Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (
More info?)
On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 23:49:05 GMT, "Veritech"
<jonathan.dalrymple@hotmail.com> wrote:
>getting a new system
>
>2600+ sempron
>512 DDR400
>9600 pro 128mb
>gigabyte mobo
>20GB 5200
>15GB 5200
>dvd
>cdrw
>raidmax case
>
>I know my systems not the hottest thing hot there, but i like to be over
>cautious. My cpu temp on my old system(1ghz celeron, 256mb)is 51c and the
>case temp is 30. just under a average/low load, i've got three fans (not
>including the psu and cpu fans), should i consider a
>1)HDD cooler(specifically on the drive where i'm gonna store the games)
>2)a couple more case fans
>3)After market ram heatsinks
>
>I'm not intenting on over clocking the cpu, but i do plan to OC the gfx card
>from 450/350 to 500/375.
>
>Your thoughts please.
The power supply is overrated junk... watch it carefully.
Overall the case is very bad for airflow, what poor attempts
it makes are counterproductive.
For benefit of other readers I post a review with a few
pics,
http://www.bigbruin.com/reviews/raidmaxcobra/
Your case has fan mounts in the mostly-obstructed,
stamped-out-metal style. That produces noise, causes dust
buildup that clogs the holes, and severely limits airflow.
Further their idea of trying to squeeze 4 fan mounts on the
front is a poor one, the case just isn't sturdy enough to
cut them all out, instead they've have been as well off
putting just two mounts in the center but all the intake
holes (open area) concentrated on those two.
Rear exahust is a similar problem, AND if the case came with
the pictured fans, they may be a maintenance issue due to
poor sleeve bearings... I'd suggest lubing them every 12
months or so.
Ideally you would cut out a 120mm hole on the front, bottom
center, and mount a few low RPM fan there. The remaing
holes on the front being covered with (HVAC) Aluminum tape,
preferribly on the outside wall, just in case the adhesive
doesn't stick well then you wouldn't have the electrically
conductive aluminum loose in the chassis.
The rear found mounts also need cut out, at least one of
them but preferribly both. Again the quality of the case is
an issue, if you cut too close to the left side it may
introduce low structural stability. Because of this I
suggest horizontally cutting a 1" "flap" for the left side
(looking into case) and bending that flap backwards to
provide more support. It won't look pretty but it makes the
most out of the case. You might be able to just cut a
standard hole if you were not moving the case around much
and being more carefull if/when it is moved.
If your case has a PSU similar to the one pictured, it's
particularly beneficial to cut out the top rear fan hole, as
the motherboard and CPU will have to deal with a hot zone
there otherwise, since the PSU has no bottom air intake. If
the PSU does have bottom intake, the lower rear fan might
aid more in keeping the back of the video card cool but it's
splitting hairs, ideally both fan mounts would be enlarged
as much as possible.
In particular I would advise against enlarging the back
without any changes to the front, as that will decrease
airflow through the power supply. At the very least it
would be good to enlarge the front intake, but I'd go ahead
and put a fan in front, at worst it can run near inaudibly
at around 6V and help cool the HDDs. Same goes for a pair
of 80 fans, if you happened to have a pair and were trying
to minimize the additional cost, but they should be mounted
in the center, not according to pre-stamped patterns.
As for o'c of video card, if the case has the side fan mount
low enough to blow some of the air under the video card
(hard to tell from the pic and it depends on the
motherboard's AGP slot placement too), then it should be ok.
It does look a little too high though, like they decided to
center it blowing on nothing in particular instead of a more
stategic placement. You'll just have to try it and see...
often the video card o'c depends more on a fair heatsink
than anything else though it might help to keep the adjacent
PCI slot case-bracket cover off to allow some passive
airflow across the face of the card.
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