DEMCiflex Filters & Airflow?

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v0rtic3s

Limp Gawd
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Dec 20, 2006
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Does anyone know whether or not the DEMCiflex filters restrict airflow to any degree?

I recently moved from the Antec 1200 to the HAF X (also have the HAF 923, now my wife's system) and set it up with the top fans as intake to create a really solid positive pressure/airflow set-up that's having far better results than the RV02 that I tried, which is supposedly to be based on the same concept.

For the sake of dust, I decided to try the DEMCiflex filters, which are made of uber-fine "medical" mesh, but I noticed a very slight increase in temps with them covering the fans.

Anyone have any experience with these filters and know if they do restrict airflow slightly?

The fans and set-up of the HAF X when set up to be positive pressure (small fan for exhaust with far more intake than exhaust, really makes a difference) has the best results with air cooling I've ever experienced, but the 200mm Coolermaster fans are not that strong. I don't want to interfere with the airflow, so since I'm not sure what the slight temp increase is about, I figured I'd ask if anyone else has ever noticed/compared using these filters.
 
The key to remember is that ALL air filters restrict flow to some degree. I don't have any solid data, but from what I've seen the DEMCiflex stuff is a pretty good compromise. Imagine comparing the DEMCiflex to something that has excellent particle filtering characteristics like the fiberglass filter on a furnace/AC unit or the HEPA filters on vacuum cleaners. Those type of things KILL flow (not that it mattes much in their respective uses).


At worst, the DEMCi stuff is certainly better than what you find stock on ANY case from Antec/Lian Li/Silverstone/CM/etc.
 
Thanks for the response.

Yep, certainly I'm aware that air filters restrict airflow to some degree, but I'm actually quite surprised at just how much it's seeming to effect my system.

When I finally tried them for a long period last night and took screens of my testing to make sure I remembered correctly: GPU temps rose 4-5C, and some CPU cores between 2-4C, HDD temps remained the same, but general ambient and even NB temps up between 2-4C at times.

This was with a filter on the side fan, top fan and front fan.

Not what I expected, given what you've said about these filters, which is true... they're definitely far better.

I wonder if it's because the fans on the HAF X aren't really that strong, but because they move a lot of air, it keeps my system cooler than any other case I've owned (especially in the positive pressure set-up), but they're not strong enough to do so with anything blocking any amount of airflow. Odd.

With as incredible as the air cooling is that I'm getting with this set-up now, I'd not think such excellent, and incredibly thin filters would block that much. Must be some weird "balance" with the strength/airflow of these fans... unless, despite how thin it is, these filters are far more "dense" in some way.

No idea, but gotta say, it's not proving to be worth the trade-off right now, unfortunately. Irritating as well, due to the cost of these filters (almost $70 for the HAF X pack).
 
v0rtic3s said:
When I finally tried them for a long period last night and took screens of my testing to make sure I remembered correctly: GPU temps rose 4-5C, and some CPU cores between 2-4C, HDD temps remained the same, but general ambient and even NB temps up between 2-4C at times.

This was with a filter on the side fan, top fan and front fan.
...
Must be some weird "balance" with the strength/airflow of these fans... unless, despite how thin it is, these filters are far more "dense" in some way.
Click to expand...

2-4 degrees of increase doesn't sound abnormal at all, but depending on your ambients, 5 degrees sounds a wee bit excessive. Not that any of the following is gonna alleviate your dust filters hampering temps, but it can't hurt to fiddle around eh?

Not sure if you've got both roof/top fan slots filled in addition to the front and side slots, but have you tried running the case in a few different configs to see if you hit a magic combo or at least discover if airflow is being disturbed in some way? Perhaps turn off only the side fan (or swap it to the roof location if it's empty) or, crazy as it sounds, have the forward roof fan act as an intake, and the rearward roof fan act as an exhaust. In particular, with the side fan off and depending on component position, you might see higher temps on your NB, RAM or GPU, but CPU temps might plummet. Playing around with different intake/exhaust combos, you might hit upon a good compromise.

Also keep in mind that one of the most consistent trends over the last 5+ years for strong CPU cooling has been cases with a pair (or more) of exhaust fans located both on the roof and rear of a case right near the CPU. Everyone out there from Antec to Zalman has tweaked mobo mounting to slap the CPU in that upper rear corner and then load that corner up with fans on both sides. Some cases like Silverstone's ft01 shunned this notion to produce excellent CPU temps which is similar to what you've done with your Haf X (sans the side fan). The ft01's tradeoff, however, was GPU temps varied greatly between owners depending on mobo layout, GPU, and how many HDDs were loaded. Without tools like an anemometer or smoke machine (but we do have cool variations on the paper trick!), it's all a tough nut to crack and perhaps you're already running the best intake/exhaust configuration, but it can't hurt to play around.

Good luck!
 
I recently ordered a set for my 932. Should arrive in a few days.
 
I use them and my CPU temps only went up by 1 degree celsius. I have a custom built case though, so YMMV.
 
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