Does this case have sufficient cooling???

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LaptopGamer1

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Apr 23, 2013
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Hello everyone,

Firstly I would like to apologise if I have started this thread in wrong section, I was unable to find a 'cases' section.

I really like this case and I am unable to find anything else that's even on par in terms of aesthetics , apart from maybe this http://www.originpc.com/gaming/desktops/millennium/ (although I believe it's most likely very expensive and I'm unable to even find it for sale anywhere? Strange?).

It's important that the case I'm about to provide a link to has sufficient cooling, I conerned about this as maybe the case was not designed with gamers in mind? I'm no expert (this is my first build) but in regards to what the reviewer and multiple youtube commenters had to say about it, it seems as though it has not been designed internally very well? I'm also slightly concerned about how difficult it will be to build inside as this will be my first build, although I'm not too worried about this.

edit* I will be purchasing either a gtx 780 or r9 290 (which I believe reaches higher temperatures even with non-reference cards) that should give you an idea in terms of what temperatures the pc will reach as it will be used for playing the very latest games!

Here is the review video (which is worth watching if you have the time, as pictures I have learned, are poor when it comes to evaluating a chassis). --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIbrYugNvxA.

This believe this includes the case specifications at the bottom of the page --> http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2014/01/23/in-win-904-review/1

Please note, that if it means I can still go ahead with purchasing this case then I am willing to pay a premium for the best fans (whatever they are, maybe corsair?). However I do understand after reading various articles and threads, that the positions of these fans and the internal layout of the chassis is more important.

Many thanks in advance, :)
 
Solution
Shneiky
3 x 120 mm front fans from be quiet!. SHADOW WINGS SW1 120mm LS - I use 3 of these as 2 top exhaust and 1 rear exhaust. They are inaudible even if you stick your ear to them. The fans might not have great specs, but 3 of them move impressive amount of air at no noise.

http://www.alternate.co.uk/be-quiet!/SHADOW-WINGS-SW1-120mm-LS/html/product/919854?

For rear exhaust - be quiet! Silent Wings 2 140 mm. The fans come with 7V adapter in their box. This brings the speed of the fan to low. It still moves a lot of air while being inaudible. This is how I have most of my fans connected.

http://www.alternate.co.uk/be-quiet!/Silent-Wings-2-140-mm/html/product/989339?

In total I have 5 120mm be quiet! fans in my case. As their name suggest...
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this case can only have 2 120mm fans in it and im guessing you'll also be over clocking those gpu so the temps will get really high. so i would not recommend this case for your build. but this may also depend on the type of cooling system you'll have for your cpu or gpu. you would be better off getting a corsair,thermaltake,cooler master, or aerocool. plus that case is 275$ on ncix, youre better off getting a 60-150$ case with good air flow. also one other thing i would like to add is that that case has no dvd/cd drive in it so installing windows will be hassle. in my opinion if you want a case for cooling a case from the corsair carbide series would be a great choice.
 
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Well if you really like that case for its aesthetics - thats good, because it is the only thing that you will receive. The 280 bucks you pay for it if I am correct, will only give you aesthetics. The InWin 904 displays 10C rise in both CPU and GPU temps than most cases. Even an good old HAF 912 for 50 bucks will provide 10C less on both fronts with default fans. Even more - the 904 supports CPU cooler up to 145 mm, and that is very small. Will the InWin 904 break your components? No, but it will make your fans spin so fast that it will sound like a little helicopter in the room. I can not share your aesthetics taste, but purely from a technical standpoint of view, the 904 is more of a "display of status" than having practical usage for higher end hardware.

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/in_win_904_review,9.html

 
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Hi , the inwin 904 is 150 pounds here in the uk. I have no problem in purchasing the case for that amount. I'm not sure if it's shown in the video or if you watched it but it does have a sort of hidden dvd drive, it's found in the square section which looks as though it has been cut out at the front of the case at the bottom.
 
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Also to correct you on the fan sizes, according to the second link I posted (at bottom of page) it states Cooling 1 x 140mm base fan mount (fan not included), 1 x 92mm rear fan mount (fan not included)
 
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my mistake, but what i was trying to say is with the gaming build youre making, its better to get a case that can fit more than 2 fans and the fans that take are in should be in the front or top and the fans that exhaust hot air should go in the back. also what cpu or gpu cooler will you be using?
 
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@Shneiky I disagree in regards to it being a "display of status" well not for me anyway. I'm quite fond of apples simplicity and minimalist, contemporary designs. Although the only Apple product I have ever owned is an ipod, I can still appreciate the design of their computers. As Steve job once said, (this is not the exact quote) but something along the lines of "You've made a brilliant cake but you've frosted it with dog shit".

As the computer will be sitting sideways inside a large wooden cabinet (doors open when pc is on) the ports are in a really good position (on the side) and I like the tempered glass as well plus the fact that the entire side panel is glass.

If there is ANY way I can keep this pc cool then I will take it into consideration, as I said I'm willing to buy the best fans. Is this 100% not possible?

Many thanks
 
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The answer is no. Also putting it in a cabinet even with the doors open is another bad Idea. Sorry.



 
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@LaptopGamer1,

You might disagree that this case is a "display of status" but that is exactly what it is. Lets take this piece by piece:

1 - If you did check the link you would have noticed:
CPU Cooler

"Due to 904’s width our test system CPU cooler extended outside of the case. This is rather unfortunate and disappointing – our Noctua NH-U12P is 158mm in height, most flagship offerings are around 160mm so this completely rules any compatibility with these devices out. There is up to 145mm available for coolers."

They wrapped it with plastic foil to simulate closed case. With 145 mm for coolers - you are pretty much stuck. Anything above stock I7 is impossible. They recorded 10C rise in temperatures compared to other average airflow cases with stock configuration. And they used Noctua NH-U12P. If you use any 145 mm cooler you are looking at a rise over 15C. Other option is to use top-down cooler, which will trow and circulate hot air inside the case, since the case does not have good exhaust and a potential rise of 20C in CPU temperature.

The custom cooling solution video cards use axial coolers. Meaning they drop little hot air outside of the case and more hot air in. This will rise the temperature of the components even more.

You can always mount a AIO liquid cooler outside of the case, but it will need open air, and putting it in a wooden cabined like you wished will very likely burn through the cabinet in some time. Regardless, putting this case in a cabinet is like slowly cooking your hardware. You can't expect to cram 400W of Heat dissipated by your hardware in a wooden box even with the door open. It will be a miracle if it lasts an year, specially the PSU. PSU components, such as capacitors, don't react well to heat. The capacitors dry up, start bursting and then a nice firework display comes into play.

Even an one of those old white cases that came with Pentium 3s have better thermals than this.

2. The case is so tightly sealed that you can't create useful positive or negative pressure. The case itself is starved for air. The maximum heat this case can effectively handle is by my estimation is 200W of heat. That is an I5 and a GTX 660 without any overclock.

3. You can cram a lot more hardware, but the starvation for cold air will rise all the fan speed to unbearable levels. 45-50 db of noise is hardly comfortable.

4. The only case "fans" that can possibly help you are some industrial fans:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de12tfexhisp.html

Like this Delta fan that moves 220 CFM at an amazing noise of 65 db. A typical vacuum cleaner is around 70 db.

5. On top of that you want to put it in a cabinet.

You might not share my aesthetics with me, but this case, from a purely technical point of view considering cooling is just beyond poor. There is NO way you can fit a high-end CPU and a 780/290 in this case and it not sounding like a jet plane or melting itself. You might not agree with me, but you can't argue with physics. This case is purely a "display of status" and has no practical application for high-end hardware, without it sounding like a jet plane.

If you want a straight answer - No, you can not keep this PC cool with your chosen hardware inside a cabinet.

P.S You can always try and make a custom water loop which goes outside of the case to somewhere to dump the heat and return the cold water in. Though the VRMs and the PSU will still suffer.

 
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@instertURL "also what cpu or gpu cooler will you be using?" Either the r9 290 vapour or the gtx 780 asus DirectCU II. EDIT - I haven't chosen a cpu cooler , but I will be using an i5 4690k cpu, if it meant being able to use this case I would of bought a very good cpu cooler, I did not plan in over clocking the cpu (not initially anyway).

@Shneiky "You might disagree that this case is a "display of status" but that is exactly what it is" If that's your opinion then that's fine. What I believe you should be saying is... "the only purpose the case has is it's visual appearance due it having poor cooling abilities and therefore is not suited to my needs which is most likely correct given a few of you have stated so. "A display of status" is incorrect, it almost implies vanity... There are many I'm sure who share my tastes and find the case an attractive design.

Regardless, I suppose I will have to look for something else. I'm rather fed up of looking at almost every case that exists and finding that the majority of them appear to be made from shoddy plastic and almost have a childish look about them. The large glass panel allow me to proudly view the components in the first computer I have ever built.

I wonder, does anyone know of where I can purchase this case in the uk or have it shipped in the uk ---> http://www.originpc.com/gaming/desktops/millennium/ It's most likely beyond the amount I would be willing to pay for a computer case.

It's a shame the 904 does not have better cooling, I would ask you would it make a difference if I took off the back panel but I believe this was done in the review, I will also mention that I'm willing to buy a high quality cpu cooler although judging by what you've said... I doubt this will make little difference. As this is my first build, water cooling is out of the equation anyway and I suppose I also show little interest in water cooling although I can appreciate the appearance of UV reactive water tubes!

In regards to the wooden cabinet issue. I appreciate your advice but I after building the pc, I will be placing it in the cabinet first and I will careful monitor how hot the computer gets (I'm sure one of you can recommend a good preferably free software to monitor different component temperatures).

If anyone has any more suggestions then feel free to post, I suppose I will have to look for a new case, I will post a case I find here for you all to review and provide me with critical feedback.

Many thanks
 
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Ok so I'm looking at the corsair carbide 540 and when looking at the panel without the transparent material to see the components I noticed a side fan at the bottom. As the side with this side fan would be resting pretty much flush with a wall... is there anyway I can get by without using that particular fan? As I've been looking for a LONG time at a replacement for the inwin 904 and the the carbide 540 I decided would be the best case... as it's short in depth and just about fits in terms of width.

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/carbide-air-540-right-solid-side-panel this is the fan vent I'm referring to, I'm hoping it's not essential!

Many thanks!
 
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I have a few more questions...

Does this fan have excellent cooling abilities?
Which fans would you recommend for each fan mount (I believe they're called fan mounts)? I don't mind paying a premium for the best fans, I have no idea as to what sizes are best and also I would preferably like my fans to be quiet (like most people I'm sure).

Many thanks!
 
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3 x 120 mm front fans from be quiet!. SHADOW WINGS SW1 120mm LS - I use 3 of these as 2 top exhaust and 1 rear exhaust. They are inaudible even if you stick your ear to them. The fans might not have great specs, but 3 of them move impressive amount of air at no noise.

http://www.alternate.co.uk/be-quiet!/SHADOW-WINGS-SW1-120mm-LS/html/product/919854?

For rear exhaust - be quiet! Silent Wings 2 140 mm. The fans come with 7V adapter in their box. This brings the speed of the fan to low. It still moves a lot of air while being inaudible. This is how I have most of my fans connected.

http://www.alternate.co.uk/be-quiet!/Silent-Wings-2-140-mm/html/product/989339?

In total I have 5 120mm be quiet! fans in my case. As their name suggest - their are quiet. Their performance / noise ratio at low/mid speed is unsurpassed even by Noctua, which many enthusiast love. Of course, there are better fans out there, but heir availability is in most countries, is non existent. Such fans as Noiseblocker or Yate Loon, but they are quite hard to get.

Regardless, if you wish, you can either mount 2 more 140mm fans on top of the 540, or go without them. They wont be that essential. What top fans mostly do is pull air through the motherboard power delivery components, which is essential for extreme CPU overclocks.

Cheers


 
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Solution
Thank you very much for your response, I will most likely add roof fans to the case as you mentioned as I will need as much cooling as possible, due to the fact that the pc will be tested in the cupboard/cabinet I mentioned earlier on :)
 
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Well, I do wish to warn you that inside the cabinet, the hot air is going to be recycled. This means that the air itself in the case going to be very hot. And this poses a threat to capacitors, mosfets and other power design related components.

Even if your CPU and GPU temps get 10C hotter in the cabinet then outside, the temperature inside the case might rise by 20c or even more. Capacitor life doubles for every 10c below the maximum operating temperature. Meaning, a usual capacitor lives 2000 hours at 100C. If the capacitors at 50C, then they have a life span of 32 000 hours or roughly 3.5 years of 24/7 use.

And you can't monitor the temperature on those components. So do be careful. Cheers.
 
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Thank you I appreciate the advice especially in regards to not being able to monitor the temperature of certain components, do you know of any software which can monitor temperatures of most components. Unfortunately as we are short of space I must try the pc in the cabinet first. I will be fixing as many fans to the pc as possible and I won't be gaming for more than a few hours at a time. I'm sure this won't prevent hot air from remaining inside the pc case but I will try and cool the case with fans as best as I can.

Many thanks :)
 
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I do have to warn you, that is going to take minutes to rise the temperature significantly.

Anyway:

CPU Temp: RealTemp, CoreTemp and others

GPU Temp: GPUTemp, MSI Afterburner and many more

What I do is I get GPU Monitor (Windows 7 Gadget) and System Monitor with CoreTemp (Windows 7 gadget). It reads all of the system's resources, temps, fan speed etc.
 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNEi8SvMYwM < --- I found this video on youtube which at 1:28 mentions the exhaust on that side panel is used for the power supply to breath, do you still believe that the fan is not essential? Sorry to be a pain but I would appreciate your opinion.

In regards to the pc being placed in the cabinet, if you can imagine square shaped opening (once doors are open to the cabinet) and the pc sitting in the middle with the panel with exhaust fan flush with back of cabinet. Then each side of the windowed panel there is approximately 142mm of space between the front panel ie the one with the usb ports (as this front end will be facing right) and also the same amount of space between the back of the pc (end opposite to the usb port end, as the window side panel will be facing directly outwards from the cabinet (so when opening the cabinet the windowed side panel is what will be seen).

The total width of the cabinet is approximately 700mm thus creating an approximate 142mm down the side of the cabinet (between front usb port end of pc and back) as the pc is 415mm in depth.

So... as air will be taken in from the front (usb port end) of pc which will be facing the right hand side of the cabinet and out through the opposite back end of the pc which will be facing the left hand side of the cabinet. I'm wondering what effect attaching fans to the inside and back of the cabinet down the left hand side gap and thus directing the exhaust air out of the cabinet will have.

There is then the possibility that this air might then be recycled back into the cabinet down the right hand gap, but who knows.

I do not not have any clue as to how I would mount these fans or where I would connect them to but I'm sure there is a way and they seem pretty necessary.

:)
 
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That grill is not for mounting a fan. The PSU is installed sideways and it takes air in from there.
http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2013/06/corsair-carbide-air-540-review/carbide-air-540-16-1280x1024.jpg
Like in that image.

About the fan placement: 3 front are intakes. Rear and top are Exhaust. Creates a streamlined "air tunnel".

Also, I was wondering if you could remove the back of the cabinet. Basically to let the hot air escape. Instead of the cabinet to be like a box with a door opening, to be a like a square tunnel with a door at the front. If you can do that, then I guess you are all good.
 
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Ah I see, the psu fan would take air in from there according to the picture. As long as it definitely doesn't require air from that vent then all is ok as like I mentioned previously that side of the pc will be flush with the wall.

I have however previously described the cabinet with a back to it (to make it easier to visualise) although in reality the cabinet is built into a brick recess. The cabinet has no cabinet back to it if that makes sense, instead it is built into a gap in the wall/recess. Which means the back cannot be taken off, so I guess I will have to somehow mount a fan down the left hand side at the back (on the wall) in order for the exhaust air to be pushed out of the cabinet. Thanks for your suggestion though.
 
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However as you mentioned the top are exhaust... and if I want to use them, then I suppose there would have to be fans at the back wall directing the air out over the top of the pc... which is starting to sound rather ridiculous.
 
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That particular vent has to be, and I repeat HAS TO BE clear. The PSU needs air, period. If you push it directly to a wall and the PSU starves for air, then the risk of having too much heat cooking the capacitors actually becomes a reality. Dried capacitors burst out and when they do, the PSU can blow up (literally, like with sparks and a loud "Boom") and take the rest of the system with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwiyf1wxeAo

This is how a cap can explode.

I really advise you to reconsider the whole cabinet idea. Or rather, cut a whole somewhere next to the back, so the hot air can go out. Regardless of what super fans and how much you spend, any cooling solution can do only and ONLY as much as the ambient air. By trapping the computer inside that cabinet, it is going to recycle and heat air over and over again. You are practically begging it to fail.
 
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