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GPU or Case Cooling: Which Comes 1st?

X

Xinmosni

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 12, 2012
Messages
1,974
Would I see more gains from upgrading to an aftermarket cooler such as the ARCTIC COOLING ACCEL-X-7970 Fluid Dynamic Accelero Xtreme 7970 VGA Cooler

or

Should I focus my money on improving my case airflow first?

For reference, I am not overclocking either my CPU or GPU (but might if the heat issues I'm having go away).

I just purchased a reference Sapphire 7970 from a fellow [H]-goer. The Sapphire 7970 is great on all accounts, but is HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE compared to the 5770 I upgraded from. With this comes more heat, which in turn is making the rest of my case hotter than it used to be, and raising my CPU temps by 5C higher than they used to be. (It's a 2500K with stock cooler.) This isn't a problem when browsing the web, but while playing games my CPU temps range between 75 and 85 unless I take off my case walls.

I plan to upgrade my CPU cooler at the same time as fixing this GPU cooling problem, because even with the 5770 in my case I couldn't transcode a video in Handbrake without my CPU going over 85C consistently. (As far as I know, this is less because of my case and more because of the stock CPU cooler, but please let me know if I'm wrong.) Also, I'm an IT and am pretty damn sure the stock cooler is seated properly and with the proper amount of Arctic Silver but there's a first for everything.

Furthermore, when I attempted to set up BitCoin mining last night, my 7970 consistently hits 75C+ unless the fan is at 50% or greater. This isn't the biggest deal in the world, but I'd like for my room not to sound like an airplane hangar, and I live in an area where it gets hot during the summer so I'm very worried about what temps might be reached at 90F ambient. Last night when it got to be 85F ambient in my office, the GPU reached 85C :mad: (but this was fixed when I took the case walls off for the remainder of the night, bringing temps down to a consistent 70C after raising fan speed profile).

My current case is a 10-year-old full tower which I got for free and which previously housed a home server with 2 RAID cages (10 HDDs) in its top face half. It's a great case which has enough room for everything that I need, and so I didn't plan to replace it unless absolutely necessary because the equivalents out there are $200+. If someone wants to suggest a case though, I'd require full tower only and prefer either Antec or Lian Li from personal experience.

Also, I would LOVE to move to liquid cooling some day, but it would be my first time, and I was under the assumption that moving to a non-air solution would be prohibitively expensive ($500+).
 
Buy a Silverstone FT02. THE Best case I've ever owned and it will keep your card cool! I'd still have one if I didn't have to relocate for work so often.
 
The obvious solution is to water cool.










(I kid)
That cooler would decrease gpu temps, yes, but it won't do anything to alleviate case temperatures. Improving case airflow will help GPU and CPU temps, by what amount I'm unsure of.

Both would help, but I'd say improve airflow if money is tight. If you change the cooler, your gpu temp will improve, but it's dumping all the heat into the case, which is still hot.

MOAR AIRFLOW
 
Can you post pictures of the inside of your case? Showing fan placement, airflow, speed of fans, model of fans, etc. Ensuring adequate and correct case airflow is the first step to ensuring proper cooling of all components, so we should make sure everything is ok in the case department and see where any improvements can be made. If the case is as old as you say, the cheapest and quickest method may be a new case. If it's simply a matter of inefficient usage of current case cooling capabilities, then some simple modifications will help.
 
get an antec 1200 if you do want to replace that case, pretty much the only option for cooling + the ability to hold more than 10 hard drives. but i'd say case airflow is priority over replacing the heatsink on the GPU or do both, lol.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, guys! Also, I forgot that the heat being moved away from the GPU from an aftermarket cooler would just get dumped into the rest of my case, doh -_-

Yes, I'll post pictures of my (very ugly) case later tomorrow, as I've gotta be somewhere in a little bit.

Also, I might be reading the specs wrong, but is that Silverstone case not mid tower? It looks great, but if I did buy another case I'd be looking at the "full tower"-sized stuff that will house around 10 HDDs. For a mid-tower like the one you linked to, I'd probably go with something more modest like the Antec P183.

Money's tight and the only person who sees my rig is my girlfriend (who isn't much into tech), so I look for performance first, shiny factor second. Every component in my rig is used in order to save money, but that doesn't mean I'm a total cheapskate either (for example, used 7970, used 120GB Vertex 3). Just trying to get bang for buck here, not wow people with 3dmark scores.

EDIT: And yes, I've considered the Antec 1200, sirmonkey1985! Ha, now if only I could find one of these for the same price :D
 
First, Silverstone does call it a mid tower, but that's only because it's rotated. Sure, the case isn't very tall, but it has very long depth. It can hold E-ATX and has plenty of room for more than 5 drives. That being said, I definitely understand your urge to want to save money. I only mentioned the FT02, because I felt this (now proven false) sense of you wanting to upgrade your case to something magnificent lol. Good luck on your cooling quest :)
 
MissJ84,

I'd definitely do it if I could. If I were in high school still, there'd be a poster of this in it:

http://www.amazon.com/Lian-Li-PC-X2000F-Tower-Aluminum-Retail/dp/B003UKLYLG

Would I LOVE a case like that? You bet your ass! Do I NEED a case of that caliber for what I do, though, is what I'm wondering and why I'm here asking for help. I may be an IT, but this is my first time seriously researching cooling solutions, because to run low end machines doesn't require as much airflow (there's not as much to cool).

I'm open to all suggestions and am researching that case you mentioned more. Thank you, as I haven't seen Silverstone's name thrown out as much as Antec's for high end stuff.
 
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If you have room, look long and hard at the Thor V2 from Rosewill. I upgraded from a P182 and couldn't be happier. I was in a similar boat as you, bit running 570's in SLI and had to leave the side off of my Antec to keep things cool. Grab that case and a decent CPU cooler and you'll still be well under $200 total. Check Anandtech for a good review on the Thor....
 
Even the best aircooling case in the world wouldn't cool as much as a simple gpu cooler.
 
I haven't seen a case from that era with decent airflow let alone good airflow which is what you want for a modern high end system, which makes sense if you think about it since PC components didn't produce as much heat back then. A good way to test if the case has bad airflow is to run the PC with the side off of the case and monitor your temps, if the temps go up the case has good airflow, if the temps stay the same the case has poor to fair airflow, and if the temps go down the case has bad airflow. Many cases from back then will run cooler with side off but still not cool enough, the "cheap fix" is to point a desk fan at the open computer to get good airflow but I would look at a new case myself.

Nothing against Antec or Lian Li(I'm currently using an old Antec 900) but I really like some of the new Corsair and Cooler Master cases that I've worked with, particularly the CM Storm sniper and the Corsair Obsidian 600t. I've never worked with a Silverstone case so I can't really comment on that.
 
Agenesis said:
Even the best aircooling case in the world wouldn't cool as much as a simple gpu cooler.
Click to expand...

OP's CPU temps are also affected by the high temperatures. The new fan dumps all the heat into the case, so while GPU temps would decrease, CPU could increase.

Ebernanut said:
I haven't seen a case from that era with decent airflow let alone good airflow which is what you want for a modern high end system, which makes sense if you think about it since PC components didn't produce as much heat back then. A good way to test if the case has bad airflow is to run the PC with the side off of the case and monitor your temps, if the temps go up the case has good airflow, if the temps stay the same the case has poor to fair airflow, and if the temps go down the case has bad airflow. Many cases from back then will run cooler with side off but still not cool enough, the "cheap fix" is to point a desk fan at the open computer to get good airflow but I would look at a new case myself.

Nothing against Antec or Lian Li(I'm currently using an old Antec 900) but I really like some of the new Corsair and Cooler Master cases that I've worked with, particularly the CM Storm sniper and the Corsair Obsidian 600t. I've never worked with a Silverstone case so I can't really comment on that.
Click to expand...

If you read his post you'll see he mentioned taking the sides of the case off to help cooling.
 
avatardelta said:
If you read his post you'll see he mentioned taking the sides of the case off to help cooling.
Click to expand...

I read that twice and still somehow missed that, it's still good advice though he just doesn't need to test it to find the answer. If taking the sides off lowers temps and temps are an issue then it's time for a new case, it sounds like he's already come to that conclusion. I like the two cases I mentioned before but if money is an issue I would take a look at some of the larger rosewill or nzxt cases, many of the cheaper ones have a bit more plastic but some of them have decent cooling from what I've heard.
 
Upgrade to an aftermarket CPU cooler and you'll be fine. You're not overclocking and all your parts are running within specs, so buying anything else is a waste of money unless you're looking for aesthetics or silence.
 
Case cooling hands down.

If you cant properly vent the heat out of the case. It will make all major chips on the mobo/gpu etc heat up.

The last thing you want is to have your Northbridge/Southbridge heat up and cause you to have BSODs. I have seen it before....It can happen.
 
Unless you have a number of unused fan slots on that case, it's time to move onto something with better airflow.
 
Just go getto, open the side of the case and get the artic cooling! ;-)

Hahahah, i only say it as tongue in cheek, but honestly that will give you the best results if you only will get 1 at the time :)
 
DASHlT said:
Case cooling hands down.

If you cant properly vent the heat out of the case. It will make all major chips on the mobo/gpu etc heat up.

The last thing you want is to have your Northbridge/Southbridge heat up and cause you to have BSODs. I have seen it before....It can happen.
Click to expand...

I agree, case cooling first and foremost.
 
limitedaccess said:
Fractal Define XL fits 10 HDDs and e-atx mobos. Comes with 2x140mm, 1x180mm. Optional 2x140m, 1x120mm/140mm, and 1x120mm which can be closed off if not in use. Not sure if you have any other requirements for a new case. It is ~$150 at Newegg, not sure if it is cheaper elsewhere in the US.

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=2&prod=68
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352017

Also comes in Titanium/Grey color wise.
Click to expand...

Definitely case cooling first and +1 for the Fractal, it's an excellent choice with great cooling and it's quiet. Also the HAF 932 is very good for both air cooling and water if you ever want to go down that route.
 
Like everyone else is saying, upgrade your case airflow. It'll help tremendously. Go with a fractal or silverstone; you can't go wrong with either, both are insanely good case brands.
 
I may have missed but I still haven't seen what your current case is at the moment? You mentioned it was an old tower, but other than that, no idea.

The case is just the box that holds your components, if you're using an old tower that is large enough to fit a 7970 in it, chances are it has enough space to throw a couple of case fans in it as well.

If the case allows it, there's no reason you can't just mount some extra fans or cut some extra holes to mount fans AND buy a new GPU cooler as well. Before you go jumping up and down to spend heaps of money on a brand new case, I'd look into that, and use the money you save on some good quality fans and/or new CPU and GPU coolers (you can get some pretty cheap CPU coolers these days that do a great job for bugger all money, I recently installed a Gaia into a friend's new PC on an i7 2600 and it works brilliantly and cost the same as I paid for a single Noctua fan a couple of years ago!).

So yeah, before running out and recommending you buy a whole new case, how about just showing us what you have already ;) Especially since some of those old towers are actually very solidly built and worth holding on to if you can (some, not all ;)). Especially if you're on a budget, a case is one of those things that, yeah, its kinda nice to have a new shiny one, but it can easily turn into money down the toilet as all it does is hold your components.
 
convexion said:
Definitely case cooling first and +1 for the Fractal, it's an excellent choice with great cooling and it's quiet. Also the HAF 932 is very good for both air cooling and water if you ever want to go down that route.
Click to expand...

I love my HAF 932, This case has a ton of air flow and a ton of room for any mods that you might come up with.
 
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