[scorpion70707]

I have a heavily modified Compaq SR1717cl and I'm starting to think my cooling setup isn't doing what it should. The case itself has sets of holes on the side panel up near the power supply, adjacent to the cpu (big holes there) and another spot at the bottom right corner near the front under where the HD is. There is no space or hole for an intake fan in the front and I can't put one there because all the connectors for the front panel LEDs are there.

As of now I have a fan mounted in the rear drawing air out and a doublesize slot fan mounted below my video card drawing air in and onto my video card heatsink.

After doing some very rudimentary tests (holding a cigarette in various places to visualize airflow) I found that the aeration holes in the side of the case were causing "air short-circuits". The fan in the rear of the case was drawing air not from inside the PC, but right through the holes in the side of the case and out the back.

So I got some duct tape (If you can't duck it, **** it amirite?) and covered all the holes except for the small grouping in the far corner and I seem to get better airflow (at least it's not coming in the side and right out the back anymore) but I'm wondering if the intake in the back from the video card cooler is countering the main case exhaust fan and keeping it from pulling air through the vent holes in the front and through the case.. as I'm not seeing any real air movement in the front there. The air may just be making a short loop from the intake past the video card and right out the back and that could be bad. My temps are fine but.. I'm a perfectionist.. Any suggestions? Would a small fan mounted near the vent I left open near the front help pull some air through the case?

And is it just me or are the companies who put holes in the side panel and then also supply you with a mount in the rear for an additional fan just not thinking at all?

 

[Brythe]

If my temps drop after trying this you get a cookie.

 

[scorpion70707]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brythe If my temps drop after trying this you get a cookie.

Cookie?

Well after playing some warhammer capturing some keeps with 60 or so players running around, full effects on and video card overclocked I can feel obvious heat getting pulled out the back now whereas before it was always cool air no matter what I was doing. So from what I can tell, cases with holes on the side panel defeat case exhaust fans as air will always take the path of least resistance.. which is in the side and right out the back. I also do notice large ammounts of air being pulled in from the vent holes in the front of the case that I left unsealed so all's good.

 

[scorpion70707]

Here are the holes Compaq so intelligently placed on the side of my case, and fixed by me. The holes near the top were feeding the psu fan and the holes in the center were feeding the case exhaust fan.. making them completely useless. Thanks for that awesome engineering guys....

 

[scorpion70707]

And here's the airflow pattern of the case. MUCH better with the holes covered up. Was thinking about cutting off the grill in the back and flipping the inside chrome grill on the fan to the outside and possibly mounting a small fan over the vent in the front to keep the exhaust fan from working so hard. There is alot of air being pulled in through that little vent.

Oh and I know the GPU cooler doesn't quite match up with the heatsink but it still drops the temp by 10c so I haven't bothered trying to extend it.

 

[scorpion70707]

Did it end up working for you Brythe? Oh yeah... I started looking at the mess the inside of my case had become when I never redid the wiring after replacing my PSU and it needed some cleaning up. This should be better...

 

[AnarchyCow]

Just observing... The GPU you have looks like an OLD card... Is that the x1900GT?

I have a Antec 900 till I get my 1200, and I don't think there is any place more obvious to show this. If I pull the side off my case, my temps go up quite a bit, and when I replace it, temps go back down, I assume it's like this for a lot of cases.
It's like cutting a pipe in half, so instead of O it's just like C so it's not going to move any water where you want it to go now is it =P (Can't think of any good real-world examples).

 

[scorpion70707]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnarchyCow Just observing... The GPU you have looks like an OLD card... Is that the x1900GT? I have a Antec 900 till I get my 1200, and I don't think there is any place more obvious to show this. If I pull the side off my case, my temps go up quite a bit, and when I replace it, temps go back down, I assume it's like this for a lot of cases. It's like cutting a pipe in half, so instead of O it's just like C so it's not going to move any water where you want it to go now is it =P (Can't think of any good real-world examples).

That's still the old 8500gt. I'm STILL waiting for the x1900 in the mail. It's been over a week since it was shipped and HOPEFULLY it'll get here tomorrow.. if not I'll... wait some more

But yeah, the best cooling is in the form of a windtunnel to quickly carry away the radiated heat. If you take the side of the case off it does wreck the aerodynamics. I peeled the tape off the holes in the side of mine just to take some before&after readings and with the holes plugged (except for the small vent I left open) there's a 10c drop in most component temps and an even greater drop in ambient temps. No solid reading there as it fluctuates but it averages 15c or so. I don't know WHY compaq drilled holes in the case.. unless they expected me to never upgrade the thing and keep the Sempron 3400+, onboard video and minimal memory it came with.