Can I run my computer upside down?

[999x]

Is there any hazard or disadvantage of turning my entire computer upside down (and keeping it that way)?
(dont laugh too hard, its only a sff)

Long story short, I'm adjusting airflow and cooling, and if there is nothing wrong with it being upside down, I think I can get better cooling that way.

btw, using stock intel cpu fan cooler, and no ODD

 

[jasont78]

Is there any hazard or disadvantage of turning my entire computer upside down (and keeping it that way)?
(dont laugh too hard, its only a sff)

Long story short, I'm adjusting airflow and cooling, and if there is nothing wrong with it being upside down, I think I can get better cooling that way.

btw, using stock intel cpu fan cooler, and no ODD

will be fine if you want better cooling replace the stock heatsink and fans, what case you got??

 

[999x]

cpu is fine on its own with stock fan (imo), its the drives that are the problem.

the case i have (antec isk110) keeps the ssd/hdds in a tiny compartment under the mobo (directly under the processor too :/ )

this compartment has zero airflow and almost zero ventilation.
i am putting the extruded mesh from the top of the case on the bottom, and slipping a 120x120x12mm slim case fan between the drives and the mesh.

then turning the whole thing upside down, the whole compartment gets lots of ventilation, and the drives no longer heat up the mobo (which is the main cause of my unsatisfactory cpu/mobo temps).

so basically im opening the door on the hdd/ssd "oven"

 

[jasont78]

cpu is fine on its own with stock fan (imo), its the drives that are the problem.

the case i have (antec isk110) keeps the ssd/hdds in a tiny compartment under the mobo (directly under the processor too :/ )

this compartment has zero airflow and almost zero ventilation.
i am putting the extruded mesh from the top of the case on the bottom, and slipping a 120x120x12mm slim case fan between the drives and the mesh.

then turning the whole thing upside down, the whole compartment gets lots of ventilation, and the drives no longer heat up the mobo (which is the main cause of my unsatisfactory cpu/mobo temps).

so basically im opening the door on the hdd/ssd "oven"

i looked up a pic of your case and the little ones are usual set up a way for a reason, a ssd shouldnt get to hot or have it be a problem they use jack all power and have no moving parts are you sitting it on its side (desktop style) or upright like a tower. if it were my compu i would sit it upright like a tower and put a fan under the stand thing that holds it up so that it blows the heat out the top
sit it this way
http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://images.anandtech.com/doci/6192/Small%2520(3%2520of%25209).jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.anandtech.com/show/6192/antec-isk-110-vesa-case-review-just-about-as-small-as-it-gets&h=565&w=493&sz=79&tbnid=AcXPO7-K6RmZbM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=79&zoom=1&usg=__vwZafdKRQ52-ld5lVC4-aEfuLoY=&docid=3TzD4DHygUKvbM&sa=X&ei=UY0wUfuxNofqmAXE-IEY&ved=0CGMQ9QEwBw&dur=7950

 

[999x]

yeah, ssds are 'supposed' to stay pretty cool, but with a hdd next to it, and almost touching the bottom of the cpu, and being in a poorly ventilated space, it gets pretty hot in there.
this case is notorious for 2 things; 1. low wattage psu and 2. poor cooling/airflow

i have run it vertical and horizontal, and theres only about a 3-5 degree diff in temps.
once i get this new fan in, im 100% certain temps will drastically improve when sitting vertically. but if i want/need to sit it horizontally i cant put it the right way up, as it will block out the chassis fan completely.

im basically looking for peace of mind that its safe to turn it upside down, should i need to have it that way.

 

[jasont78]

yeah, ssds are 'supposed' to stay pretty cool, but with a hdd next to it, and almost touching the bottom of the cpu, and being in a poorly ventilated space, it gets pretty hot in there.
this case is notorious for 2 things; 1. low wattage psu and 2. poor cooling/airflow

i have run it vertical and horizontal, and theres only about a 3-5 degree diff in temps.
once i get this new fan in, im 100% certain temps will drastically improve when sitting vertically. but if i want/need to sit it horizontally i cant put it the right way up, as it will block out the chassis fan completely.

im basically looking for peace of mind that its safe to turn it upside down, should i need to have it that way.

i know what your saying and its a good attitude to have but end of the day you chose that case with its pitfalls, with your hdds for one you have a ssd and another 2.5" inch drive they both wont make much heat at all and so long as your not covering up your vents or sitting it on top of a stereo or something else hot or your not running prime 95 24/7 it should be ok and remember 2.5" drives are usually living in laptops and i can tell you now your case will have better ventilation every laptop on the market

 

[999x]

i was well aware of the pitfalls before i bought it (in my circumstances they werent that major anyway), so was ready to mod from the get-go.
i easily overcame the low wattage PSU by carefully selecting my components (means a less powerful PC, but its still a big step up from what i used to have)

as for the ventilation, i'll start by saying that my temps arent critically high. just higher than i would like. so i am happy (and keen) to do a little bit of mod work to improve this.

since last posting i have sucessfully modded the case to effectively increase the ventilation in the bottom compartment by about 4-fold! (like others, im really not sure why antec went with a solid panel with two tiny little vents on each side, instead of a mesh grill like the top. either way, it was a fun little mod to do.)

temps are already significantly lower (about 6-8 degrees, and todays ambient room temp is a higher than when i last tested), and the case is cool to touch, not hot/warm like it used to be.
and thats without even putting the 120mm fan in yet!

once i get that fan in, things should be ice cold (jokes) 😛
its just a matter of if i can run the thing upside down, should i need to put it that way for some reason (i use this as a portable pc, so it moves from desk to desk a lot)
going by your first answer, and other things ive read, running it upside down is fine.

 

[999x]

i will also add, that my assumption at the start was wrong. you were right, its not really the drives that heated it up a lot, but rather the cpu/mobo kind of heating up the drive area, almost using the drives like heatsinks. a better cpu cooler may have improved this, but there are limited coolers which fit this case without being too high or hitting the RAM (plus a better cooler probably costs more than a piece of mesh and a cheap case fan from ebay).

either way, the drive area is now cooler as the heat can dissipate out the mesh, instead of building up in an enclosed place.