How to Maximize CoolerMaster Elite 130 Cooling?

[mjwhelan]

Hi Guys,

I just ordered the CoolerMaster Elite 130, its the perfect size case for me but I'm a little concerned about the Cooling/Ventilation?

There is only 2 fans, 1x 120mm and 1x 80mm. Is it possible to add more? If so what do I need to order?

I plan on having the PSU pulling air flow across the board instead of from outside. Is this the best idea or will it effect the performance of the 80mm fan?

Is it possible to squeeze a fan in near the graphics card? I have MSI HD 7850 1gb OC so it might get a little heated in suck a small space.

If you have any ideas for cooling please let me know.

Thanks

MJWhelan

 

[David Dewis]

The h60 is perfect for the job. It is what I use and there was no problems with it. I have an H100i in my 600T and again of never had any issue. Fan that is already inside of the case at the front will need to be replaced with the fan comes with the water cooler. If you do want slightly better cooling than an H80i does just fit if you want are using a 2.5 inch drive in the bottom of the case. If you are using a 3.5 inch drive, it will not fit though unless you mount it to the side bracket which I personally removed to get more room.
A Molex to 3 pin adapter will simply run like a Molex connection. The reason a 3 pin connection to a motherboard is quieter, is that the motherboard controls the power to the fan and Varies the speed depending on the amount of heat in the case. If you get the H60, you should only need 1x 3 pin headers on the motherboard plus the cpu heatsink header. The pump plugs into the CPU header, whilst the fan plugs into the system 3 pin header.

Might treat myself to the H60 next month then (already spent nearly £300 pounds on this PC in the past week). regarding the HDD, SDD's, optical drive and watercooler, would I be able to fit the water cooler and have space for 2 SSD's, 1 HDD and 1 DVD drive?

If I don't water cool the system should I change the included 120mm fan? is it any good? is it quite? if not what is powerful but also quiet 120mm fan you can recommend?

Is the included 80mm fan molex or 3 pin? if its 3 pin would it be recommendable to use a 3 pin splitter cable to power both the 120mm and 80mm fans? I think I will keep the 80mm fan as an exhaust fan so other wise no hot air will be able escape quickly.

Thanks for all your help it has been very useful

The included fan is fine., but wouldn't have enough static pressure for a radiator, thus why they give you another one. I believe you can mount 1x 3.5" drive on the side panel, 1x 2.5" drive on the underside of the drive cage, 1x 2.5" drive on the floor and still put a cd drive in & and a water cooler. But cable management would be a nightmare, and you risk blocking up airflow. Why do you need so many HDD/SSD? If you want space, get a HDD. If you want speed, get SSD, if you want a bit of of both , get a hybrid drive (SSHD) There really is no reason to need anything else in a rig that size. You can still partition the drive to get a separate C: & D: drive in windows.

 

[mjwhelan]

The h60 is perfect for the job. It is what I use and there was no problems with it. I have an H100i in my 600T and again of never had any issue. Fan that is already inside of the case at the front will need to be replaced with the fan comes with the water cooler. If you do want slightly better cooling than an H80i does just fit if you want are using a 2.5 inch drive in the bottom of the case. If you are using a 3.5 inch drive, it will not fit though unless you mount it to the side bracket which I personally removed to get more room.
A Molex to 3 pin adapter will simply run like a Molex connection. The reason a 3 pin connection to a motherboard is quieter, is that the motherboard controls the power to the fan and Varies the speed depending on the amount of heat in the case. If you get the H60, you should only need 1x 3 pin headers on the motherboard plus the cpu heatsink header. The pump plugs into the CPU header, whilst the fan plugs into the system 3 pin header.

Might treat myself to the H60 next month then (already spent nearly £300 pounds on this PC in the past week). regarding the HDD, SDD's, optical drive and watercooler, would I be able to fit the water cooler and have space for 2 SSD's, 1 HDD and 1 DVD drive?

If I don't water cool the system should I change the included 120mm fan? is it any good? is it quite? if not what is powerful but also quiet 120mm fan you can recommend?

Is the included 80mm fan molex or 3 pin? if its 3 pin would it be recommendable to use a 3 pin splitter cable to power both the 120mm and 80mm fans? I think I will keep the 80mm fan as an exhaust fan so other wise no hot air will be able escape quickly.

Thanks for all your help it has been very useful

The included fan is fine., but wouldn't have enough static pressure for a radiator, thus why they give you another one. I believe you can mount 1x 3.5" drive on the side panel, 1x 2.5" drive on the underside of the drive cage, 1x 2.5" drive on the floor and still put a cd drive in & and a water cooler. But cable management would be a nightmare, and you risk blocking up airflow. Why do you need so many HDD/SSD? If you want space, get a HDD. If you want speed, get SSD, if you want a bit of of both , get a hybrid drive (SSHD) There really is no reason to need anything else in a rig that size. You can still partition the drive to get a separate C: & D: drive in windows.

I currently use a 60gb ssd for windows 7 and 1tb hdd for media. Was think of getting a 240 gb ssd next time there on sale! Your right though cable management would be very hard

 

[David Dewis]

Quick update, i recently did a video of these custom fan filters in my ITX build. Feel free to leave me some feedback.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyGVZNe0HnA

 

[mjwhelan]

Quick update, i recently did a video of these custom fan filters in my ITX build. Feel free to leave me some feedback.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyGVZNe0HnA

good video mate! my coolermaster elite 130 is fantastic even without water cooling, its so quite and small but doesn't get too hot.

wish i knew about the AMD A8-5600k before i built this system with expensive i5 4440 nevermind lol

 

[scandog23]

I love customizing systems, by which I mean putting parts where they are not meant to be. This case is capable of holding up to five 120mm fans with a little jury rigging using tie wraps and maybe some tape.

My first build consisted of an AMD APU with no discreet GPU, so I installed a 120mm fan facing inwards next to the PCIe slot where a discreet GPU would normally be (rear left side). I also reversed the 80mm fan opposite this (rear right) to discharge air. This gave me direct airflow over the motherboard from left to right.

After rejoining the world of discreet graphics, I had to remove this fan to install the PCIe card. I then moved it forward to the front left, facing inwards. I also replaced the rear right 80mm fan with a 120mm (all with blue LEDs, of course). You can mount all these fans using tie wraps. It may not look great, but the case will be closed, so no one else will see, and airflow will be much better taking advantage of all the vents on the sides of the case.

I have multiple drives, so I needed to keep the vertical mounting board on the front right, but if you remove that, you can add another 120mm fan in its place (I would suggest facing outwards).

If you're worried about excess noise from all these fans, get a fan controller. I'd recommend the NZXT 5-channel. The mesh goes well with the front of the case (but not a perfect match). There will always be a compromise between minimizing noise and maximizing airflow, so buy decent fans too.

I also have a Geminii M4 CPU cooler, which I believe is the largest that will fit in this case. I was planning to liquid cool the CPU, but the temperatures look good in the current configuration. (38c idle, 50-60c under full load). Might look into liquid cooling when I overclock.

Hi Guys,

I just ordered the CoolerMaster Elite 130, its the perfect size case for me but I'm a little concerned about the Cooling/Ventilation?

There is only 2 fans, 1x 120mm and 1x 80mm. Is it possible to add more? If so what do I need to order?

I plan on having the PSU pulling air flow across the board instead of from outside. Is this the best idea or will it effect the performance of the 80mm fan?

Is it possible to squeeze a fan in near the graphics card? I have MSI HD 7850 1gb OC so it might get a little heated in suck a small space.

If you have any ideas for cooling please let me know.

Thanks

MJWhelan

 

[hla4302]

Hi Guys,

I just ordered the CoolerMaster Elite 130, its the perfect size case for me but I'm a little concerned about the Cooling/Ventilation?

There is only 2 fans, 1x 120mm and 1x 80mm. Is it possible to add more? If so what do I need to order?

I plan on having the PSU pulling air flow across the board instead of from outside. Is this the best idea or will it effect the performance of the 80mm fan?

Is it possible to squeeze a fan in near the graphics card? I have MSI HD 7850 1gb OC so it might get a little heated in suck a small space.

If you have any ideas for cooling please let me know.

Thanks

MJWhelan

 

[hla4302]

80 mm fan is catered for the CPU and located next to it, For 120 mm that venting air, which is located front side of the casing and far away from mother board as well as GPU. Purpose for 120 mm is to vent out the hot air, but due to the holes that provided on the cover at the both sides(left and right), it is not serving the full purpose as air from outside of casing is bypassing. My suggestion is to blank off the holes near to the 120 mm fan with the tape so as to draw out the hot air generated from GUP and mother board. And place your PC that allowing a gap for GPU fans to drawing in the outside cooler air(don't block anything at the side of GPU fan).You may try it to modify your air flow, if you are using the computer for many hours. If not, the design of the casing and GUP fans are good enough to maintain the temperature up to safe level about 80'C.

 

[SnipeUout]

The stock 80mm is 15mm thick. Will a 25mm fit in this case as a replacement? Would be great to vent the air from my big shuriken 2 rev. b.