• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

How can I optimize my air cooling setup?

F

fantazio

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 21, 2002
Messages
203
Hi guys,

I haven't built a computer in a long time. I recently built a budget build with a NZXT Tempest 210 case, Intel i3 3220 cpu, Radeon 7850 gpu, OCZ modular psu. I get 30c idle and 62c max with Prime95. I know this is decent, but I am trying to optimize airflow and see how low I can get it. Maybe someone can offer me some tips?

The case itself comes with a lot of openings. Front 2x120mm, Side 2x120mm, Back 1x120mm, Top Back 2x120/140mm, 2x vents on bottom (one for psu)

Right now I have Front 2x120mm (intake), Top Back 1x140mm (exhaust). The PSU is bottom mounted and has an intake fan facing the ground.

The case has a lot of vents, and I wasn't sure if I should plug them up or not. I am afraid of dust, so I put Startech air filters on the bottom vent, top vent, and one of the side vents. That leaves one side vent and back vent completely open, and I'm not sure if I should put air filters on these as well.

I'm going for positive pressure, but perhaps I have too much intake? Would adding more exhaust cfm help cool the case better? I have 3 more 120mm case fans that I can put into the case, but I have no clue what to do with them.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!
 
Generally, you should be fine. You could even do a small overclock with one fan exhausting, without raising the case ambient too much. Or you can block off the side and top vents if you wanted to reduce noise, but it will raise the case ambient temperature slightly. Dust shouldn't enter the vents with your current setup, you can double check them with a piece of paper.

I would check to see if your gpu is exhaust/intake with a small piece of paper. If it's exhausting out the back I wouldn't add another fan. Some coolers (like asus) like to intake from the rear for better cooling, but it adds dust. There's not much you can do about it if it's intake, except add a silent top exhaust fan to take advantage of the additional airflow if you wish.
 
Interesting case. :)

One thing you could try (assuming that you have a positive pressure PSU), is to make a little stand out of wood or other materials so that the PSU intake can draw in more cool air. After that, it kind of looks like a crapshoot. I would keep the front fan positive, and the top fans negative. If you're worried about dust, then you could use those green scrubbing pads on the intakes.

Just a guess, but I'm assuming that your GPU is positive pressure, so I would fill the side vents with fans and stick with positive pressure overall. If you're willing to snip your case, you can remove the grills on top for more exhaust too.

I'm kind of lazy though and just run open cases. Every few months, I take my rigs out to the garage and blow out the dust with a 17 gallon compressor and re-apply thermal paste. I think of it as just general maintenance.

Interesting case though!:)
 
I tried to add an intake fan to the side, as well as block it off. I can't seem to get lower than 60c cpu temp in Prime95. I also tried running all the fans on full. I guess I am reaching the limit of airflow cooling for some reason. Maybe I need to either get good thermalpaste or replace the stock intel cooler entirely with an aftermarket cooler? Do you guys think it's worth it, or is 60c max fine? I can't seem to find much info online about standard load temps for i3 3220. i guess it's not a popular cpu

BTW -- my case is positive pressure since I have more intake than exhaust, but I did notice there was dust inside the case after a week. I thought positive pressure meant no dust?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top