Anyone have any experience building a wind tunnel for CPU cooler exhaust?

[patonb]

You could easily leave structure support peices instead of a big hole.

 

[soarwitheagles]

I would do is a bit of experimentation with a cardboard tunnel, it won't accurately model the sound but at least you will be able to check the cooling performance of various configurations without having to do metalwork each time.

Doesn't have to be a metal mesh...

Kmote, I like your idea...that could save lots of time and metal!

Basically the mesh would only be to keep the sides of the tunnel secured together to keep from rattling around. You'll need to cut the bottom of the tunnel out (side closest to the mobo), I'd try just running it like that first and see if there's any unwanted rattling or noise. If there's not, you don't even need to trouble yourself with the mesh.

However, if the metal vibrates a lot, then you'll have to look at a way to keep it from moving. I'm not too sure how much a wire grid will help though; how have you attached the wind tunnel to the clear fan casing?

I attached the metal tunnel to the clear fan casing by drilling a small pilot hole first, then inserting a small screw. The tunnel cannot move at all.

You could easily leave structure support peices instead of a big hole.

Yes, that too is a great idea. I also thought of simply drilling a number of small holes to make a sieve like vent, but I like the idea of using some wire mesh...

I do have one more question for you guys:

Anyone have any experience using CPUID Hardware Monitor on an AMD system? I am trying to understand what the following temps are referring to on my Gigabyte Motherboard:

TPMIN0 - 32C
TMPIN1 - 26C
TMPIN2 - 32C

I suspect one or more of these readings refers to the Northbridge or Southbridge Chip...

Am I correct in my assumption?

Thanks,

Soar