Silverstone HTPC GD09 Airflow question

[skeeder]

Greetings!

I recently took my HTPC and put it into something that would look respectable next to my receiver.

The build, turned out great, just cable management and airflow seem to be an issue. (I wish my PSU was modular)

Specs:
G2020, 4GB of RAM 1600, Asrock B75 board, eVGA 550Ti, 2 Hard Drives spinning 2TB 5900rpm, and 500GB 7200rpm

Below is the mess (this is not a 'rate my cables' thread )

I currently have two 120mm fans spining on the right side of the case (top in the picture), both are set to bring AIR into the case. My thought was positive pressure, less dust...hooray!

However, during a very simple Lego Video game I heard the fan that is behind that optical drive mount ramp up and was insanely noisey.

Honestly the whole rig is pretty damn loud IMHO. Normally, I'd through money at the problem and probably overkill it with silent components, but spending $100 to quiet a computer worth maybe that in parts, seems silly.

So I'm here, asking those who have had such a case with no front intakes...how did you setup your fans?

Should I rotate those to exhaust? Should I add 80mm fans? Replace the CPU cooler?

Thanks!

 

[pendragon1]

what case is it? it looks like there is one spot for an exhaust fan at the back and it looks like there is another fan spot at the "bottom" under the cable?! if not you can cut one out with a hole saw. if so, stick fans in both spots and see if that helps. you can also zip-tie a fan under the video card blowing out the pci slots, just remove the extra covers. you might even be able to flip your psu so it suck case air out the back.
as far as all the extra cables go, just bundle them as tight as possible with the rest at the front with that blue Velcro strip. since there is no intake there they will be out of the way.
might also want to look into fan control software like speedfan or CAM. looks like it should be a simple fix.

 

[skeeder]

what case is it? it looks like there is one spot for an exhaust fan at the back and it looks like there is another fan spot at the "bottom" under the cable?! if not you can cut one out with a hole saw. if so, stick fans in both spots and see if that helps. you can also zip-tie a fan under the video card blowing out the pci slots, just remove the extra covers. you might even be able to flip your psu so it suck case air out the back.
as far as all the extra cables go, just bundle them as tight as possible with the rest at the front with that blue Velcro strip. since there is no intake there they will be out of the way.
might also want to look into fan control software like speedfan or CAM. looks like it should be a simple fix.

It is the Silverstone GD09.

There is a fan spot by the PSU (where the mess of cables are)
There are two 80mm fan spots by the CPU to route air behind the case.

The PSU has an 80mm fan in the rear...no active intake.

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm wondering if this case is having issues with the video card, its TDP is 120watts, but Fermi ran SO DAMN HOT. It would hit 90C in my desktop before I cleaned out the heatsink and reapplied thermal paste. it still gets to 75/80C no issues under load.

 

[pendragon1]

oops! case is right in the title...
filling up those fan spots should help. I don't think there is too much you can do about that gpu except try and give it more airflow. if you put a intake fan where the cables are and a exhaust fan in the pci slots that will make air flow for the gpu a lot better.

 

[skeeder]

Interestingly enough, I don't have any quiet 120mm fans lying around. I did move the PWM fan (right side) to the bottom with the PSU. Even the PSU was toasty several minutes after shutting down the system and pulling off to the top. That is now my active exhaust. I then moved the fan on the left side to the right to hit the mechanical drives.

So far the CPU temp has gone up about 5C and the Video Card/System Temp dropped about 5C at idle. I haven't Gamed yet, but I'll keep this thread informed for those that come after me.

This case is insanely nice for $79. I think a few extras would of made it alot nicer.

 

[pbc]

Greetings!

I recently took my HTPC and put it into something that would look respectable next to my receiver.

The build, turned out great, just cable management and airflow seem to be an issue. (I wish my PSU was modular)

Specs:
G2020, 4GB of RAM 1600, Asrock B75 board, eVGA 550Ti, 2 Hard Drives spinning 2TB 5900rpm, and 500GB 7200rpm

Below is the mess (this is not a 'rate my cables' thread )

I currently have two 120mm fans spining on the right side of the case (top in the picture), both are set to bring AIR into the case. My thought was positive pressure, less dust...hooray!

However, during a very simple Lego Video game I heard the fan that is behind that optical drive mount ramp up and was insanely noisey.

Honestly the whole rig is pretty damn loud IMHO. Normally, I'd through money at the problem and probably overkill it with silent components, but spending $100 to quiet a computer worth maybe that in parts, seems silly.

So I'm here, asking those who have had such a case with no front intakes...how did you setup your fans?

Should I rotate those to exhaust? Should I add 80mm fans? Replace the CPU cooler?

Thanks!

Apologies for reviving an old thread. I just bought the same case and planned on adding a couple fans to it. For the life of me I can't seem to figure out how to get the dust cover off the side where a fan is already installed.

On one side where the PSU is, it is beautifully simple. There are two dust covers that you simply "pull" like doors which open up.

But on the other side where there is a pre-existing fan, there is one long dust cover. On the exterior side it says "Push" with an arrow, seemingly implying to just push it forward and it will pop off.

At this point if I push any harder... It's going to break!

Do you still have the case by chance and can advise on how these things come off? As I can't remove the existing fan nor add a new one!

Thank you!

 

[Nobu]

Apologies for reviving an old thread. I just bought the same case and planned on adding a couple fans to it. For the life of me I can't seem to figure out how to get the dust cover off the side where a fan is already installed.

On one side where the PSU is, it is beautifully simple. There are two dust covers that you simply "pull" like doors which open up.

But on the other side where there is a pre-existing fan, there is one long dust cover. On the exterior side it says "Push" with an arrow, seemingly implying to just push it forward and it will pop off.

At this point if I push any harder... It's going to break!

Do you still have the case by chance and can advise on how these things come off? As I can't remove the existing fan nor add a new one!

Thank you!

View attachment 451691
View attachment 451692

well the manual wasn't very helpful...

Should just have to push it in the direction of the arrow, then lift the filter out. I'd try just lifting it if it doesn't move, and if that doesn't work slide it back the other way and try again.

 

[Nobu]

Might also try pushing on the fan from inside the case, toward the unoccupied fan position. If the fan is attached to the filter, it might slide with it. If there are any screws holding the fan though, they definitely must come out.

 

[pendragon1]

Apologies for reviving an old thread. I just bought the same case and planned on adding a couple fans to it. For the life of me I can't seem to figure out how to get the dust cover off the side where a fan is already installed.

On one side where the PSU is, it is beautifully simple. There are two dust covers that you simply "pull" like doors which open up.

But on the other side where there is a pre-existing fan, there is one long dust cover. On the exterior side it says "Push" with an arrow, seemingly implying to just push it forward and it will pop off.

At this point if I push any harder... It's going to break!

Do you still have the case by chance and can advise on how these things come off? As I can't remove the existing fan nor add a new one!

Thank you!

View attachment 451691
View attachment 451692

looks like you need to lift the edge with the arrow so it clears the case bottom and then slide it back. you can see the little tongue/groove things in the first pic.