Cooling a Lian Li PC71

[TorxT3D]

Ive had this baby for well over about 2 or 3 years.
Couldnt be more satisfied with its durability and looks.

I just upgraded im looking to cool the case as much as possible and keeping it quiet.
Right now, as it stands i have roughly 4 case fans (2 front hdd, 2 rear) and psu has 2 exhaust fans, up and out.

im noticing warmth in the general region of my 9800 pro, and around the memory.
i'd hate to hack up this case and the results be pathetic... So thats why im planning pretty stern on case cooling.


1. Please recommend good sets of quiet 80mm fans

Its already loud with my cpu cooler, thats why i need sets of quiet case fans.
Any good quiet ones out there on the market? Ive been out of the modding scene for quite some time so i dont know whats good and whats not.

2. Ideal Placement, still the sides? Top?

3. Post your lian li71 case so i can get some ideas.

thanks.

 

[Tiamat]

Check out panaflo L1As or 12Ls www.sidewindercomputers.com or www.svc.com has them. One of these has them for 7$ each. Buy a fan controller so you can lower the voltage on these puppies to about 7Vs.

I dont believe in side fans as they are only good for spot cooling, but add turbulence to the "natural" flow of air.

What video card do you have? If you take out the stock cooling and replace it with one of the Artic Cooling ATI or NV coolers, the GPUs heat will be blown out of the case and you wont have to worry about it.

Your ram should be fine. If you are worried, you can upgrade your heatsink on CPU to one with 92mm fan or 120mm fan (if it fits) and the large fan will blow enough air to cool the ram next door.

You should be able go get away with not holeing up your case.

I have the PC61 so, I kinda was forced to add a 120mm blow hole on the top. This helped my temps quite a bit.

One further thought, your case has the 2x 80mm fan slots on top of the psu right? Perhaps you could hook up panaflos here. and have the front fans, these fans at 5V and the typical exhaust fans at 7-9V. Makes for a quiet system.

 

[essasin]

i have the same case you have and watercooled the badbay. Ill post some pics tonight

 

[xbassman]

Adding to what Tiamat said.....
I have a similar case although smaller. It is a SuperFlower Lian-Li rip.

My quietest setup I have used with it was...
PanafloL1A (2-front, 1-top)
PanafloH1A (1-side, 2-rear)
PanafloU1A/SLK-800U HS/F
HIS Excalibur 9800 Pro (uses Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer)

I use a Nexus fan controller for the U1A and 3 H1A's. (normally turned down to 7v)
The L1A I let my Antec True 430 regulate. (I think they never rec'd more than 5v)

With the Arctic Cooling on my 9800 my case runs cool and quiet. (2-3C case temp drop from vid cooler)

Another thin I did quite a while back that made a world of difference was to cut out the stock fan grills and replace them with wire grills.

 

[TorxT3D]

great suggestions guys.

yes, the cuttin out the aluminum stock grills and replacing with wires IS on my to-do list.

looks like panaflos are best choice.

i got a radeon 9800 pro, gets pretty warm, its the only card on the board so its got some good air space to breath.

how reliable is that fan beng used on the arctic cooler?
im very interested in this now.

 

[Tiamat]

I have never read about somebody complaining about the quality of the fan on teh Artic Cooling solution. With exception to those who are extremest for silence in their computers. Yes, cutting out the grilles is a good idea. That and getting panaflos should help with the noise a great deal - esp if the panafos are on a fan controller. Another thing, what is your psu? If it is a loud one, than you have to replace that too...

 

[Thor86]

My Lian-Li PC70 uses the stock Adda fans (x4) plus 2 more Panaflo U1As on the back lower exhausts. And yes, I've also cut out the stock fan grills on the back on mine with a Dremel and replaced them with wire grills, which do make a differenct in airflow. The 4 exhaust fans are hooked up to a Sunbeam Rheobus fan controller kit at medium levels, for the best noise/airflow performance ratio.