cooling a case with only 1 60mm in back

[s0ssos]

hi guys, i've been looking over this forum and seeing what advice people had to give. but i think my case is a little bit different from others.
setup:
raidmax atx268SW has only 1 60 mm rear case fan (currently using a vantec thermoflow TF6025)
4 80X80X36mm front fans (currently using 4 80X38 SVC ball-bearing ones)
2 80X80X25 mm side fans (currently using just generic ones)
the airflow is: in through the front, out through the side, out through the back

asus a7v8x
antec truepower 330 (it blows a lot of hot air out the back. like, pretty hot)
abit siluro geforce ti 4200 (running 2 monitors. does that make it hotter?)
xp 2100 palomino running at stock speed
1 WD 80JB

So, right now my wires are dangling all over the place. I gotta fix those. But what heatsink should I get now? And should I get any new fans?
I am using a Volcano 7+ right now, and it's really really loud, with the fan running at 6000 rpm. CPU is 41 deg C, MB 33 deg C
What new heatsink should I get? I was thinking either a Thermaltake Silent Boost, cause overclockerscafe reviewed them pretty favorably
here
Or perhaps a slk-700 with the YSTech TMD ($27 at hardcorecooling)
Or maybe a sk-7, with some quiet fan. You guys have any recommendations? How quiet can I get, with my CPU still running below 50?

And for the case airflow, my brother was suggesting I put the side fans to blow in. But I only have 1 weak little 60mm fan blowing out back, and the psu fan. Is that bad then?

thanks
(btw, anyone have problems with the geforce 4 ti overheating? does it appear as little lines randomly on your screen, like when the splash screen comes on when you're starting up, or when you're shutting down

 

[Davegod]

er dunno where to start on that tbh, but consider the possibility of cutting the rear 60mm fanslot so you can put a 80mm instead. Maybe cut a blowhole on top, approx just above and infront of the PSU, to blow out hot air?

Another idea that strick me was to consider using a HSF that is designed for the fan to suck air through it, instestead of the norm of blowing air onto it. Alpha 8045 IIRC is designed for sucking rather than pushing, but i think it needs bolt holes and motherboard compatibility might be er difficult. Using a "suck" heatsink you could then do a little ducting to blow the hot cpu air out one of the side fans.

I think these are pics of your pc? Four front intakes, two side intakes (because theyre low) and one crummy 60mm exhaust seems such a retarded design tbh. Also, the side fan cut outs look bad enough at restricting airflow, the four at the font look terrible for it. I'd seriously consider cutting out proper holes at least ot the front. Where are they sucking air from anyway? No grill at the external front, so I presume its coming from underneath. WTF were they thinking trying to supply 4 fans in such a contrictive way?

sod it, personally I'd go buy a new case, though if your pc isnt being unstable* youve no need to, just rearrange things (with a little modding, maybe) to try to get a proper airflow going - in at the lower front corner, out at the upper rear one.

*edit: by the sound of it your graphics card IS being unstable...

 

[0roo0roo]

slk 800 minimum. yes, cut out any fan grills that block air and use a wire grill. svc ball bearing fans? are you sure? i've bought a couple of their generic "ball bearing" fans and they are always labeled as sleeve bearing on the fan itself, i think svc doesn't update their site right not that it maters just, jsut odon't last as long.

as for wire management, go and buy a bag of zip ties and tie away home depot/frys etc have em for cheap.

unless your fans are heavily blocked by shoddy grills/openings.. you shuold have decent airflow.. all you have is a palo 2100+ too. the case seems kinda lousy though, so my guess is the fans are somewhat blocked.

a fan controller could lower the noise, not like you need all those fans running at 100% speed.

you could possibly cut a blow hole for exhaust on top. ussually its best to have rear and top and exhaust. not so good if sides are exhaust, the side fans would do better as intakes blowing over the vid card.

 

[s0ssos]

hmm, i guess my case does suck. but if you look at it, it has a really nice finish. really high-quality, like car-level. (i dunno if you can see it in the picture)

thanks for all your advice, but, hmm, but if i get a new case and everything, i'll have to spend a lot of money. i'm wondering now what will happen if i just replace my heatsink with the default amd one, tie up the wires, and let it go like it is right now. it'll run hotter, but anyone have any idea how much? i don't really care about performance, cause i don't really do anything that hogs up processor power. i just like keeping apps open all the time, but i have enough memory for that (1 gig)

 

[Davegod]

the amount you want to spend is up to you, and tbh my interpretation of what you said so far is that there isnt any imminent need for better cooling, except possibly there's a heat related issue for your video card.

Presuming your mobo is recording the temps remotely accurate your temps are fine, though tbh I am a little sceptical of those mobo temps with a measly 60mm exhaust. If you want a bit better airflow for the vid card, and to quieten up your system I'd think up some plan to get a bit better airflow in the case, have a look and see if you think there is room to cut in a 80mm fan - just put a 80mm fan up over the 60mm fan area, or on the top for a blowhole, and look for any reason why not, then if youre willing to give it a go then research how to do it. Thats what I would be thinking about, though hacking up your case probably isnt too appealing.

Alternately (or additionally) there's the easier option. to quieten the cpu fan, doesnt the volcano 7 fan have a rheostat? or is it only a temp sensor? if the latter I'd prob look for a new fan, a medium rpm fan or maybe preferably in your situation a variable-rpm fan. ys-tech adjustable seems to be a popular one. with that you can adjust it until your happy with temp vs noise balance. you might want to swap some of those cheap case fans for better quality ones, but tbh with the number of them thats going to start getting expensive, though you can try simply unplugging one of those 4 at the front... tbh i wouldnt go shelling out for a SLK900 or something considering the amount of noise that must be coming from the case fans anyway.