New computer cooling...

[bentz626]

I'm just about to fire up this bad boy as soon as I get my 3.0 P4 in later today. I'm not really worried bout it overheating, but I'm new at this stuff and I wanna ask you guys if my air flow is good enough to run this computer safely.

Here is a diagram of my setup. I used ms paint, hope you guys can understand it.

Here

The black circle is a pretty good 80 mm fan pointed right at the motherboard, it blows more air then the other 80mm fans mounted on the back of the case. It is mounted on the side of the case. Is that one fan enough intake to be used? Let me know if you have any sugestions, advice, or pointers for me. Thanks!!!

Geoff

 

[akira34]

Did you mod the PSU to vent it's HOT air into the computer??? If you did, undo what you did. It's NOT a good idea to do that.

 

[bentz626]

I did not mod it, I may be confused...there is a small 80mm fan torwards the cd drive and a large 120mm fan pointing down, I'm not really sure which one is the exhaust fan...I wasn't able to start the power supply yet. I read somewhere some ATX power supplies point the exhaust down to try and cool the cpu more. I figured if the exhaust is facing down the exhaust will absically get sucked throught he 2 80mm fans on the back of the case.

geoff

 

[akira34]

Any ATX PSU worth a damn is pulling air from inside the case and venting it out the back. If the PSU you're looking to get doesn't do that, then don't get it.

 

[bentz626]

I think I'm completley wrong in my diagram, both fans on the psu suck air in and empty out the back...sorry

in that case would it be enough cooling for this machine? thanks for the replies.

geoff

I updated the diagram

 

[akira34]

Make double sure that there's plenty of room under the case for air intake (at least an inch plus) for the bottom fan. I do think you'll have some issue with the side fan pushing/pulling more air than the exhaust fans will. If anything, control the speed of that fan to slow it down. You can also try ducting to the processor cooler to put cool/outside air directly to the heatsink.

 

[bentz626]

Is it better to have exhaust or intake? I figure I have a 4 exhaust fans and only 2 intake fans. I jsut don't want too much exhaust where it will pull the cold intake air out.

Can I actually just make a ducting that goes right to the heatsink? won't that raise the temperature of the overall internals of the case having that fan go right to the cpu? Does the heatsink fan suck or blow air?

thanks

 

[akira34]

WIth as many exhaust fans as you have, ducting the side panel should provide for cooler air to the processor heatsink. An alternate method would be to install a cooler that works just as well with the air being pulled off of it (like the XP-90 and XP-120) and then ducting that to the outside directly.

Don't count the PSU fans as part of your exhaust system for hot air. What make/model fans are you using in the case? What case are you using? What case you use DOES make a difference when it comes to keeping your computer cool/running well (more than most would think). Did the case come with the intake fan spot on the bottom of the case? I'm not familiar with any cases that do that from the factory. Most (or all I've seen) have intake spots facing front, not down, to get the maximum amount of air pushing into the case. Even if they have intake holes (for air intake) on the bottom of the case, the fans are vertical (helps to direct the air into the case).

Also, having little space under the case, with the intake fan on the bottom of the case, will have a restricting effect for the intake. It will be like trying to drink a keg through a mixed drink straw... Eventually you'll get it all, but it will take a hell of a lot more effort than it should have if you had just used a glass/mug.

 

[bentz626]

I have to take pics of my setup, it's way too hard to describe it in words and it will definitely be too long. I will post up pics hopefully later today or tomorrow. I appreciate your help and replies.

Geoff