My Case airflow pattern, Optimal?

[dchrsf]

I wrote up this big ass article for you guys to feast your eyes on last night, and on litterly the last word our power went out, and I lost it all

So just feast your eyes on the diagrams I managed to save.

My Case:


My Temps w/ F@H Running..


If you have any questions ask..but I need to know if I can improve the layout of the fans and fan flow, or possibly add a fan here or there to improve it.

 

[indokyne]

blowhole may help.

tough thing about using centurion cases (or any open grill case) is that it's almost impossible to creat a negative pressure in the case.

regardless, in your situation...
I had a centurion setup and since you've got 4 free 5.25" bays, I"d put the coolermaster HD cooler w/ 120mm fan in the three bays that would best point at your CPU.

 

[gud4u]

I went through the 'new case' evolution a few months ago. The case I bought (I-Star Nitro AX) looks good, but I don't recommend it. I modded the Hell out of it to get it to perform to my satisfaction.

I find that traditional front-to-back air flow is still the best, if you really want to cool all your components, specifically including your hard drives.

Side-vents provide a side-to-vent air flow path that reduces front-intake air flow. It's quite possible to have CPU-idle temps at 30C - while your hard drive bakes at 50C. Side-vents also provide a noise-path for internal fan noise. My side-intake is taped off.

Side-mount hard drive cages suck! They provide a broad sail area that measurably obstructs efficient front-to-back air flow. Mine is removed, and hard drives are suspended.

Case vent grills, front-panel intake grill and filter media can always be modified for improved air flow. My grills are removed, my front-panel intake bezel is relieved and the 'sponge' filter media is replaced by low-restriction accordion-fold furnace filter media (mod required).

For series-flow intake and exhaust fans, match flow-rates for best efficiency. The overall flow rate for series-flow fans will effectively be limited to the flow rate of the lowest-flow fan. For example:
- A single Panaflo M1A 120mm fan combined with a 'quiet' Nexus 120mm fan produced the same case temps as the Nexus alone.
- The single Panaflo M1A 120mm fan - by itself - produced much lower case temps.

Be careful about negative-pressure ventilation. Your power supply is designed to extract air from the case. With negative-pressure ventilation, your power supply fan extraction is screwed. The result is PS temps higher than designed, and/or PS fan ramps to full speed in an attempt to keep the PS cool.

I run Panaflo M1A 120mm fans at 7V front and back. They're not 'silent', but close. They're silent at 5V, but I like the silence/cooling ratio best at 7V.

The lesson I learned is that - no matter what case you buy - be prepared to mod it. It's impossible to buy a case without side-vents. Most cases come with side-mount hard drive cages. Many cases come with restrictive case fan grills and restrictive front-bezels. Most reviews simply ignore cooling and noise-generation case issues. And it really amazes me that cases are still being sold with 80mm case fans.

Hope this helps!

 

[dchrsf]

Thanks for the readup gud4u, very interesting and very true.

I think what I'm going to do from reliazation that my air pressure isnt exacty right, is to even out the airflow (limited by the 7v 80mm Nexus further restriced by HDDs) by go buying one of those Sythe kama bay (800rpm 120mm in it) 5.25" bay 120mm adapter. http://www.directron.com/sckb1000bk.html

Does anyone have an objections? I think im limited by the 80mm, and with the PSU and 120mm exhaust in back along with my cpu fan grabbing air, I think this would help.