PCI cooling fans.

[ww1]

The PCI cooling fans/exhausts that you can see on ebay and various other places, how good are they? Do they drop the operating temps noticably?

[jamiecockrill]

I popped mine behind my graphics card (since although it took up the space of a slot, it didn't require a PCI slot as such, just a fan power connector) to exhaust heat off the back of the card and it reduced case temps by 5-6degrees. Mind you, I do have another fan blowing air towards the card from the front of the case (thank you cable ties!) so there's a little air flow system going on there.

This obviously then had the knock on effect of cooling the CPU (by virtue of less ambient heat) but only by a couple of degrees. These things are useful if your temps are a touch high, but aren't going to help much if your airflow is rubbish. Before I installed the hanging fan, it barely made any difference at all.