cooling a matx case

[chansigrilian]

what are the options out there for cooling my matx case?

as of right now i don't have any significant issues but i'm concerned once summertime comes around.

i'm using an epox ep-ex5330n case with the following (heat generating) components:

athlon xp 2600+ barton
evga 6800gt

this is a htpc but i do occasionally game on it, during standard operation it runs alright, gets a little warm during gaming but i'm sure it's going to get warmer come summertime.

the system cools decently right now, however i'm hoping to make it better. the problem i'm running into is i can't use my zalman vf700 on the card (back to stock cooling with as5) nor my thermaltake volcano 7+ (using the case's cooling system) on the cpu i'm no longer overclocking as i was when this was my gaming rig but still would like to drop the temps a little.

i'd like to do something with the 3.5" bay if possible, i need the top 5.25" for the dvd-rom obviously. there isn't anywhere to really add fans unfortunately.

any suggestions?

 

[Zepper]

You are very limited in your options unless you're up for cutting. When you get a shoebox system, you gotta want it just the way it is. When you want to upgrade, you gotta get rid of the thing and start over as almost all the guts are proprietary. I would never buy or recommend one for that reason. Starting with a case like the X-QPack or the MicroFly is a much better idea.

But here is one thing you can do without cutting: Outside the Box.
You could use an 80 to 92 or an 80 to 120mm fan adapter - the 92 would be less conspicuous. Other than that, it's get out the dremel, nibbler or tinsnips.

.bh.

 

[chansigrilian]

hrm, that's an interesting (and good) idea

i'll take a look at what my options are. otherwise i may go into a mozart case and unload this one, that'll let me go back to my old cooling or have the option of passive/water cooling.

thanks.

 

[Skott]

Originally posted by: Zepper
You are very limited in your options unless you're up for cutting. When you get a shoebox system, you gotta want it just the way it is. When you want to upgrade, you gotta get rid of the thing and start over as almost all the guts are proprietary. I would never buy or recommend one for that reason. Starting with a case like the X-QPack or the MicroFly is a much better idea.

But here is one thing you can do without cutting: Outside the Box.
You could use an 80 to 92 or an 80 to 120mm fan adapter - the 92 would be less conspicuous. Other than that, it's get out the dremel, nibbler or tinsnips.

.bh.

Thats definetly thinking outside the box. I'm no expert but I heard you can also set up an outside watercooling system too? That would be much more expensive though.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Skott
I'm no expert but I heard you can also set up an outside watercooling system too?

You can buy various kits to do that. Here is the COOLER MASTER RL-MUA-EBU1 AQUAGATE MINI R120 WATER COOLING SYSTEM which may or may not work for you. It is on sale for $50 (plus shipping). It has wide socket compatibility including socket A, but I'm not sure it'll mount in your mini-system because some of those don't have standard mounts, plus this one has the pump and reservoir on top of the cooler thus adding height. You're on your own for whether it fits in your system. This was designed to be totally inside the case, but with yours being so small you can just cut holes somewhere and somehow mount the radiator with 120mm fan to the outside/top of your case. this way your stock case cooling can deal with cooling everything BUT the CPU, while this unit moves the heat of your CPU completely outside the case.

 

[chansigrilian]

the watercooling kit is a good idea, i was actually looking at possibly using it for my gpu as opposed to my cpu. cpu temps are actually halfway decent and as mentioned above the system does use a proprietary cpu cooling system which includes a special socket cooler (i.e. no thermaltake volcano 7+).

i checked the case design and cannot use an external fan the psu and cpu exhaust fans as well as the various other components on the back prohibit it.

current temps are as follows, the pc has been on for the past couple of hours, altho i haven't done any gaming on it.

gpu: 74c
gpu ambient: 54c
cpu: 49c
system: 50c

temps go up a little during gaming but nothing significant since i spin the fans up a little more.

summertime tho...