Proposed fan cooling setup (possible dilemma)

[Overkast]

So here's my situation:

I'm buying a new P4 3.0c soon and I'm mounting a nice n' noisy 92mm Tornado on top of an SLK-900U HS. At top speed, a Tornado will move 113 cfm.

I also will have 5 80mm case fans that move 39 cfm each, and 2 PSU fans as well. Two 80mm fans will be used for front intake, and two 80mm's will be used for rear exhaust. The last remaining 80mm fan is a side-mounted fan.

Here is my situation and question to you all:

I'm not sure if I should make this side-mounted fan and intake or an exhaust fan. If I do make it an exhaust fan, I will have a total of 3 exhaust fans moving a combined total of 117 cfm. This would be great because I will be getting rid of the full 113 cfm that the 92mm Tornado is dishing out.

HOWEVER, if I make the side-mounted 80mm an intake fan, it will most likely be blowing air over my video card helping to keep it cool as well. But in this event, I will only be moving 78 cfm from my case, leaving an additional 39 cf of hot processor air in the system.

Although I will have 2 fans in my PSU, but I'm not sure how much cfm these puppies can move, and how effective they are in helping case-cooling. The PSU will be an Allied TRUEPOWER 450w.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[fredtam]

Put the side fan as exhaust. As long as you have the two intakes on the front it is more productive to get the heated air out.

 

[Peter D]

exhaust, if its an intake, it might interfere with the tornado's air flow

 

[Overkast]

Thanks dudez

 

[stevennoland]

Have you thought about water cooling? Depending on your case (and budget) it might be the answer.

 

[Overkast]

Yeah, I have. But I figure since Intel is gonna be gearing up for 64-bit development soon, the socket 478 will be outdated quicker than any watercooling kit I would buy right now.

So I figure I'll just make due with Heatsinks & fans for now. When it's time to upgrade the mobo and CPU in a few years, I'll probably score a 64-bit socket-compatible water cooling unit then.

 

[0roo0roo]

fans in series only help reach the max potential of single fan. it doesn't double.

do you need such excessive cooling if your not going to overclock? would seem like noise for no reason.

balance intake cfm with exhaust cfm and your ok for max flow efficiency.

 

[Overkast]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
fans in series only help reach the max potential of single fan. it doesn't double.

do you need such excessive cooling if your not going to overclock? would seem like noise for no reason.

balance intake cfm with exhaust cfm and your ok for max flow efficiency.

Well, not too sure. My concern is that I'm buying a P4 3.0c which emits alot of heat, and I'm getting a SLK-900U Heatsink. This combination worries me that I'm gonna have to channel alot of heat thru the system, and I figured the Tornado was the fan to help do the job.

No, I don't plan on overclocking, but I still want to make sure I can keep my system temps down at a reasonable operating temperature.

So you think even with this setup, I would be okay with just two 80mm intake fans and three 80mm exhaust fans, without a 92mm Heatsink-mounted fan???

I'm skeptikal about that.

 

[fredtam]

"No, I don't plan on overclocking, but I still want to make sure I can keep my system temps down at a reasonable operating temperature.

So you think even with this setup, I would be okay with just two 80mm intake fans and three 80mm exhaust fans, without a 92mm Heatsink-mounted fan???

I'm skeptikal about that."

If keeping your sytsem at a reasonable operating temp is your only concern and you have no plans to overclock the stock heatsink fan will do fine. Intel puts plenty of research into making sure their fans are not the cause of chip failure. The heatsink fan that comes with a 3.0 is very efficient. The few degrees you may drop with the SlK-900
and a tornado is not going to make your system last longer or perform better. Those few degrees would only help you push an overclock further before instability due to heat became an issue. Provided you have balanced and efficient airflow throughout the rest of the system as 0roo0roo pointed out the stock fan will be fine. The bling effect is a different story. If you want the SLK-900 and a Tornado for the looks and bragging rights you may have with your temps 3-5 degrees below stock cooling then by all means buy it.

 

[Overkast]

Thanks for the advice. Makes sense.

I really don't care about bragging rights at all. I don't need to brag... all I want is to make sure my processor gets a nice & cool environment to operate in because I'm in this for the long haul.

I was considering overclocking my CPU for a while now, but I realized that I want my chip to last longer than a few months... So I don't think OC'ing is the way to go for me. I'll settle for the stock stuff I guess.