PC case horizontal

[nmou88]

Hi i come here because i need some help so here's the problem : i want to turn my pc case horizontaly cause i dont have space in the room do i want to know if its possible
My case is cooler master force 500 with 2 120mm fans in front and rear of the case
The cooler cpu is zalman cnps80f with amd fx 8320 cpu and my gpu card is sapphire r9 280x tri-x and i have 1 hdd and ssd fixed

 

[IamTimTech]

As long as you turn it on its side and none of your fans are against a wall, desk or floor you should be fine.

 

[SkyBill40]

There should be no issues with you placing it on the side. As above, make sure all your ventilation is in good order and you're golden. If you've not checked it in a while, now might also be a good time to blow it out.

 

[A_Goat]

The main issue with tipping cases is the effect it has on the CPU/GPU cooling solutions.
If your cooling solutions utilizes heatpipes (Yours do), the orientation the heatsink is in WILL effect cooling performance!

"Ideally, you would want the lowest point of the heatpipe to be contacting the heat source, with the rest of the heatpipe above. It's true that heatpipes work well enough against gravity, but remember - the liquid inside the pipe wants to rise once it vaporizes, and the liquid, being relatively cooler and denser, wants to fall. The wick structure of the inner walls are reasonably capable of overcoming the force of gravity, but it's less effective than it would be if it didn't have to work against gravity."

http://noctua.at/images/faqs/nh_c12p_orientation.jpg

If the orientation graphs confuse you, you could simply do a test (prime 95) of your CPU temps of the tower standing up right.
And then compare the test to the tower on its side. If the temps are not too far apart, you're fine.

 

[IamTimTech]

The cooler I found that he listed, the zalman cnps80f is light weight and does not have heat pipes. He will be fine.

 

[A_Goat]

I just realized what CPU cooler you were using... have you compared the temps of the stock 8320 cooler to your zalman cooler?
The stock cooler should outperform that zalmann in both temperature and noise level.

Your Zalmann CPU cooler does not use heatpipes, so that will not be affected by case orientation. I recommend tossing it into the garbage though, you need a new cpu cooler!
The GPU on the other hand does use heatpipes, so it will be affected by case orientation. be sure to check temps underload and at idle!

 

[nmou88]

My cpu is 35° degres idle

 

[A_Goat]

My cpu is 35° degres idle

What are the temps under load? Prime 95 is a good way to put the CPU under stress.
http://www.mersenne.org/download/

 

[IamTimTech]

If it works and has been working then don't worry about replacing your cooler but he is right, that cooler probably does a worse job than the stock one, and with a 125w processor you should have a quality cooler. With your pc on its side assuming you have the motherboard towards the floor which I strongly recommend if you turn your computer on its side then you will actually be taking weight off of your card and pcie connectorsand potwntially take stress off of your pci slot

 

[synphul]

Maybe some of the people posting here would have an idea, I'm not sure how it would affect not just the heatpipes (if present) on the coolers, but the fans themselves. I know some people use a btx style board mount (their motherboard 'upside down' from typical with the cpu on bottom, gpu's on top) and it's been said that orientation can cause gpu fans to fail faster. I'm assuming because it would place the cards so the fans are pressing down on their bearings rather than hanging from them, but I don't know how that would translate to vertical orientation (on it's side). Same with hdd's if you're using mechanical hard drives, some drives don't like to be in a vertical position.

 

[nmou88]

Ok thank you so i will change my cpu cooler to the stock one and i will put my case in vertical position, my cpu is at 45 degres on load and the gpu is at 90 degres on load on horizontal position !

 

[A_Goat]

Ok thank you so i will change my cpu cooler to the stock one and i will put my case in vertical position, my cpu is at 45 degres on load and the gpu is at 90 degres on load on horizontal position !

If those temps are true you do not need to change coolers.

 

[nmou88]

But you said "The stock cooler should outperform that zalmann in both temperature and noise level."

 

[IamTimTech]

Just try them both, the only concern I would have is the above mentioned about your GPU fans, but going from horizontal to vertical (the gpu fan orientation not the case) should be fine, if it were upside down you should be concerned.