Very curious about temperatures in a case

[GZFant]

I have a question about case temperatures. A couple days ago my 6600GT sizzled out and ended. I recently bought a 7900GT to replace it.
I was thinking that the reason for its failure was due to my case being too hot.

I have a Lian Li PC65B and sometimes the case get very hot.
I am wondering if tempurates will stay cooler if I leave the side panel off or if the fans are specifically made to run with the case closed, moving air through it more efficiently?

Thanks

 

[pkme2]

If you're OCing, you might need more fans. Your LL should be well ventilated already. I personally use a slot fan on my video card to aid cooling and found that excellent.

I've seen side panel fans and they work too. Its your system, good cooling.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, Best cooling is with about 1/2 the fans blowing out and 1/2 blowing in. Best cooling is when the room air moves as rapidly as possible though the case. The PSU fan blows out. Good Luck, Jim

 

[GZFant]

Well, I did my own investigating and came to find out that:

1. There is a ceiling fan in my room that I constantly have on, blowing air throughout the room at all times which leads to
2. A large volume of cool air spinning throughout the room which keeps it very cool most of the time which causes
3. Lower temperatures on my motherboard and CPU when I leave the side panel OFF of my case.

I used the ASUS Probe utility and witnessed my CPU temperatures rise from 30C with side panel off to 33C with it on and motherboard temps go from 36C side panel off to 40C with the panel on. I was wondering if anyone else got the same results and if this is ok to do to your computer.

 

[imported_Imp]

I've always wondered about this. On one hand, side panels off pretty much makes most case fans completely useless since the circulation isn't as "streamlined" anymore with intake/discharge. On the other, everything gets open air so the CPU/GPU fans work better.

 

[Markbnj]

You might want to post this in the cases and cooling forum.

As someone else mentioned it is always about airflow. You have several sources in a case where energy is being converted into heat. That heat transfers to some other medium, air in this case, at a fixed rate. A given volume of air can absorb only so much heat in a given period of time, so you have to move the heat-laden air out, and replace it with air that is at a lower relative temperature so you can absorb some more heat. To make this process efficient engineers try to provide a lot of surface area where the hot thing can be in contact with air (heatsinks), and a lot of fresh cold air flowing across those surfaces. That's the whole cooling issue in a nutshell, and it doesn't really change with watercooling. All a w/c system does is effeciently transport the heat internally from the components where it is generated to a remote heatsink. They are more efficient in general because the fluid is a better transfer medium, and the remote heatsink is larger and more efficient than the one on the component in an aircooled scenario can possibly be. Regardless, the heat has to ultimately end up in the air, because all the heat on our planet is ultimately radiated to space.

So what happens when you take the side of the case off? If all you have are passive heatsinks in there, the cooling situation could actually get worse because you've disrupted the engineered airflow over the radiating surfaces. The temps on components with heatsink/fan combinations will probably drop, because those fans can now get more cold outside air to move across their radiators. But there may be other spots in the case that get a lot less airflow, where there aren't fans, or temperature sensors to alert you, that see much higher temps with the side panel off.

 

[GZFant]

I am going to go ahead and make a carbon copy of this question and post it in the case forums. I hope no one minds. I am extremely curious about this topic

 

[n7]

I find that side off is better for my main system, since the case doesn't have a side fan duct over the CPU , & the other fans don't push air around enough.

I imagine the Accelero X2 blowing very hot air onto my mainboard doesn't help either, so for me, side off it is.

 

[pkme2]

There's a very good reason why computer cases are enclosed. My LL has proper air flow capability. To leave a side off doesn't contribute to cooling. If you're concerned with case temperature, get better heatsink/fans. That should solve your problem, but what do I know. I could be wrong in my way of thinking. Keep your sides on.

 

[GZFant]

Well, I Zalman 120mm Heatsink/fan on my processor, 2 front fans (intake), 1 rear (exhaust) and a top exhaust fan all 80mm. I think I have adequate cooling but it seems my last video card suffered from extended heat and fried.

From what I have noticed it seems to stay cooler with the side panel off even during gaming..........