Airflow Problem

[Gerrard]

Well, I finally fitted my Accelero to my 4870, and am very pleased with the results, but has created a bit of confusion for me as to how to organise my airflow now. The case I have is a Lian-Li PC-05A, which I have modded to include 2 x 120mm fans in the top (the original plan was maybe to use water cooling). Here is my excellent Paint skills put to work to show the layout!



All 5 fans are 120mm, with the 2 small ones the Twin Turbo module from AC. The Twin Turbo blows air down, and I am not able to change their direction. However, I may just get a spare 120mm fan and use that instead if I want the airflow to go up. The only problem with that is that I am not sure whether having the air blown up will be good for the heatsinks on the RAM and voltage regulators. I don't particularly want my top fans blowing down as that will no doubt suck dust up very quickly. I also have a sound card in the way between them and the graphics card, but it can't be moved to below it unfortunately.

One of my ideas was to maybe compartmentalise the case, with a section with the PSU and HDD going along below the graphics card, effectively giving a back-to-front airflow for the CPU (which doesn't get above 40 degrees anyway). Then I can have the top fans blow up, replace the the Twin Turbo and have the negative pressure created draw air in from the back (there's a grill by the card slots which you can get a Lian-Li side blower for). This would only work though if the heatsinks on the card get sufficent air flowing over them to coll them down.

Any other ideas greatly appreciated!

[Disturbedguy]

I think the general rule, although am probably wrong is have the read fans and front fans blowing into the case, with fans at the top pulling the air out.

Am not 100% are there a definitely people on here that can give you a better explanation.

[Pob255]

The Lian-Li PC-05A breaks the rules and actually air flow goes back to Front.

can't the Accelero be fitted the other way around so the cooler is around the back of the card?

[Gerrard]

I think the general rule, although am probably wrong is have the read fans and front fans blowing into the case, with fans at the top pulling the air out.

Am not 100% are there a definitely people on here that can give you a better explanation.

That's how I had it originally, even though the PSU does blow air out, it's not a lot and it's not very hot. I will probably experiment with the 120mm blowing up on the Accelero at the weekend and see how that goes.

The Lian-Li PC-05A breaks the rules and actually air flow goes back to Front.

can't the Accelero be fitted the other way around so the cooler is around the back of the card?

It can't as far as I can see, although I have seen people bend their ones. But, since the heatsinks are on top of the card, I think it's best to keep it that way around and try and draw air pass them.

Thanks for the ideas though guys.

[peterb]

Hot air rises - so you want to extract at he top, suck in at the bottom. It doesn't matter whether air flow is front to back or not - depends on the case as to which is better.

[TAKTAK]

Hello, i have the same case, i have back fan blowing in onto my TRUE which has two fans in push pull blowing to the front of the case, ten it goes through the HDD cage and the front fan blows out, i have my PSU upsidedown to blow its exhaust into the HDD cage which then gets taken out, then above the GFX card, i have a blowhole taking air out

i'll try and find the paint piccys my brother drew of it
edit:here you go

except to solve the psu problem i turned it upside down

(the sad thing is... he actually did a good job of drawing my motherboard, on the otherside of the country)

[Pob255]

Yep that's how it's designed to work. see here it is an intersting design that makes the case longer but shorter while still fitting a full ATX motherboard.

You might be able to mount a fan beside the graphics card, just to keep the air moveing.
Also consider use of cardboard to make a duct, but all told unless the fans at the top are very powerful it shouldn't matter too much. (esp as your sound card should block most direct fan interference.)
I think this case really suits a graphics card that vents air out of the back of the case .

[F1ZZY]

You have it pretty much sorted I think.

PSU blows out
Lower fans blow right to left in your pic (back to front) - back of case in > CPU > Front HDD out
Top blows out
fans on GFX are probably ok blowing down as the sound card will act as a baffle from the top fans

[v3n]

Try sucking the Air from the GPU with the 120mm fan and have the two 120mm fans on top also sucking air.

[k4p84]

A general rule is, same number of fans blowing in as you have blowing out. If you want to work out the volumes in and out you can but thats prob a tad o.t.t.

[x2o]

I have a couple of fans free standing in the case on my Asus board to blow over the Heat pipes and two fans on the back to pull the air out and one on the front to bring air in that makes the cooling cycle.

Try Everest to see what the temps are when ur pc is running.