Help - Thermaltake Lanbox Lite+Blue Orb II Temps

[JRyanBlack]

Hi, all.

Hoping for some advice. Over the weekend I decided to "downgrade" my case from a giant tower to a more compact desktop unit (aesthetics, plus I really didn't like having a giant tower sitting on the floor all the time).

I eventually settled on the Thermaltake Lanbox Lite case after lots of research on components. This required me to downgrade (well, side-grade) from an ATX board to a mATX board (decided on Gigabyte G33M-DS2R), and to downgrade from my Noctua 12 heatsink to a thermaltake blue orb ii. But, key, I was able to fit in 2 hard drives (SATA 250gbs), my Sapphire X1900 pro 256mb, and my core2duo e6400.

I expected a bit of a temperature hit, going from full ATX (and full-size tower) with huge heatsink to a mATX case with a smaller heatsink, but it's a bit more drastic than I thought it would be. Need some advice --- obviously, with the amount of effort/expense involved in this project (in a case this small, even plugging a USB device onto the motherboard requires extensive equipment removal!) I want some opinions on whether it'd be worth it for me to try anything.

In my full-sized tower, my idle temps were around 48 (using Intel's Thermal Analysis tool, measuring each core's on-chip temperature) and, under load, it would get up to around 58. Now, my idle temps are around 58-60, and under load it will go from 75-80.

I know I'm in a smaller case, but with the Blue Orb II, should I be expecting lower temperatures? I put some AS5 in between the c2d and the heatsink, but maybe I did it wrong (never had a problem before I use a small dab and spread it across the whole chip with a sandwich baggie over my finger)?

The thermaltake has a 90mm fan in the front (though this is mostly blocked by the hard drive cage, not much I can do about that, I'm pretty sure the air can find its way through there) and two 60mm fans in the back, which I've checked and they're running. There's an additional spot for a 60mm fan on the other side of the video card... not having one, I rigged up a 80mm to sit in there and blow air toward that corner, I can feel some air coming out that side---not that video card temps were a problem, I'm mostly concerned about the processor temps!

Any advice?

 

[Zepper]

Welcome to the AT forums.

Looks like a really poor design on that case for cooling. That blocked fan is really hideous. Plus all that superfluous venting to short circuit any air flow plan. Air, like water, electricity and students takes the path of least resistance. Your rear fans are largely drawing air from the venting which hasn't done any cooling work at all. I don't know how you could fix it. The X-QPack 2 and the microFly don't have great cooling but it's surely better than that.

.bh.

 

[JRyanBlack]

Thanks very much for your response ... I bought the TT Lanbox Lite based on reviews suggesting that it was ideal for high-powered rigs and touting its ventilation and ability to keep components cool, even specifically compared to the X-QPack 2 (or microfly, which, I guess is like the QPack1).

Essentially, this thing is supposed to be one of the better-cooled mATX boxes, but I'm so underwhelmed. Is it worthwhile to do some re-cabling (i.e., getting as many cables out of the way as possible) or re-seating (for example, re-applying AS5 to the blue orb ii)... can I expect that this would make a difference, or am I just expecting too much from a little space?

Not being able to sleep much (insomnia thinking about how I spent a day taking my old computer apart and putting the case together, coupled with the expense, coupled with the surprisingly poor results), I came up with the following possible solutions:
- get a modular power supply (i've really tucked the unused cables away well, but this would reduce some clutter)
- re-do the Blue Orb II and re-apply the AS5
- replace the rear 60mm fans with silenx ones (the fins on the thermaltake fans that come with the case
are really tiny, it makes me think that it can't push very much air)
- take the power supply out of the case (i'm sure I could rig something up), which could possibly allow me to fit my Noctua back in there) or would, at least, keep that hot component outside of the case

Not sure what else I can try. Any suggestions? Where should I focus my efforts?

 

[Zepper]

I'd block off the extraneous venting on the right side of the rear (any not specifically used by your vid card - I used tranparent packaging tape on that stuff on my case) - the card slot plates and the holes above. Mount the PSU so the fan in it (assuming it's a 120mm or larger) aimed up instead of down (so the PSU doesn't compete with the CPU for air - case looks like it can mount PSU either way). Control the CPU fan yourself instead of allowing the mobo to do it (that alone might do it for getting the CPU temp down) - the mobo tries to keep the CPU safe, not optimally cool. Get a pair of 60 to 80mm fan adapters and mount a pair of 80mm fans on the rear instead of 60 mm (like this: http://www.techimo.com/photo/showphoto.php?photo=9079 ) - you'll need to cut away any restrictive grills for better flow. That honeycomb pattern is low restriction, but they left a bit too much metal between the combs. And maybe mount an intake fan to the inside of the venting on the left (add-on cards) side. The zip tie mounting method could be used to avoid drilling holes - see the pics of the orange Nexus fan in the SPCR review of the p180 if you don't know what I mean. Taking the front fan out and letting that act as a vent may actually be better than leaving the fan in.

AS5 may take up to several hundred hours to bed in (per their site) - you can see a couple of degrees drop from that assuming it was applied correctly (per directions at the AS web site) and all surfaces were fully cleaned. I've also heard that the heat spreaders on some of the Intel CPUs aren't flat - apparently the contact plate on one of the Thermalright HSFs was machined complementary to the curve in the Intel spreaders which engendered much confusion in the market. If that is the case, then AS5 shouldn't be used as the optimal layer is too thin to fill any significant gap. You might try AS Ceramique instead. Or there's always lapping...

I hope some of those ideas are helpful.

.bh.

 

[JRyanBlack]

Thanks very much for the suggestions, Zepper. I will likely block off many of the holes currently exposed on the back of the case, and packing tape sounds as good a suggestion as any! I've plugged the CPU fan directly into a MOLEX connector (which means it will be going at full blast, it's not too noisy so I'm not that concerned about controlling it) per your suggestion as well. I've taken apart the HTPC and re-applied AS5 to both the CPU and the northbridge (not sure what was under the northbridge before, but it was very "crusty"!). I'm also using cable ties to keep all of the cables out of the way as much as possible, already I can tell a difference between the amount of space available in the case before and after. I haven't quite put the rig together yet, but I will do so later today and I'll let you know how it goes. If the temperatures don't get any better, I'll try externalizing the PSU and mounting larger fans on the rear of the case (have plenty of zip ties!) instead of the 60mm fans that are currently there now.

If anyone else has any suggestions, I'd be pleased to hear them. If it gets pretty desperate, I'll post some pics of my rig so that you can all discuss what a terrible job I'm doing and how I can improve the thermal situation.

Oddly enough, CPU clock speed has little to do with my temperature issues. In my old case, my OC profile versus stock profile raised the CPU temperature by 15-20 degrees. The E6400's default clock is 2.16, and at that speed in my new case, I'm idling around 55c with a workload temperature of 65-70. At 2.66, I'm idling around 58 degrees with a workload temperature of 68-72, and at 3.2, I'm idling at around 60 degrees with a workload temperature of 72-75. I think it's more an issue of heat not being able to leave the case (Thus raising everything's temperature) more than it is an issue of my CPU running too hot. In my old case, I had it clocked to 3.2ghz and rarely saw temps over 60 and orthos stable, so I'm confident in my CPU's ability to overclock. But if I have to drop clock speed to make the heat of this thing bearable, I'm more than willing to do that.

 

[JRyanBlack]

Well, I'm typing on that very machine right now. Thanks for the help, Zepper. Not sure what worked, really. I bought some Nexus fans (1 92mm and 1 80mm), which are nice because they are quiet, push decent air, and come with rubber mounts that really reduce noise. After re-AS5'ing my CPU/NB chips, and re-cabling the box paying special attention to airflow, I mounted the 80mm fan as an "intake" fan on the window near the CPU (based on the assumption that it would be better to have fresh air come in near the CPU cooler and let the dual-60's in the back push it out) and the 92mm fan as an "outtake" fan on the window near the graphics card. I put those two fans on a Hardcano 12 fan controller (wow, I've got a total thermaltake case going here!) so that I can turn them down if they're noisy, but truthfully, they don't even make a whisper compared to the PSU.

Not only are my temperatures lower, but the case actually looks "roomier" on the inside now that I've focused on cable management. Overclocked CPU to 3.2ghz (from 2.16, no voltage increase) and it idles between 53 and 55 degrees. On load, it goes up to around 70. This is compared to 48 idle and 65 load on my old "huge" tower rig. I'm quite content.

I'm going to get the trusty tape out and block off the extra holes as you suggested, it can only help. For now, I haven't mounted an external fan, but in the summertime if this thing is too toasty, that will be my next idea.

Anyway, thanks for the help again! It was really useful.