Should I change up my case fan layout, G80 is burning hot!

[FragTek]

Ok guys, need a bit of advice as I want to mess with my case fan configuration a little bit.

Currently what I have are on the bottom section are 2 x 120mm's. The first fan is located at the front of the case for intake, the second is mid-case and helps draw the air across the hard drive cages.

Now, the challenge comes to the upper section of the case. The top section houses 3 x 120mm's. From the factory they are setup as such: Top case panel fan = intake (i was like wtf eh?), rear fan = exhaust, and side fan = exhaust. Seemed a bit backwards so I switched the rear fan to intake, the top fan to exhaust, and left the side fan as exhaust (side fan is located a bit lower/offcenter of the vid card).

I was thinking about switching to the side fan to be intake as my vid card seems to get boiling hot. Last time I had the side panel off and took off the side fan (which actually ducts to the back of the case) I felt my vid cards plastic housing and it was hot enough to burn you right through the plastic. Do all G80's get that hot or is it my case fan configuration screwing things up?

Open to all suggestions, thx in advance

^^ A pic of the inside of the case so u can get a better idea of where all of the fans are....

 

[FarFarAway]

G80's get pretty hot but a side fan would deffo help

 

[equk]

Is it me or does that case have 3 fans pulling air out of the case at the rear top aswell as the PSU at the bottom. Yet it only has 1 fan pulling air into the case?

I know it should be ok, but surely they are just raping the air from the G80?

I'd say maybe add a side fan (removing that duct) as kemp said (altho that 'could' cause vibration) or add a 120mm to the front drive bays using mesh of some sort. Creating a sort if direct wind tunnel and improving the current airflow.

I don't understand some of these new case designs. Looking at that case, the bottom has nice airflow as it has a fan in at front and the PSU out at the back, but there's only a very small opening leading to the top main part of the case and the only input fan is at the bottom.

edit:

Another thing you could do is turn the duct fan around so it is blowing air onto the GPU.

 

[equk]

I just looked at a review of this case and noticed the top fan was actually pulling air into the case

 

[FarFarAway]

Well it would do - it makes sense thermally as hot air rises. Also cases should have negative pressure to keep dust out.

Having said that I don't think there is enough air getting into your case

 

[FragTek]

I just looked at a review of this case and noticed the top fan was actually pulling air into the case

Yeah that's what I said in the first post From the factory the only 2 intake fans are the bottom front fan and the top case panel fan. All others are exhaust (with exception of lower middle fan which is intermediary).

I'm thinking about switching the side fan to intake instead of exhaust, this might help my vid card temps a bit since it would put cool air right at about the point where the cards fan is.

 

[FragTek]

Having said that I don't think there is enough air getting into your case

Agreed, thus thinking of switching side fan to intake. I wish I had an extra free bay at the front of the case to stick another 120mm front intake in

I might be able to fit a pair of 80's side-by-side.

 

[equk]

Well it would do - it makes sense thermally as hot air rises.

That's why I thought the top fan would be pushing the hot air out.

 

[FarFarAway]

That's why I thought the top fan would be pushing the hot air out.

Bugger misread. Bit of a stupid idea if it aint tbh

 

[Dino]

I have an intake fan low front and an exhaust fan high rear, when I changed the 12cm on the side panel from intake to exhaust [it too is mounted facing my graphics card - though not a G80] the case temperature at the top of the case fell by 3 degrees...this is by no means a scientific study but I think if you pull as much warm air out from the top/centre the only thing that can replace it is cool air from the bottom

 

[FragTek]

I have an intake fan low front and an exhaust fan high rear, when I changed the 12cm on the side panel from intake to exhaust [it too is mounted facing my graphics card - though not a G80] the case temperature at the top of the case fell by 3 degrees...this is by no means a scientific study but I think if you pull as much warm air out from the top/centre the only thing that can replace it is cool air from the bottom

Yup, correct. Optimal case airflow means having a negative pressure inside the case (exhaust is pulling more than the intake) which I think I currently have but no real way to test... I'm just afraid that if I do change my side fan from exhaust to intake I'm going to overload the capacity of a single exhaust fan and have some heat build-up.

 

[FragTek]

Ok I've got a new plan of action. I'll be leaving my side vent as exhaust and be adding a Scythe Kama Bay 120mm fan to the front as an intake for the upper half. I'll have to nix my floppy drive in order to do so but since I'm not using RAID or anything that requires floppyage I think I'll be ok

 

[Nagaru]

Well it would do - it makes sense thermally as hot air rises. Also cases should have negative pressure to keep dust out.

Having said that I don't think there is enough air getting into your case

I am sorry, I don't understand why you should have negative pressure. If you have a negative pressure in your case it will suck air and dust in through any little crack, and the cd and floppy drives. I would think you would want positive pressure from filtered fans to make sure that any air entering is filtered. Sorry this is a bit off topic.

 

[FragTek]

I am sorry, I don't understand why you should have negative pressure. If you have a negative pressure in your case it will suck air and dust in through any little crack, and the cd and floppy drives. I would think you would want positive pressure from filtered fans to make sure that any air entering is filtered. Sorry this is a bit off topic.

We're talking about such a low negative load that that doesn't happen. You want a negative pressure to ensure that no hot air is building up in any part of the case and that it's all being exhausted as quickly as possible. Im not talkin' about hooking a vacuum up to my case But you definitely want more exhaust than intake.

 

[Rastalovich]

Frag are u able to take a pic of u`r actual case setup as it is atm ?

I`m think those pci slot exhaust thingies will help, but to be fair if the heat on the G80 is constant and high - it`ll always be there, u`r just preventing it from effecting other items.

I`m always of the opinion u have to match the flow coming in with the out, that would include any psu fans.

Dragging air over harddrives b4 it gets to other stuff is a real bad idea.

Ideally I like to see AIRIN->over device->AIROUT.

AIRIN->over device->over another device->AIROUT, does little to help the 2nd device.

 

[FragTek]

Frag are u able to take a pic of u`r actual case setup as it is atm ?

I`m think those pci slot exhaust thingies will help, but to be fair if the heat on the G80 is constant and high - it`ll always be there, u`r just preventing it from effecting other items.

I`m always of the opinion u have to match the flow coming in with the out, that would include any psu fans.

Dragging air over harddrives b4 it gets to other stuff is a real bad idea.

Well luckily I have to work with this whole airflow thing on a daily basis with my indoor gun ranges for lead management reasons. The only way to keep an even laminar flow of air without causing "eddies" or other spots where the air just sits is to have a slightly higher exhaust rate than intake rate.

My lower deck heat for the most part is exhausted out through the PSU as the Tagan has some pretty wicked hardcore fans on it.

The only pix I have of her are in the Project thread: http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=8344&highlight=Deadlywind

I can try to take some more when I get home if I can find my camera which is hiding in a box somewhere.

 

[Rastalovich]

Looking at the fan over the pci area, it probably does more than one of those pci slot exhausts anyway.

EDIT: And thanks for the linky to u`r case There are so many great threads on peoples setups on here that u sometimes forget ones u seen ages ago...... I just wasted another 20mins oogling over it somemore

 

[equk]

What's the airflow like if you turn the vent fan around so it is pulling air into the case and onto the graphics card and also turn the top fan around so it's pushing the hot air out of the case?

Also possibly run the rear or top fan at 50% (if there is too much air going out)

Then at least the graphics card will have some air going straight in to it as the 8800's cooling already acts as a exhaust

 

[FragTek]

What's the airflow like if you turn the vent fan around so it is pulling air into the case and onto the graphics card and also turn the top fan around so it's pushing the hot air out of the case?

Also possibly run the rear or top fan at 50% (if there is too much air going out)

Then at least the graphics card will have some air going straight in to it as the 8800's cooling already acts as a exhaust

Top fan is already oriented to exhaust, first thing I did when I got the case. The rear I/O fan has been switched to intake to get good cool air for induction by the HSF. I have thought about the idea of changing the side vent fan to intake but after looking at it, it blows out a high volume of hot air so it's definitely doing it's job as an exhaust.

In fact, I need more exhaust and just a tad more fresh air intake from the front so I think this proposed plan should work perfectly.

-Add front 120mm fan below optical drives as intake

-Swap out 1200RPM S-FLEX on HSF for 1600RPM S-FLEX and place 1200RPM unit in proposed front fan location.

-Add PCI slot blower w/ pivoting rear fan to blow directly at G80's intake fan (THIS product)

I think that should fix quite a few things... At that point I might also toy with the possibility of returning the I/O fan to an exhaust fan, but with the Ultra-X that really messed things up last time.

Edit: Update - Just purchased an 87cfm Panaflo to replace the 40cfm S-FLEX exhaust fan up top and also ordered the slot cooler mentioned above. That should all help with the front fan setup that's already been ordered.

 

[Allsorts]

I'm glad you made this thread Frag, it made me realize that I've ripped the Lian Li fans out of my G70 case and forgot to note whether they were exhaust or intake! :whack:

Looking around, the G70 factory setup seems to be front HDD intake, rear intake and side exhaust but I think I'll take your advice about having more exhaust than intake and go for front HDD intake, rear exhaust and side exhaust. :beerchug: