Just how important is good case air flow?

[RussianSensation]

Victim: Your basic case - Thermaltake Soprano

Features: 2x120mm fans (1 intake, 1 exhaust) & 92 mm fan on side window (exhaust)

Setup: Q6600 @ 3.4ghz on DS3L + Tuniq Tower 120 w TX2 thermal paste & 8800GTS 320




Head to Head: Front Panel Closed (Max) vs. Front Panel Open (Value)

Temperatures at 100% cpu load w BOINC
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Northbridge: 47*C vs. 39*C (-8*C)

CPU Core 0: 63*C vs. 55*C (-8*C)
CPU Core 2: 59*C vs. 49*C (-10*C)
CPU Core 3: 60*C vs. 50*C (-10*C)
CPU Core 1: 60*C vs. 51*C (-9*C)

8800GTS GPU: 67*C vs. 52*C (-15*C @ idle mode)

Samsung 400GB SATAII: 26*C vs. 23*C (-3*C)
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Thoughts: Here I was thinking to myself that 60*C loads with a 3.4ghz Q6600, cooled by one of the top heatsinks, was pretty good -- completely failing to comprehend the importance of good case airflow....



EDIT: oops, probably should have put this in Cases and Cooling. (mods feel free to move this)