My little cooling / case issue (I need some help)...

[Tachion]

I just moved all the components of my computer from an enormous full tower to a mid tower (much nicer) and everything is good except for one thing... the airflow.

Last night my CPU hit 50C (P4 3.0ghz) while in the other case it barely ever broke 40C. No problem, right? Well, in order to keep the CPU "cool" at 50C the CPU fan speed automatically speeds itself up to a whopping 4000+ RPMs which is, needless to say, very very loud.

I need to know what my options are here. I either need to replace the 5 case fans that my case has with something that will get more air moving, or (more likely) get a new HS and fan for my CPU (it currently uses the stock one). If I get a new HS/Fan, it will need to be able to keep the CPU cooler but also be more quiet than the one I currently have when it's tunning at the 4000+ RPMs.

Any ideas?

 

[GAZZA]

Obvously the size of the new case is restricting airflow.
What is the new case that you are now using and how many of the case fans do you have bringing air into the case ?
What size fans are you using and are they the same fans you used in the full-tower ?

 

[Tachion]

I went from a Lian-Li PC-75 to a Lian-Li PC-82. The fans are .12a 12v brushless. I am pretty sure they are the same ones the bigger case had. There are 2 fans on the front of the case taking air in, 2 fans on the back taking air out and 1 fan on the top taking air out. I believe they are all the standard 80mm fan size.

 

[Tachion]

I don't care whether I have to get new case fans or a new HS/Fan for the CPU, I just want it to be at a reasonable noise level.

The CPU fan seriously sounds llike a model airplane when it gets up the 4000 RPMs.

 

[0roo0roo]

slk900 + 120mm fan

cut several 120mm holesand install 120mm panaflos

 

[Tachion]

Suppose I water cool the CPU only... how much money am I looking at spending and how much space would I need inside the case?

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
slk900 + 120mm fan

cut several 120mm holesand install 120mm panaflos

even one 92 mm fan in the side of the case will help
i have one tower i put a 120 mm fan on the right top side blowing out,and a 92 in the side cover;about where the cpu area is,blowing in,i dropped my temps about 7c.

i am running the 120 and the 92 at 7 volts to cut down the noise

 

[GAZZA]

Originally posted by: Tachion
Suppose I water cool the CPU only... how much money am I looking at spending and how much space would I need inside the case?

For a decent water cooling setup that is reliable your looking at possibly $150 and will need a good amount of room for the pump/radiator, unless you mount the radiator externally.
So you might be better off using the SLK 800/900 and 120mm combo will be a cheaper option.

Just a thought , did you remove the heatsink off the cpu when you switched cases at all ?
I'm just wondering if the thermal interface pad is allowing your heatsink to sit correctly or if your using a better thermal compound such as Artic Silver III did you clean up the hs and cpu and then reapply it ?

 

[Davegod]

looking at the pics of the first Lian-Li PC-82 review I came to, I dont see why cooling should be any problem for that case, two intakes and one outtake+psu outtake. One thing i did notice is the rear fan hole seems very constricted, if i was going to do any modding on the case it would simply be to cut out the case-cut "fan guard" and replace with a normal wire one. i gather that case-cut guard design is standard to lianli though, and not many people seem to have problems with their cases. "the 5 case fans that my case has" - where are the other 2 fans??

then i came accross a review of the pc-75 and errrrr i can see why that case had better cooling! 4 outtakes + blowhole + psu??

going on that I would consider replacing your exhaust fan with something a bit quicker, and/or consider cutting out the case-cut fan guard to ease the restriction (half of the fan hole seems to be covered up). I'm not sure if there's room for more modding to enable a 120mm or a 2nd 80mm fans for exhaust.

50C I dont consider any problem though tbh, you may be able to simply set your BIOS to not increase the rpm until a higher temperature is reached.

 

[mechBgon]

Yeah, definitely remove the inner fan grille depicted here, and cut the outer fan grille out of the case's rear panel (a hand-held fine-tooth hacksaw blade should do the job, then clean up with a half-round file). Use a chromed wire grille on the rear in its place. The reduced restriction will help a lot, like Davegod said. Good luck!

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Tachion
Suppose I water cool the CPU only... how much money am I looking at spending and how much space would I need inside the case?

water cooling relies on fans blowing over a radiator to cool water. the more space the better, in other words, external radiator is best. not to mention having the radiator inside the case would be silly anyhow, you want heat to be moved outside, not just away from the cpu into the case. bigger radiator the better.