Removing Side Panel and having fan blow inside computer...

tjmaxwell

Golden Member
Dec 17, 2001
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Hi all,

I have an SLI rig that's running really hot (FX-55: 70-75C under load). It's also a fairly loud rig as you might expect with two GeForce 6800GTs. Anyway, my desk is currently up against the back wall in my basement. On the other side of the wall is our laundry/storage room. Rather than spend a ton of money on expensive heatsinks/fans or a watercooling setup, I was thinking of putting the machine in the storage room, leaving the side panel off, and having a table fan blow on it 24/7. I tried putting a fan on the floor blowing on my computer for about 10 minutes last night, and all the temps dropped like 15C almost immediately. Not only would this cool the machine much better, but it would also eliminate the fan noise. This would also be very easy for me to set up, but I'd probably end up leaving the machine on all the time.

So, the obvious question is whether or not there are any implications with this setup. As long as I was careful to blow out dust on a regular basis, are there any other problems with a setup like this?
 

Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
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As long as you keep the dust out, and don't let anything fall on or get into the case, you should be OK...
 

BentValve

Diamond Member
Dec 26, 2001
4,190
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75c under load is too hot for the FX55 as far as I know...the GTs might get up to 73C or so but should not see much higher.


What kind of cooling are you using on your FX55?
 

SagaLore

Elite Member
Dec 18, 2001
24,036
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If the temp dropped like that, then it sounds like your ambient temperature is a problem. Do you have a fan in the front of the case bringing fresh air in? Does the air from your power supply exhaust away from the case or is it in a tight space where it ends up recycling the hot air?

Oh... based on your image, you (may) have two exhaust fans in the back. Make sure they are pointing out and not in. Since you don't have any vents in the front, my guess is that there is an air intake at the bottom of the panel. I would either put a fan there if there isn't one already, or move 1 of those back fans to the front.

If your two exhaust fans are already blowing out, you still need at least 1 fan blowing in at the front, to get air to flow in front of the geforce cards. If not enough air is getting back into the case from the front, all that hot air going out the top back may be coming back into the bottom back where the geforce coolers pull their air.

My case doesn't have any extra fans, except for one that is built right into the side panel. It's almost directly above the cpu and fairly close to the agp slot. It's not high powered but it makes a huge difference.
 

tjmaxwell

Golden Member
Dec 17, 2001
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Thanks for the advice.

The lighted area behind the small triangle in the image is a huge fan blowing cool air on the hard drives. There are indeed two rear fans blowing outward along with the power supply. The video card temperatures are about 50C idle, up to about 60C under load. From what I've read, this is pretty normal. For some reason, the video cards are reporting the ambient temp at something like 76C idle which is obviously ridiculous. I took of the side panel and felt the air inside and it didn't feel remotely warm. The cooler I'm using to cool the processor is a Zalman 7000a.
 

SagaLore

Elite Member
Dec 18, 2001
24,036
21
81
Originally posted by: tjmaxwell
Thanks for the advice.

The lighted area behind the small triangle in the image is a huge fan blowing cool air on the hard drives. There are indeed two rear fans blowing outward along with the power supply. The video card temperatures are about 50C idle, up to about 60C under load. From what I've read, this is pretty normal. For some reason, the video cards are reporting the ambient temp at something like 76C idle which is obviously ridiculous. I took of the side panel and felt the air inside and it didn't feel remotely warm. The cooler I'm using to cool the processor is a Zalman 7000a.

Is the thermal sensor on the video card getting directly blown on by the air from the cpu's heatsink?

I'd just move one of those exhaust fans or add a small fan to the front just to help bring in cool air, since you already have 3 (1 is the ps) going out and creating a vacuum. Sounds like you don't really need to open it up?

But back to your original question, no I don't think keeping it open will be a problem. Many people leave their cases like that open - and unless you had some kind of air filter in the front, it won't add any more dust to the inside of the case as before...
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
Don't the 6800GT's have those huge coolers that vent hot air directly to the outside of the case? If not, maybe that'd be something to consider buying. I'm kind of surprised that that cooling arrangement isn't enough. I do wonder though if the single intake is enough to balance out the multiple exhausts.
 

JBDan

Platinum Member
Dec 7, 2004
2,333
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Originally posted by: SagaLore
Originally posted by: tjmaxwell
Thanks for the advice.

The lighted area behind the small triangle in the image is a huge fan blowing cool air on the hard drives. There are indeed two rear fans blowing outward along with the power supply. The video card temperatures are about 50C idle, up to about 60C under load. From what I've read, this is pretty normal. For some reason, the video cards are reporting the ambient temp at something like 76C idle which is obviously ridiculous. I took of the side panel and felt the air inside and it didn't feel remotely warm. The cooler I'm using to cool the processor is a Zalman 7000a.

Is the thermal sensor on the video card getting directly blown on by the air from the cpu's heatsink?

I'd just move one of those exhaust fans or add a small fan to the front just to help bring in cool air, since you already have 3 (1 is the ps) going out and creating a vacuum. Sounds like you don't really need to open it up?

But back to your original question, no I don't think keeping it open will be a problem. Many people leave their cases like that open - and unless you had some kind of air filter in the front, it won't add any more dust to the inside of the case as before...

Only thing I can think of is that that "storage room" you plan on putting it in will get awefully warm after your pc has been running especially if you are oc'ing and being under load for hours at a time. Vent that room if possible or your just blowing hot air onto your pc.