Airflow in a cheap case

[peche]

I'd go for any of those two, but the first picture shows GPU's that have a blower fan (most probably) and I can't go with the second one because my side panel fan doesn't "fit" if I put it on intake. I have concluded that the best setup is my initial one. Of course, you all helped a lot and I wouldn't know that without you.

Thanks guys!

@Thimblewad giving a nice cable management to your rig will also provide better temps,


Regards,

 

[Thimblewad]

Well, here it is. After some tinkering (again) and putting all my HDDs and the SSD on the 5.25" bays to clear the front fan airflow, I get the following result (room temperature 20 °C):

• Idle:
  • Auto fans ↓
  • 

• Manual fans (100%) ↓
  
• 

• Full load (CPU+GPU):
  • Auto fans ↓
  • 

• Manual fans (100%) ↓

• 

Honestly, there still may be room for improvement, but considering I have quite a hot system, everything is only air-cooled, I think that the results I'm getting are quite remarkable and I don't really feel like rearanging everything just to drop the temperatures by a degree.

Both the CPU and GPU are overclocked and overvolted so these results should not really be compared to anything except to the same overclocked and overvolted components that I have (read signature)!

 

[Vayra86]

Speaking from experience here, this case had my previous system in it.

- It's a loud case - zero sound dampening and very little in terms of vibration dampening. Place it on a solid surface. A piece of heavy material like thick carpet or vinyl will help alot with dampening the HDD resonance.

- It's a dusty case. custom fan filters are a *must* if you don't want to use it as a vacuum cleaner. Especially front and bottom.

- It cools well, its almost entirely open on every end, so don't over do it with case fans, it's a waste of time. One intake on the front for your HDDs and one out which is preinstalled at the back will do you fine, adding more won't help you at all. Been there done that The GPU cooler will direct the airflow out to top/back as well. IF you place more case fans, you should also start covering some holes, (wind tunnel effect) most notably the ones at the top and bottom of the case. If you want to add an extra fan, use the bottom port for an extra intake fan, and stick to ONE exhaust at the back. Cover the holes on the top with something. That will reduce the dust buildup and maintain good temps.

Bottom line, don't go overboard. If you want better case cooling, you will need a better case, and especially one with dust filters.

Note that the AIDA64 benches are pretty light especially for GPU, compared to in-game load.

 

[peche]

I have a friend that have an Tt V3 and has a complete setup on it, Watercooling AIO, SLi and he achieves great temps, he have a great cable management, and also he added another fans, for better cooling!

as a advise, take out DVD drive, which is seldom used this times and Ziptie another fan on that place for giving extra strength to your airflow!, also try to clean out the most cables you are able to, and use the provided Air flow information given on the case, that case also its pretty old, is like one of the first ones with the bottom placed PSU, he might have dust filters, which are like pretty simple, and could be washed, but the cable management its pretty important, cables could block airflow, trap some dust an look pretty ugly… like a public library computer…

Spoiler: Cablemanagement on Tt's V3

Regards,

 

[jboydgolfer]

@op, I'm not clear if you mean that your case is running too hot or you're just preventatively thinking out the air flow. A great option would be to get one of those PCI mounted fans that remove heat that is originating in the gpu area, they are cheap and effective for the most part. In my experience if airflow becomes a problem instead of trying to manage heat it is better to try to prevent Heat.meaning reduce the generated heat via more effective gpu cooling, switching to SSDs, or something along those lines, basically address the issue from both ends.Wire management would also likely help

by PCI fan i mean one of these, the price i found was $6-$much more, but this exact one was $8usd.

 

[Thimblewad]

Guys, after so many of you saying I should manage my cables and maybe rethink this whole situation... I snapped. And after going to the store, buying cable ties, hard-modding the case, a pack of cigarettes, a couple of beers and having a few nervous breakdowns, this is it's "final form", it's over 9000!

I added a fan infront on the top of the case, because the lower intake fan is blocked by the HDDs anyways, but that's pretty much it. Also, cable management (I wish I had cable sleeves but hey, I'm allright)



I hope I did well, it took me 4 hours ffs xD

 

[Kanan]

Guys, after so many of you saying I should manage my cables and maybe rethink this whole situation... I snapped. And after going to the store, buying cable ties, hard-modding the case, a pack of cigarettes, a couple of beers and having a few nervous breakdowns, this is it's "final form", it's over 9000!

I added a fan infront on the top of the case, because the lower intake fan is blocked by the HDDs anyways, but that's pretty much it. Also, cable management (I wish I had cable sleeves but hey, I'm allright)

View attachment 79687 View attachment 79688

I hope I did well, it took me 4 hours ffs xD

Yeah good job, I guess that case couldn't be much better ventilated.

 

[jboydgolfer]

Guys, after so many of you saying I should manage my cables and maybe rethink this whole situation... I snapped

i meant no offense, it was only a added suggestion to increase airflow and thereby cooling.

 

[peche]

Guys, after so many of you saying I should manage my cables and maybe rethink this whole situation... I snapped. And after going to the store, buying cable ties, hard-modding the case, a pack of cigarettes, a couple of beers and having a few nervous breakdowns, this is it's "final form", it's over 9000!

I added a fan infront on the top of the case, because the lower intake fan is blocked by the HDDs anyways, but that's pretty much it. Also, cable management (I wish I had cable sleeves but hey, I'm allright)

View attachment 79687 View attachment 79688

I hope I did well, it took me 4 hours ffs xD

great job! im proud of that work even when i have nothing to be with it!
hop the temps will lowerdown, and you hardware will live moar!

Regards,

 

[Thimblewad]

i meant no offense, it was only a added suggestion to increase airflow and thereby cooling.

No no no no no no no, no hard feelings, hahahaha, something just clicked in my head and well, I started and finished a new project with my computer and I can't tell you how happy I feel right now!

great job! im proud of that work even when i have nothing to be with it!
hop the temps will lowerdown, and you hardware will live moar!

The temps aren't really a problem, they never were, I just don't have much of a life and I spend time doing stuff to my PC, haha. Idle temps:

Guys, thanks for the support, I believe my PC finally has a bit of that "gaming PC" look and it works fantastic!

 

[peche]

@Thimblewad we are here to help! and also we are happy to see you did a good to your own rig!
have a great day sir!

Regards,

 

[rtwjunkie]

Guys, after so many of you saying I should manage my cables and maybe rethink this whole situation... I snapped. And after going to the store, buying cable ties, hard-modding the case, a pack of cigarettes, a couple of beers and having a few nervous breakdowns, this is it's "final form", it's over 9000!

I added a fan infront on the top of the case, because the lower intake fan is blocked by the HDDs anyways, but that's pretty much it. Also, cable management (I wish I had cable sleeves but hey, I'm allright)

View attachment 79687 View attachment 79688

I hope I did well, it took me 4 hours ffs xD

You did well with the cable management!

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Awesome modding there, clean too. With that bottom fan you dont need to move the hard drives and that upp front fan looks like it belonged there the whole time.

Soooooooooooooo..... When ya gonna paint the case?

 

[Thimblewad]

@Thimblewad we are here to help! and also we are happy to see you did a good to your own rig!
have a great day sir!

Regards,

TPU has never dissapointed me and if there's anything I need to know, I know this is the place to ask. The only thing that makes me sad is the fact that I haven't noticed that earlier, but well, now I have the chance to "redeem myself", haha. + I'm improving my English, what more could I ask for, heh.

You did well with the cable management!

Thank you!

Awesome modding there, clean too. With that bottom fan you dont need to move the hard drives and that upp front fan looks like it belonged there the whole time.

Soooooooooooooo..... When ya gonna paint the case?

Paint the case? Dude, dude, don't go there, hahahahahaha. Thinking of color, I think that everything in my case, you know, "fits" together, except of course the cables, but that will be sorted when I buy a new power supply. This one might be good enough for years to come so I'm not bothering. I'd need another black SATA cable tho.
The only thing I'm painting are the front fan screws, they MUST be black. The front fan was a hard mod I did today, I had to use A LOT of tools, but it was totally worth it.

 

[Vario]

Ditch the grills on that front fan and any other fans, fans work a lot better without grills and the front fan has some 5.25 mesh vent or something in front which would keep your hands out of the blades.

 

[Thimblewad]

Ditch the grills on that front fan and any other fans, fans work a lot better without grills and the front fan has some 5.25 mesh vent or something in front which would keep your hands out of the blades.

The grill on the upper front fan is there for spacing, because otherwise the blades scratch on the case. But I will remove both of the grills inside. Unfortunately, the one on the top fan is there for safety reasons, since the fan is on the outside of the case (don't want my brother going there with his fingers, or even myself by accident).

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

I wouldnt cut that front mesh at all since it will help somewhat filter some dust, its easier to clean that outer mesh than inside anywhere. The steel wire grills dont impede air flow all that much, so dont worry about that top fan at all, although, its a shame it didnt fit inside the case, its a thick fan.

There are people that dont care or dont have to worry about dust, they also cry that the sky is falling.

 

[eidairaman1]

Add a fan on the back of the motherboard socket

 

[Thimblewad]

I wouldnt cut that front mesh at all since it will help somewhat filter some dust, its easier to clean that outer mesh than inside anywhere. The steel wire grills dont impede air flow all that much, so dont worry about that top fan at all, although, its a shame it didnt fit inside the case, its a thick fan.

There are people that dont care or dont have to worry about dust, they also cry that the sky is falling.

There's no way I'm cutting anything, the hard-mod for the fan was enough for me already, haha. And as far as dust is concerned, if you look at the picture I posted after managing the cables, the PC was last cleaned at least a month ago, no dust filters what-so-ever.

Add a fan on the back of the motherboard socket

You mean on the other side-panel? I don't really think I wanna do that, hahaha.

 

[slozomby]

nice job. the only thing i'd recommend is putting a space between those spinning disks but I'm not sure how much more air that would provide and you might have to redo a coupla cables. probly more effort than its worth.

 

[Thimblewad]

nice job. the only thing i'd recommend is putting a space between those spinning disks but I'm not sure how much more air that would provide and you might have to redo a coupla cables. probly more effort than its worth.

Thanks. Well, I could actually go and put the SSD one slot lower and then do the same with the lower HDD, no need to do anything to the cables, it's possible, but I think that 25 °C is okay for the HDDs, the front fan is doing a good job.

 

[micropage7]

Thanks. Well, I could actually go and put the SSD one slot lower and then do the same with the lower HDD, no need to do anything to the cables, it's possible, but I think that 25 °C is okay for the HDDs, the front fan is doing a good job.

dont forget to put some air filter to catch some dust

 

[peche]

Awesome modding there, clean too. With that bottom fan you dont need to move the hard drives and that upp front fan looks like it belonged there the whole time.

Soooooooooooooo..... When ya gonna paint the case?

Paint the case? Dude, dude, don't go there, hahahahahaha. Thinking of color, I think that everything in my case, you know, "fits" together, except of course the cables, but that will be sorted when I buy a new power supply. This one might be good enough for years to come so I'm not bothering. I'd need another black SATA cable tho.
The only thing I'm painting are the front fan screws, they MUST be black. The front fan was a hard mod I did today, I had to use A LOT of tools, but it was totally worth it.

its better to mod the case and add a bigass window on it, which is pretty easy, all you need its a dremel for making the cuts, and something to rivet the new window,

Ditch the grills on that front fan and any other fans, fans work a lot better without grills and the front fan has some 5.25 mesh vent or something in front which would keep your hands out of the blades.

thats a great advise! + 1 here

I wouldnt cut that front mesh at all since it will help somewhat filter some dust, its easier to clean that outer mesh than inside anywhere. The steel wire grills dont impede air flow all that much, so dont worry about that top fan at all, although, its a shame it didnt fit inside the case, its a thick fan.

There are people that dont care or dont have to worry about dust, they also cry that the sky is falling.

well, the mesh on that case its pretty decent and also works great as dust filter, otherwise dust will be turbo pushed inside




Regards,

 

[RealNeil]

this is a great idea for cooling on your case sir!

also the correct airflow for your case is this one:

Regards

The top panel fans, back panel fan should be exhaust, bottom panel fan and front panel fan should be intake, if you have any side panel fans they should be intake. In due honesty I have 4 fans in my big case and my cpu is oc to 5.1GHz, no side panel fans at all

This way will produce the best results. It works via the principle of convection whereby heat rises, and it brings cool side-panel air directly toward your GPU. (helpful in SLI/Crossfire situations too)

EDIT: I just got a look at your finished case and I have to say that you did a good job on it.
This should work for you for a long time. You certainly maxed out the cooling capabilities of that case on air cooling.

 

[peche]

This way will produce the best results. It works via the principle of convection whereby heat rises, and it brings cool side-panel air directly toward your GPU. (helpful in SLI/Crossfire situations too)

the bad thing here is that the sid panel isnt working or could not be using a fan since the video card blockes the fan place... but the cable management might maximize airflow inside case,

Regards,