Airflow and graphics card placement

[ButtMagician]

I was just installing my new PSU and it got me thinking about airflow inside the case. Certainly it's not a problem with my old, low-power setup, but let's say I upgrade and get a powerful graphics card. It would then blow hot air onto my fanless PSU - seems like something I don't want. Maybe I made a mistake by buying fanless in this case?

 

[AntonioHG]

Some posts on the experience of fanless or hybrid PSUs and more powerful GPUs:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2369449

Doesn't seem like it should be a problem though.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Unless you have some "weird-kinda-graphics-card," I've never seen a graphics card for which the fan didn't force air onto the board. And you're board doesn't look very "prodigious," unless it's one of those new Maxwell short cards. And in that case, no, I wouldn't worry about heat from your graphics card causing a problem with your PSU.

But returning to your thoughts or speculations about a more powerful graphics card. The answer there should also be "no." NOt to worry.

For instance, I've got this GTX 780. Two fans suck case-interior air to blow onto the heatpipes and fins of the 780, and a good portion of that air is forced out the rear of the PCI plate. Those cards require two PCI slots, and the double-sized plate has a vent for exhaust.

I hope you're not like me old Moms. If I had a penny for every worry she invents for herself (and others) in a day's time, I'd be Bill Gates and Carlos Slim in a month. Of course it's worse if they're 90 -- going on age 3. They can justify their myriad worries about everything else because they have an overall reason to worry in general.

 

[Deders]

Heat rises, if anything the PSU might add to the GPU temperatures...

 

[MongGrel]

Mine goes straight up the top over the GPU into a 220 fan right above it, with a couple Noctuas on the rear and three old low noise Artic Cool PWM fans on the 3 HDD bays in the front.

The large Antec fan on the thing the only original one still in the old 1200 I guess.

Looks a bit similar to yours but I have the CPU cooler vertical firing out the top, with help from the two ones firing out there.

The GPU does it's thing out the rear a bit, the CP-850 you really can't see well has another low noise 120 fires out the rear on the bottom also.

Is kind of a really quiet vacuum cleaner, but I have it on top of the desktop and its a big desk I guess, so it's way off the ground.

I'd say not bad at all what ya have going.