Case vs tech bench? cooling

[race301]

Got my system tweaked in on tech bench and like it so much did not want to put in my new case. Is the cooling better in a case? (antec nine hundred two)

 

[MisterSparkle]

A little complicated, but generally no. The ambient temp inside a case will be hotter than outside, how much hotter will depend on the specific case/fan configuration. Best to do solid recordings of idle/load temps of everything that has a sensor reading, then once you build it into your case, do a second set of measurements. This will give you a general idea of your cases thermal management, and areas which may need to be improved upon.

 

[race301]

A little complicated, but generally no. The ambient temp inside a case will be hotter than outside, how much hotter will depend on the specific case/fan configuration. Best to do solid recordings of idle/load temps of everything that has a sensor reading, then once you build it into your case, do a second set of measurements. This will give you a general idea of your cases thermal management, and areas which may need to be improved upon.

Thanks, I wonder if others just leave on tech bench after they get one? LOL

 

[BillParrish]

I submit it all depends on the setup, both bench and case. I think that most of the time bench will be running cooler but there are exceptions. For instance if your case is the one I am thinking of with the big fan up top and the 120's in the front that can be moved around, I can envision a case fan configuration that would provide better cooling in the case for both the CPU and the mosfets around the CPU area.

So I agree with Mr Sparkle. One of the challenges and confirmations that a builder knows what they are doing is to provide a proper case and set it up properly so that the case is an overall benefit rather than a detriment to the system.

Some people never use a case, but they do not have any 3 year old boys wandering around either.

Your case (again if the one I am thinking of) should pose no issues in providing a good environment for your equipment. Cramming it into a mini-tower with 80mm fans, thats another story.

The SFF (small form factor) guys have special challenges and from what I have read of their efforts its like anything else. Some people give it no thought and cram it in and cry about the heat later when it bites them on the ass, some people consider it and do a decent job of mitigating it, and some people think about it carefully up front, plan a solution and do an amazing job of cramming 10lbs of junk in a 5 lb bag. They actually enjoy the challenge of getting the most crammed in a tiny case and solving the cooling issues. So to each his own.

You might want to look up that weird antec "case" that is basically a fancy test bench but designed to look nice. (well it looks like something, not quite sure what ).
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/2771/antec_skeleton_open_air_case/index.html

Me personally I WC which has its own challenges and actually I enjoy trying to solve all the cooling issues, so much so that I have one fan controller with two temp probes that does nothing but monitor ambient room (sensor mounted under the bottom of the case between the front feet) and ambient case temps (sensor "hanging" in air inside the case near the top with slack in the wire so I can move it around when I want).

But yeah, if your bench as a fan(s) that wash air across the motherboard its tough to do as well in a case without a lot of work. I always eventually mount my stuff in a case because I need the table room to pile up more crap.

 

[Zero82z]

I submit it all depends on the setup, both bench and case. I think that most of the time bench will be running cooler but there are exceptions. For instance if your case is the one I am thinking of with the big fan up top and the 120's in the front that can be moved around, I can envision a case fan configuration that would provide better cooling in the case for both the CPU and the mosfets around the CPU area.

This. A lot of modern cases are designed around airflow, and because the fans are all directed at specific components, they can result in lower overall temperatures than you'd get in a bench setup where the air is free to flow anywhere (and therefore might not go where you need it to). It depends entirely on the case though.

 

[MANIST]

Quit using my case after to much heat from clocked quad and SLI 285's, went to home brew test bench and have much better results.

 

[race301]

Thanks for all the input, I guess I will just have to try it out. I do like that skeleton Bill.