if I can fit them in. Basically, the entire front of the case will be devoted to fans blowing air into the case, and the exhaust will be at the back - through the PSU and video card, and perhaps some small exhaust fans. This will create a "wind tunnel" effect that I think will keep everything pretty cool. I plan to mount the motherboard on three lengths of square aluminum tubing instead of a motherboard tray. My reasoning is that, by omitting the typtical motherboard tray, there will be more airflow underneath the motherboard as well as above it.

My question is this: will this increased airflow under the mobo have any real benefit? I know that most of the heat that needs to be eliminated from the computer is usually concentrated in specific areas (CPU, graphics cards, etc.), but I assume that reducing the overall heat of the board couldn't hurt either. It seems to me that in theory, since heat spreads through the entire board, keeping the whole board cooler should take some of the load off of the heatsinks and fans for the hotter components. What do you guys think?

I'd also love to get feedback on the overall design idea for the case. I know a verbal description is not the best way to share the idea. I created a sketchup model, but it's on my Windows desktop, and I'm on my linux-only laptop right now. So that should be up soon.

Thanks!
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