Case Airflow Optimization Question

[topmounter]

I just built up a new machine in a Rosewill Blackbone case. I have a 120mm case fan (Noctua NF-S12B) on the front pulling air into the case, a Mogen 2 CPU cooler with a 120mm fan (came w/ the cooler) pushing air through the cooler and a 120mm fan (Noctua NF-S12B) on the back pulling air out of the case.

The left side panel of the case is perforated for (2) additional 120mm fans. However with the Mugen 2 cooler there isn't much room left. I was able to install a 92mm fan to pull air out of the case.

I haven't seen any temperature difference on the CPU and GPU when overclocking and running the AMD Overdrive stability test since upgrading from the stock fans and adding the side panel fan (Phenom II x4 955 3.2GHz o/c'd to 3.8 GHz, 33c at idle and I hit 60c after ~20 minutes into the stability test).

So my question is, would covering the holes (the ones not over the fan) on the left-side cover help direct airflow through the case and over the CPU cooler?

I know these Noctua fans are moving more air in and out of the case than the stock fans, but I'm surprised that I haven't seen any increased cooling performance since installing them.

Thanks!

 

[billyb0b]

have u considered putting a super slim 120mm fan on the side.

this 120mm x 12 mm Scythe moves a ton of air for being super thing

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/91...6c15s972#blank

the review there too shows the guy using these because he also had a clearance issue with the mogen 2 cooler

 

[topmounter]

I looked at that, but unfortunately I don't have 12mm between the top of the cooler and the side of the case.

I covered the holes up and it doesn't seem to have affected the CPU temps, but the GPU temp appears to have gone down a bit.

 

[zagood]

Change the side fan to intake, and block off the open area around it.