Pushing or pulling?

[MentholWi]

Ok... I have a couple of questions..

I have a LianLi PC60 with 2 fans in front and 1 in back..

Running a P4 3.0GHz and it runs at 60C. On a MSI NEO FIS2r mobo

First of all the case seems kinda warm and mbm5 shows kinda high temps.

Should the two fans in the front be sucking air in or pushing it out? The back one, sucking or pushing?
I have 3 fans (Antec Smartfans Temp controlled) at home that I intend to replace the stock ones with.

The P4 seems to run a bit hot 58C - 60C should I look for a better HSF? in that case what? I don't mind dropping $$ on someting good. I don't want exessive noise (intel stock is ok when it comes to noise) and I do not want watercooling... too much of a hassel.


I guess that was basicly the issues i have.. ie. It's running hot even when it should not!

 

[nick1985]

front suck in, back suck out

 

[LokiX]

Originally posted by: nick1985
front suck in, back suck out

that?s it. and it has been my experience that it is better to have more air being pulled out than being pulled in other wise you get a lot of hot air sitting stagnant inside the case because the rear fan cannot move it out fast enough.

 

[LokiX]

|)@/\/\|\| double posts

 

[magratton]

Hmmm.. can anyone attest to this? I just changed my side fan to blow in (along with 2 front fans). So all in all I have 3x80mm in -> 1-80mm out. Good? Bad? Ugly?

 

[yourdeardaniel]

i have 2 front intake, 1 blow hole, 2 side intake, and 2 exhaust fans.
but i had to change the top side intake to suck out hot air becuz the stock intel HSF with my p4 2.8c doesn't blow on the heatsink but sucks air out. i don't like the design.

 

[MDE]

Normally, air comes into the front and\or side and out the back and\or top (blowhole).

 

[MentholWi]

Originally posted by: LokiX

Originally posted by: nick1985
front suck in, back suck out

that?s it. and it has been my experience that it is better to have more air being pulled out than being pulled in other wise you get a lot of hot air sitting stagnant inside the case because the rear fan cannot move it out fast enough.

Wait a minute... I have more air going in than is pulled out..! I have 2x80mm in front sucking air in... and 1 80mm pushing air out.

Then on top of that I have the PSU that has fan underneath it god knows what way that one is going.....

All I know that my case is 37C (98F) cpu is 59C (136F) Northbridgefan is doing 5918rpm's and cpu fan (stock intel) is doing 3245rpm's.

And somehow I dont feel good about it.... Mind that the cpu is not OC'd at all..

 

[GnomeCop]

The lian li cases seem to have alright intake that cools the HDs very well, unfortunately the intake air isn't that cool once it reaches the CPU.

I have a PC6070B (really bad intake) and had about the same temps as you, under load. Once I added a 92mm side intake hole in my side panel. my temps dropped to 30c idle and 47 load.
I use a really weak peltier cooler though.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

It would depend on the specific case and fan design, but the flow rate of most axial fans drops off drastically once pressure differentials are involved. Therefore the better balanced a system is, the better all the fans will flow.

At the same time, you want to direct the airflow around the CPU as best as possible. This means using a PSU that has a downward facing fan that sucks air into the PSU, and a rear fan that exhausts air to the outside. Also, another separate rear fan is important (of course, pretty much everyone has one of those).

In general, I believe it is better to have more fans exhausting air than sucking it in, but that would probably depend on exactly where the case holes and fans are located. If you have more air entering the case than exiting, you will florce air out all of your little air holes. If you have more fans blowing air out of the case than in, you will suck in air where the little holes are. You may want to adjust things depending on the location of the air holes, but in general the better you can balance the CFM on your intake and exhaust fans, the better the system should perform.

Oh yeah, and you also want to try and maintain a consistent direction of airflow. Don't put one intake and one exhaust on the back, and another intake and exhaust on the front. If you can setup your fans to guide the air in a single direction, you should do pretty well to keep temps down.

-D'oh!

 

[Tango57]

Originally posted by: MentholWi

Originally posted by: LokiX

Originally posted by: nick1985
front suck in, back suck out

that?s it. and it has been my experience that it is better to have more air being pulled out than being pulled in other wise you get a lot of hot air sitting stagnant inside the case because the rear fan cannot move it out fast enough.

Wait a minute... I have more air going in than is pulled out..! I have 2x80mm in front sucking air in... and 1 80mm pushing air out.

Then on top of that I have the PSU that has fan underneath it god knows what way that one is going.....

All I know that my case is 37C (98F) cpu is 59C (136F) Northbridgefan is doing 5918rpm's and cpu fan (stock intel) is doing 3245rpm's.

And somehow I dont feel good about it.... Mind that the cpu is not OC'd at all..

i have the same exact lian li case as you do. i don't know why but for some reasons my case also reaches high temps and i have trouble keeping my mobile 2600+ cool. my cpu runs at about 38-42 idle and 51-52 at full load. my ambient case temps are usually 1-2 degrees lower than these numbers. i have 2 front intake fans and 1 rear outake. i'm thinking about modifying the case and installing a 2nd rear outake just below the rear fan. i'm also switching to watercooling this week. your case also has a vent on the top. there are 4 screw holes on the corners of the vent so you can attach an 80 mm fan for either intake or outake. i have mine as an outake fan. this helps draw hot air out of the top of the case that collects near the psu and cpu since as we all know hot air tends to rise so it will facilitate the venting of this hot air and hopefully lower your case/cpu temps.

 

[0roo0roo]

frontintake, rear exhaust. some prettier cases have more restrictive fan grates. makes the case hotter. the less in the way, the better the flow. pretty obvious, but its also because those kind of fans don't really do well against obstructions or back pressure.

 

[Electroz]

Is the processor a "C" or an "E"?

 

[magratton]

59C CPU? Yeah, I would be worried too. I have 3 in (2 front, 1 side) and one out (out the back). I also put my Vantec Tornado 92mm on it's own power cable and BLAMO! That thing is loud! But man is my OC'd Mobile 2500 running cool. I also rearranged the wiring and moved the HD to be above the 2 front intake fans instead of directly infront of them. Case and CPU both dropped 4C. I will move the side fan back to being out facing and see if temps change. I think I will also get a speed control on that vantec... wicked loud!

 

[MentholWi]

Originally posted by: Electroz
Is the processor a "C" or an "E"?

I'll have to check it out......

And I do not have readymade blowhole on the top... maybe I should take the dremel to it?

Shame to cut the nice case.......

So the concensus is more fans!! and suck more air out than is going in?

Dang... and I thougt this would be a cakewalk.. and out comes the dremel.

You don't think any kind of ducting mod might help? Or a better HSF?

 

[AsiLuc]

The PSU draws air from the case to the outside.
I believe an intake fan directly above the CPU is quite efficient. If the noise is killing you, switch the fans to 7 volts instead of 12. If you don't know how it's done, tell us, we'll tell ya.
Maybe there's so much airflow your cpufan doesn't get a good chance to draw some air to himself.
Remember one thing: Imagine how the air would move, and what's efficient. You've always got your PSU that's drawing.
Good luck!

 

[beatle]

Originally posted by: AsiLuc
I believe an intake fan directly above the CPU is quite efficient.

Absolutely. I've done this to 3 systems and all showed a HUGE decrease in cpu temps (7-10C). I've even unplugged one of the cpu fans in my duallie because the cpu sits underneath an 80mm Panaflo L1a.

 

[AsiLuc]

Thanks for the confirmation Beatle, since I've never tested my theory, but thanks to you I know it's right. I'll incorporate it in my next case.
Also, I have the idea that front-intake isn't very efficient because of the awkward airflow, what do you think?
Maybe if you take out the slotcovers it'll help your videocard.

 

[magratton]

I have to say I have 4 in (PSU, 1 side, 2 front) and 1 out (back) on my Kingwin case and my temps are very cool. Using speedfan I am registering at 17C mobo and 37C cpu idle and 20C/43C under load (Prime95 High FFTs). I also spent some time last night cleaning up my case, tying my unused cables and storing them up high, rearranging my used cables to be as close to the back plate as possible, moving my HD above my two front intakes instead of directly infront of them. Has made a diff of a few degrees.

Edit: UGH! Already posted on this thread... BAH!

 

[MentholWi]

I bypassed the thermal thingy on the Antec fans now... no real change in temps. all the cables are rounded or sleeved already.

The comp "is" in a kindof airflow restricting place.. front and back are free but sides only have like 4 inches room per side. The back is facing a wall too. about 5 inches from it.

The ambient temp hovers around 70F.

The fan-guards in the back are already cut out but the front one has the LianLi filter on it.. (can't take taht out.. too much cat hair from my kitty might get in.)

Oh and the cpu is a C rev. 800 FSB

 

[0roo0roo]

5" isn't restrictive at all. just make sure all your cables are rounded, or folded oragami style so they sdon't block airflow, zip tie the rest of your power cables etc out of the way. cpu cooler relies on case air to cool, so the cooler the case air, the better. but still... theres also only so much a cooler can do. if you buy a cpu cooler with higher efficienciy, then you'll get lower cpu temps, otherwise making your case a wind tunnel might not make that much of a difference if ur cooler is not that great. blow holes are intereting, effective, but noisy and potentially dangerous... spills will go straight into your case.

 

[ku]

Something is wrong with your case! 39C for a case temp is horrible... my cpu was cooler than that on full load -_-.

The basic setup is have front/side as intake and back/top as out. Don't even count the PSU fan. Also, it's easier for fans to pull than at it is to push... so if need be, put more fans blowing out than blowing in (that is, if you can't get equivelent amount of airflow both in and out).

You should really look into your case temp which is indefinately the reason why your CPU is running so hot. With those case temps, a new heatsink won't help. Make sure you don't put the computer next to a heater or anything... and if anyting... put it next to a window, preferably one with a fan or A/C =D.

 

[0roo0roo]

well even with those case temps, a new heatsink would still help, but not that much since its still being fed hot air. my case temp is 29c right now. hd's are 27c. and i have 4 7200rpm hd's and all pci/agp filled to boot. chieftec dragon style case. 2 front intake, 2 rear exhaust, one side intake. and all fan speed controlled to a level where all i hear is the hd's

I have 3 fans (Antec Smartfans Temp controlled) at home that I intend to replace the stock ones with.

auto temp control is really a joke unless the entire system is engineered together. else the speeds at which rpms are increased are rather arbitrary and excessive. they don't change in small increments, but jump after large threshholds. best to control your own fans.

pic of my case, with metal fan grills cut out for better flow
http://fox302.com/index.pl?s=vf&user=oroo&category=Case&file=casesansgrillfront2.jpg

 

[Tiamat]

I have the PC61 and in order to help with temps, i had to mod a blow hole into the top of the case. Im not sure if you have access to a machine shop, but after I dremel'd out the rivots holding the roof of the case on, i took it to the shop and cut a 120mm hole using a circle cutting attachment for the Bridgeport. The 120mm exhaust helped immensely.