Tuniq Tower with Lian Li PC-A10B?

[Sczee]

Hi,

I'm all set to buy my new computer except for the CPU Cooler. The case I'm going to get is the Lian Li PC-A10B - http://www.lian-li.com/Product/Chassis/...ower/Classical_Series/M_C_S_PC-A10.htm and I'm getting an Asus P5B Deluxe motherboard with an E6600. I was planning to get a Tuniq Tower but I have read on other forums that the only possible way to orientate the cooler is for it to blow up (out the top of the case) or down (on to the expansion cards). I assume the fan housing at the top of the case causes this restriction

The best of these two options obviously seems to be having the fan in the cooler blowing out the top of the case, I therefore would have to turn around the case fan to blow up not down (down is the default configuration) otherwise the airflows would collide (I'm assuming that would be bad). This isn't a problem, but it would leave me with 3 fans blowing air out of the system and only one fan blowing air in (see the diagram part way down the page in the link above and imagine the top fan is blowing up not down). And that one fan is in the lower compartment so wont produce much airflow around the main components anyway. I have basically no experience in setting up fans in a case (I have never built a computer before or even modified one - Macs and Laptops...) but I would think that having 3 fans blowing out of the case and practically none blowing in is not a good way to cool your system. Sure, some air might be sucked in from gaps and such but I doubt it would be as good as having a dedicated intake fan (in the upper compartment).

If I'm right and this would screw up the airflow severely, does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix it? I could always get a different cooler I suppose. I like the Zalman 9700 (if only for its looks) but it costs more and has worse performance so I'd rather stick with the Tuniq Tower if it can be used effectively. I guess I could always remove the top case fan, the Tuniq might fit in the proper orientation then. Does anyone know if this would work? Or if it would be wise to remove the top case fan?

So what I'm asking is that will turning the top case fan around to blow out not in, screw up the airflow enough to raise temperatures? And if it will is it possible to fix it? If this is not possible could someone recommend a cooler which would fit positioned so the fan blows from the front to the back.

Also while I'm writing, could someone confirm that the Tuniq Tower (or any other cooler you recommend) fits nicely on the P5B Deluxe.

Thanks

 

[ShockwaveVT]

Plan A
flip the rear fan to be an intake,
flip the top fan to be an exhaust,
aim the airflow from your Tuniq up towards the exhaust fan,
check temps, if extremely high, check Tuniq install (proper thermal compound application, etc) if high temps persist see plan B


plan B
purchase Lian Li 5.25" bay converter (3 5.25" to 4 HDD + 120mm intake fan) and install
leave rear fan as exhaust
remove top fan to create clearance for Tuniq
aim Tuniq towards rear exhaust fan

 

[Sczee]

Is this the bay converter you mean - http://www.lian-li.com/Product/Accessories/HDD_Kits.htm - the EX-34B?. I assume you mount the black part (has the fan in it) towards the front of the case so the hard drive bays are accessible from the inside of the case.

I think it might be a good idea to get this bay converter + fan whether I choose method A or B (from your ideas). Which do you think is the best method of the two? and do you know whether the tuniq tower would fit with the fan aimed backwards even if I remove the top case fan?

Thanks

 

[mwhals]

Yes, you install the black part out and the part number is an EX-34 (silver) or EX-34B (black).

I think the incoming air is better from the top fan, because it won't be pulling through a filter and the front of the case like the EX-34. I would leave it stock and then install an EX-34 above the floppy drive bezel.

 

[Sczee]

Originally posted by: mwhals
Yes, you install the black part out and the part number is an EX-34 (silver) or EX-34B (black).

I think the incoming air is better from the top fan, because it won't be pulling through a filter and the front of the case like the EX-34. I would do Option A and then install an EX-34 above the floppy drive bezel.

Um with option A the top case fan is an exhaust not an intake. My only problem with option A is that the fan mounted above the expansion cards (the patented fan shown in the diagram in my first post) will be blowing out the back while the fan on the rear of the case will be a intake. I'm worried that these two opposite airflows would cause excess turbulence and thus more noise and less cooling.

If that is not a problem then Option A does sound like the best plan, but I think it would be a problem so I think plan B is the better idea as long as the tuniq tower will fit with the fan blowing backwards.

 

[ShockwaveVT]

yeah having a direct front-to-back airflow is probably the way to go, I picked up one of those EX-34 bay converters just to have a better intake path for the video card area

Note that the plates dividing up the 5.25" stack in the PC-A10 are removable with a bit of effort. there's a couple screws that cant be accessed with a normal screwdriver - I ended up using a screwdriver bit held in a pair of pliers. If you leave the dividers in you can only mount the EX-34 in the center 3 bays of the stack. Since you are going for CPU airflow the center stack should be OK

I ended up taking out the bottom plate to get the EX-34 in the bottom 3 bays so it was more aligned with the GPU slots.

 

[Sczee]

Originally posted by: ShockwaveVT
yeah having a direct front-to-back airflow is probably the way to go, I picked up one of those EX-34 bay converters just to have a better intake path for the video card area

Note that the plates dividing up the 5.25" stack in the PC-A10 are removable with a bit of effort. there's a couple screws that cant be accessed with a normal screwdriver - I ended up using a screwdriver bit held in a pair of pliers. If you leave the dividers in you can only mount the EX-34 in the center 3 bays of the stack. Since you are going for CPU airflow the center stack should be OK

I ended up taking out the bottom plate to get the EX-34 in the bottom 3 bays so it was more aligned with the GPU slots.

Do you have the Tuniq Tower? If you do can you say whether or not it is possible to mount it so that it blows air from the front to the back by removing the top case fan?

Cheers

 

[Sczee]

Problem solved I think. I've decided I don't really need the space of the PC-A10 so I'm going to get the PC-B20B instead - http://www.lian-li.com/Product/Chassis/...ower/Classical_Silent/M_C_S_PC-B20.htm

This design has more room above the cpu socket than the PC-A10 and looking at post #16 in this thread - http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1127598&highlight=pc-b20 , I'm pretty sure the Tuniq Tower will fit in the proper orientation. The Tuniq is only 11mm longer (vertical length but you can't call it height) than the fan on the Ninja shown in the first picture and I'm pretty sure there is more than a 11mm gap in the picture.

I will also have to turn around the fan on the rear of the case so it blows out but that shouldn't be a problem.

Can anyone see anything wrong with this?

 

[Woofmeister]

Sorry to go off topic here but Shockwave, would you be so kind as to measure the clearance behind the door on your A10?

See this thread.

Perhaps you could PM me with the measurements so we don't hijack Sczee's thread.