Ixnay on the front-back-fans-ay?

[Audiophile1980]

My experience over the years lines up perfectly with this article. The two backs fans are good. Front fans, side fans what a load of crap. They do more harm than good.

 

[rperezlo]

I think the exhaust on top of the case and two intakes is a good solution for temperatures. I have not tried it because my case doesn't have a top hole, but the CD opening worked great without a fan, so that a top hole with a fan should be a lot better. You should put a filter in the rear intake to avoid dust coming into the computer (I assume you already have placed one filter in the front intake, don't you?). More fans is probably overkill, but it depends on a number of factors (case, internal setup, even the placement of the computer) so that you may have to try a couple of setups before finding the best one for you. A fan controller helps a lot for this, or at least avoids a lot of case openings just to adjust speeds and connect / disconnect fans.

Regarding GPU temps, for nVidia GPUs that have temperature sensors you can check in the control panel (after some tweaking), but I don't know for ATI. If your GPU doesn't have a temperature sensor you may be able to use the Power Temp header if your MB has one, or obviously a temp sensor in your fan controller.

 

[Wex]

Thanks for the help. Right now my CPU temp is in the 43+ which I personally dont like. Two sets of 2 80mm intake fans and a 120mm exhaust sounds good to me. Ill try it.

 

[xbassman]

Originally posted by: Wex
Thanks for the help. Right now my CPU temp is in the 43+ which i personally dont like. Two sets of 2 80mm fans and i 120mm exhaust sounds good to me. Ill try it.

Wex.....I assume 43C is idle temp, but no matter what processor you have you don't have anything to worry about. Don't worry about temps unless you start getting above 60C or start having instability. Trust me after a short time you will not want that many fans running. The VGA Silencer will bring down your system temp a couple of degrees because your GPU creates a hot spot (ATX flaw) and that air will be exhausted.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: xbassman
Here's a quote from AMD's thermal guidelines:

A front cooling fan is not essential. In some extreme
situations, testing has actually shown that these fans can
recirculate hot air rather than introducing cool air.

this I know to be true, I took some of that cheap sticky backed foam from hobby lobby and covered all the holes in the front of my case behind the front cover (except for the 2 80mm's), and it reduced my case temps (north bridge temp probe) by 3 degrees Celsius. (note that hot air can't recirculate now, all air entering my case comes in through the front slit on the bottom of the front panel. (plus the tiny holes around the pci slot covers)

edit: forgot to mention when I covered up the holes I also modded all 5 case fans to 7V, it now cools better and is way easier on the ears.

 

[PliotronX]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Should be 'Ixnay on the rontfay-ackbay ansfay'! 😉
..bh

Here, have a :beer: !

You got the latter part correct (rontfay should be ontfray though), but Ixnay should be ickSnay, meaning "to snick" or to cut from the equation :beer:😛

This article breaks the mold of the oft-used for marketing theory that more fans = bett4r. Good posts guys 😎

 

[rperezlo]

Wex... You have to choose between noise and temperature. With different configurations of my fan controller I can set the computer to idle from 40 C (all fans at maximum, noisy) to 55 C (only CPU fan at 2000 rpm. very very quiet), so that I've chosen to let it idle around 50 C (CPU at 1500 rpm, exhaust at 600 rpm). I don't want it to idle cooler, I prefer silence, but that is your choice. In any case, 43 C is not hot at all.

lobadobadingdong... You can trace where air enters your computer by the dust. If you can see dust in the gap between the PCI cards and the case slots then the case is very well sealed and the air enters through that tiny space. Just make sure you have your front panel intake filter clean.

 

[Wex]

Im not a quiet PC Freak, but i dont wat it too loud..as in regular talking voice "loud"...

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

Originally posted by: PliotronX

Originally posted by: Zepper
Should be 'Ixnay on the rontfay-ackbay ansfay'! 😉
..bh

Here, have a :beer: !

You got the latter part correct (rontfay should be ontfray though), but Ixnay should be ickSnay, meaning "to snick" or to cut from the equation :beer:😛

This article breaks the mold of the oft-used for marketing theory that more fans = bett4r. Good posts guys 😎

I think he's correct on Ixnay = Nix = nothing/veto

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=nix

I've never actually seen it as incksnay before, only as ixnay.

I'm from California, USA, so maybe it depends on where you are from.

Anyway, I'm currently running an Aopen H600 case, with one rear fan only. My case temps are usually around 30-35 and my CPU is 5C higher than that. Room temp is usually between 20-25C I would guess (about 22 in my case when the computer boots). So, a single rear seems to work OK, but my next case I will add a front fan for HDD cooling (or maybe make a custom case with the intake vent going by the HDD's to cool them without a fan.

-D'oh!

 

[Tiamat]

For my Lianli PC61 case, after I placed a 120mm fan on the top, temps went down. My Optical drives were much cooler subjectively. CPU and Case Temp went down by 3-5C. When I had an Evercool on it at 12V, Temps were down 8C, Now i have a spare Antec blue LED fan on it and it helped about 3C. These temps were taken when a.) fan on top was removed, and cardboard was taped on top to cover hole. b.) fan was replaced onto the top of the case.

There are 2x 80mm panaflo at 9V in the front, and 1 80mm panaflo at 12V in the back. PSU is an old Enermax Whisper 350W powersupply with 92mm fan and 80mm fan.



For my Antec SuperLanBoy case: Getting rid of the front fan grille lowered temperatures by 4C.
When the Evercool 120mm in front is on 12V, temperature increases(2-3C) and noticeable amount of air comes out of cracks in case. Evercool at 6V is the optimal for temperature, and temps increase by ".5C" when Evercool is at 4-5V. The exhaust fan is the stock 120mm Antec clear fan usually at 12V. When teh Antec clear fan's voltage is lowered, temps go up for both cpu and mobo, and antec trueblue 480 fans rev up to 1900rpm usually. The increased temps are on the order of 2-4C.
Finally, the 92mm panaflo on my cpu HS. When at 6-7V, CPU hits "55C" and mobo temp hits "37C". This usually results in a not so happy/stable system. Even though AMD says 80C or whatever, for me its 55C.
Further, when the 92mm panaflo is at 9V, CPU hits "48C while mobo temp carries the same delta from the CPU temp. Also, when the 92mm is at 12V, CPU hits "44C".

On the bottom 5.25" bay, i have a Zalman heatpipe cooled Maxtor 160. Double stick taped to the dvd rom drive above, is an 80mm panaflo. This fan doesnt seem to affect cpu/mobo temps at all no matter the voltage, on or off. At 5-6V, the maxtor and Zalman setup get really hot, Id have to estimate the temperature in the high 40C arena. When teh Panaflo is 7-9V the temps drop significantly to "warm." At 12V, the HDD temperature is slightly warm, but warmer than the 74 Raptor which is suspended in front of the 120mm Evercool (4-6V)

Ambient temperature in my room is anywhere between 60F-78F.

 

[Wex]

Thank you for posting your results with various tests Tiamat. Strangely enough when i put my hd infront of one of my fans my CPU temps are now 39+... Case temps 30+.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: TiamatFor my Antec SuperLanBoy case: Getting rid of the front fan grille lowered temperatures by 4C.

Haha, I also removed the "waffle" grill from my Super LAN Boy case. Besides figuring reduced air flow and increased noise from air turbulence, my #1 reason for the removal was because I thought it didn't look that great. I put a silicone gasket behind the fan (I think made by Vantec) and a wire finger guard on front. IMO the case looks spiffier, runs cooler and is more quiet. Of course the first is just my opinion and the latter two have no numbers to back me up, but that's just my impression.