Help with case Fan placement

[mnelson07]

Having the side panel off only forced the computer to meet the temperature of the room. Unless the room you are in has significant cooling (close to the AC so cooler than rooms further away) and you don't mind a high electric bill (AC constantly compensating), the computer more than likely will raise you temperature of the room a bit.

It's best to keep the side panel on so that the computer attempts to manage it's own temperature. Put the side panel back on and monitor the temps idle and load and see if its bad or not. If you are idling mid to high 40's that's getting high, but if you stay below that you're good.

 

[Raphael Argus]

I seem to be hanging at 38c idle right now with the panel on. If I take it off, it drops 5, if I aim a desk fan at it, it drops another 4-5.

System seems to run fine either way, I guess I better just stop being a weenie and keep that panel on MUCH quieter then with a giant desk fan blowing on it. hehe

 

[Nick]

well things didnt really get hot, all you needed was a PSU fan and you were away

 

[CrazeD]

Having the side panel off will mess up your temperatures usually. It will just equalize air pressure, and no air will really circulate. The air moved from your fans won't really do anything, so it's wasted effort.

Even if you have bad case cooling, keeping the side panel on helps.

 

[Raphael Argus]

I'm keeping the panel on

Thanks for all the help, so much quieter now without the big desk fan rolling all the time and blowing stuff around.

Should I use that PCI card exhaust fan I have or just skip it?

Inside the case I have my 8800GTS taking up the top two slots, on the very bottom is my Audigy card so I have a lot of open space in between them and space for one on top of the video card. I don't feel much heat at the bottom, and with the Artic Freezer Pro cooler it blows all the hot CPU air right into the case exhaust fan and out the back.

I'm guessing no on the PCI card, but if anyone has any other suggestions let me know.

Edit: Also, my front and rear fans are connected to the system fan headers on the motherboard, they show a speed of 1500rpm, but they are 3000rpm fans. If I connect the fans directly to a molex connector from the PSU they spin much faster and harder. Why does it do that? And where should I plug them?

 

[phucng_10]

What I did was a clean wire management to get the wires out of the way. Airflow can be disrupted due to the wires. HDD, I think it wouldn't really matter that much, but I believe HDD's run better when they're a bit warm. Moving the HDD up would be fine, or you can just leave it where it is.

As for the PCI exhaust card, I don't think that's needed. The 80mm fan would do it's job if you connect it through a molex. Meaning, connecting the 3-pin to 4-pin molex connector directly to the PSU. Then it'll run at 3000rpm. Take note that it'll be one loud fan running at night if you leave your computer on.

Oh and for the reason why your 80mm fan only runs at 1500rpm is because it's connected through the motherboard and sharing power. It's not running directly from the PSU so it runs at a lower rpm.