looking for some feedback on my cooling solution before I pull the trigger

[AthlonAlien]

Greetings,

I have a Lian-Li PC-60 Plus case and a Scythe Ninja SCNJ-1000 heatsink. My system is almost complete and I'm looking to finish purchasing my cooling products on Monday. I was hoping a 'cooling mastermind' could review my setup and point out any flaws and/or give any suggestions Here are my plans...

1. Remove the front 120mm fan and replace with a Panaflo H1BX (120x38mm)... also remove the stock 'mesh' and replace with a more free-flowing screen.

2. Remove the top (blower hole) 80mm fan and it's bottom 'grill' and replace with a Panaflo M1BX... I will not be re-installing the bottom 'grill' piece.

3. Keep the stock rear PCI slot 120mm Blower fan (since I cannot find a replacement fan for it).

4. Convert the rear 80mm intake fan to a 92mm Panaflo H1BX exhaust fan (slight cutting will be needed)... Remove the air duct and screen and replace with a grill (since the fan will now be exhaust instead of intake). Add an additional 92mm Panaflo H1BX fan right next to the previous one (again, slight cutting needed).

5. Remove the air duct from the rear of the Power Supply since it was only intended to help keep warm air from re-entering the rear intake... thus, since the rear is now an exhaust, the duct is no longer needed and gives the warm air exiting the Power Supply a more 'direct' path.

6. Install a 120x25mm Panaflo 'high' onto the Ninja (with the fan blowing air onto the Heatsink, then exiting through the rear exhaust fan(s).

Also, I have replaced my stock DFI chipset cooler with a Titan TTC-CUV2AB... I have also replaced my graphics card's stock cooler with an NV Silencer to help exhaust even more heat from within the case. My Power Supply is also a dual fan unit, which helps out a little, too. I have a Sunbeam fan controller that will be used to keep the fans 'tamed' when needed. I was originally gonna go with Medium Speed Fans and a Low Speed Blower Hole Fan, then decided to up it and go with HIgh Speed Fans and a Medium Speed Blower Hole Fan (since I will be using the fan controller). I was thinking of using 1 120mm fan on the rear exhaust, instead of 2 92mms, but the case just isn't made to do that (you would have to cut up the removable motherboard tray)... but since the 2nd fan on my power supply is in the end (instead of the bottom), I believe the 2 92mms will help a little bit in that area... and with the fan controller, they won't be much louder than a single 120mm. I was originally going to install a 120mm intake on the side panel, but it seems like a lot of people/manufacturers aren't doing that as much these days (something with possibly messing up the air flow). I was also thinking about adding some type of smaller fan right behinid my optical drives (just to get SOME airflow up in that section) to blow near the MOSFETS/PWM IC, but couldn't really decide if it would help or not. I am kind of worried about only having 1 intake fan (even though it is a 120x38 HIgh Speed)... is that enough? Also, should I use a 120x38mm for the Ninja (different clips required) or just stick with the standard 120x25mm size? Any thoughts/comments are welcome

-Thanks

 

[Logan321]

So... just to sum up... you're going to have 1 - 120 mm fan for intake, and 2 x 92mm, PS, card-slot fan and 1 80mm blowhole fan for exhaust?

Sounds like a problem to me... you're really unbalancing your case's airflow.

Ideally, CFM in = CFM out. That way you don't have air being sucked in or blown out holes in your case.

Hmm... The other thing to be aware of is the top blow-hole can interfere with either the powersupply or the top 5 1/4" drivebay...

What I'd probably suggest is to break up your airflow into zones. Use some sort of divider to isolate the cardslots and harddrives from the top of the case... a piece of plexi would probably be fine. That'd give you the 120mm fan at the front in line with the 120mm blower at the back.

A vent hole in the left sidepanel with a funnel directing cool air from outside the case to the cpu fan is still a good idea... you can probably just relocate the existing funnel and fan from the rear to the sidepanel.

You could even reverse the top blower and have it be the cool air source for your powersupply.

Just some suggestions.

 

[AthlonAlien]

I didn't think the airflow would be that unbalanced The only real "mod" would be the rear exhaust fan... everything else is in the stock Lian-Li location (except of course the aftermarket graphics cooler). Perhaps if I just added another 80mm exhaust fan to the back (total of 2 80mm's instead of 2 92mm's), and added a fresh intake air duct to the side panel, it would help balance it out a little more, and give me another intake source as well. The thing is, with Ninja's, the fan mounts on the side (not the top). So the duct would have to draw fresh air onto the heatsink itself (not the fan). Also, how can/does the top blower hole interfere with the power supply or the top 5 1/4" bay? The PS and the blowhole would both be removing hot air from the case... and the top 51/4" bay has a DVD+RW drive that extends close to the blower (so I don't see how any air could be drawn past it)? The second 5 1/4" bay has a DVD+RW drive in it as well. Using the blower hole as an intake doesn't sound like the best idea to me... hot air rises... I could see how the blowhole might interfere with the PS if it was an intake instead of an exhaust...

What type of setup would be good for the side panel air duct?

-Thanks

 

[Logan321]

If you look at the duct, you'll see that it's already got a 90 degree bend at the end of it... so you'd just need to position it towards the front of the case with regards to the cpu fan, and have the 90 face the cpu fan.

Here's a quick sketch using my leet ms paint mad skillz.

The top blower hole doesn't interfere with the powersupply or the top 5 1/4" bay from a airflow standpoint, but rather from a mechanical one. If length of powersupply + width of fan + length of CD/DVD rom + cables = more than length of case, you have a problem. Just make sure there's room for a 120mm fan there.