How to Maximize CoolerMaster Elite 130 Cooling?

mjwhelan

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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
 
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DemciFlex do make magnetic dust filters for the elite 130: http://www.demcifilter.com/p0450/Cooler-Master-Elite-130-Mini-ITX-Dust-Filter-Kit.aspx

However as i live i UK and don't wanna wait ages for shipping (As i have the same case for my HTPC) i'm making my own. Just...

Rammy

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It's not a great case for airflow, but your video card isn't going to be generating huge amounts of heat. You didn't list your other components, but it's unlikely you'll have any major drama.
The stock Elite 130 has no exhausts, but you can flip fans around to rework the airflow, and I've heard that flipping the front fan does give a decent improvement on temp deltas.
It is possible to use the PSU as an exhaust fan, though it's probably not advisable. It's the sort of thing that you'd really have to experiment with to see if it actually made any real difference.

I'd stick with the stock setup, and play around with it to see what sort of results you get. It's quite possible that even in it's stock layout you'll be absolutely fine if you don't have anything hugely power hungry in there.
 

mjwhelan

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The system will be:

i5 4440 stock cooler
Asrock H81M-ITX
HD 7850 1gb OC
1tb HDD
60gb SSD
XFX 550w 80+ bronze
Coolermaster elite 130


I don't think heat should be too much of a problem as it is an Intel system which is non overclocked. The system will be on my desk due to the small size, so it will have good air flow to the case.

It will be used for gaming and general use if that makes any difference.
 

Rammy

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Yeah you should be fine, nothing is going to generate an awful lot of heat, and the case is fairly well vented at the sides. Like I say you can mess around with the pre-installed fans if you are getting higher than ideal temperatures, but I wouldn't have thought you have anything to worry about really.
 

mjwhelan

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Whats the best way to keep dust out of the case? I have looked at normal dust filter for the fans but I don't think they will fit :(

Any Ideas?

Thanks
 

David Dewis

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DemciFlex do make magnetic dust filters for the elite 130: http://www.demcifilter.com/p0450/Cooler-Master-Elite-130-Mini-ITX-Dust-Filter-Kit.aspx

However as i live i UK and don't wanna wait ages for shipping (As i have the same case for my HTPC) i'm making my own. Just ordered 5m of magnetic tape (£5 on Amazon) and have some off cuts of fine thread net curtains(50p from local home and furnishing store for a whole net curtain). Going to either attach the magnetic tape to net with its built in adhesive or i might just use the magnetic force to hold the net in place. Should make essentially that same thing but for a fraction of the price and enough material left over to do my Corsair 600t too.
 
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mjwhelan

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Good Idea, Yeah I'm from the UK to and postage from the USA to here takes ages and costs a bomb. Yeah the curtain would make a good filter, the only other materials I can think of are from women's tights or from the stuff used in vacuum bags. Both of them would stop too much airflow. How much magnetic tape did you order? The equivalent amount of magnetic tape used by demciflex is 1.5meters
 

David Dewis

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I ordered 5m of magnetic tape. Bought my Net curtain from Dunelm Mill (seeing as your in the UK, you may have one near) The weave is very fine, why i chose this one. (you get that strobing effect when you lay bits over each other if you know what i mean). Should be a nice and easy weekend job.
 

mjwhelan

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Yeah sounds good mate, should offer good airflow and work as a good filter! I will go the the local fabric shop tomorrow to try and get some black curtain fabric. Are you installing the filters on the inside of the case or outside?
 

David Dewis

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Preferably on the inside, But i have seen people put the Demicflex filters on the outside which looks terrible. As long as the tape is thing enough to go around GPU, i see no reason for it to go on outside. Could always cut the tape length ways to make it thinner and go further. I did look for black nets, but they did't sell any. (not even new) Could always dye it i suppose
 

mjwhelan

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I'm sure it will be possible to work the magnets and filter clear of the GPU. My case has only just been dispatched so it will be a few days before I get the chance to try make the required filters!
Are you putting filters near the exhaust fan? I can't see much need as it's more likely to stop the heat from escaping
 

David Dewis

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I roved the 400 mm fan as it was stupidly noisy and made no difference. I may set the 120mm as exhaust once i have filters as GPU will pull air in sides and my CPU is water cooled anyway. I'm going to dust proof both sides anyway
 

mjwhelan

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Can you flip the 80mm fan on the cooler master elite 130 so it bring air in to the case? then use the psu to remove the hot air. I don't know if the 80mm fan will be strong enough to push or pull much through a filter, I will test it in a few days.
 

David Dewis

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You can do, but the fan is not very strong and is very loud. It's partly blocked by RAM and the air will enter case, then go straight up into PSU completely missing rest of the motherboard. Temps were barely different without 80mm fan so I wouldn't worry about it.
 

mjwhelan

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Is it possible to upgrade the 80mm fan?
 

David Dewis

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You could do but it wouldn't make much sense to spend money when it still won't make any difference. Half covered by RAM and power cable in my case and any 80mm is going to need to run fast to do anything which means noise
 

mjwhelan

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Got the netted fabric and magnetic tape, now just the long wait for the case to be delivered.
 

mjwhelan

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Why is it not advisable to flip the PSU over and use it as an extractor? I guess it will take some of the air away from the standard Intel CPU cooler, but would it really be enough to starve the cpu?
 

Rammy

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Well it's certainly an option, but I'm not sure it's worth having a negative effect on your PSU temps. Also, the stock Intel cooler is a down-blower and you'd be putting a much larger fan facing the opposite direction immediately above it, they will fight against each other.

The case is pretty well vented, so hot air should escape. Ultimately it's never going to be a very good case for airflow, as both of it's fans are blocked, the front one by HDDs (probably) and the side one by whatever your motherboard has on it's top side (not usually memory, but it can be almost anything - SATA, motherboard power cables, fan cables etc).
The great thing about it is that Intel CPUs are pretty tame in terms of heat generation, and having a vented side panel alongside a graphics card means it's able to keep itself pretty cool without any case fan support. You really shouldn't have any major issues. There are guys running 4670K+R9 290s in the same case, you have nothing to worry about.
 

David Dewis

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All my materials arrived today and i have finished constructed my dust filters, so have some tips for you and some photos. The photos are on my Business Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/daviddewisphotography

1, The structure of the frame is better when the strips are cut at 90 degree angles as seen the pictures.I tried cutting strips at 45 degrees and making tidy looking corners, but this led to the frame becoming very floppy and you dont see the corners anyway.

2.The filters DO fit inside the Case and DO NOT interfere with the GPU in anyway. This leads me to wonder why people on other forums are placing their Demciflex filters on the outside. Perhaps these DIY filters have an advantage i cant see over the manufactured ones?

3. The adhesive will stick to the net, but comes away very easily when moving the filter around once stuck to the case. I have used nail varnish/polish in the corners and edges of the magnetic tape. This has hardened and the net is now firmly held in place

4. Although not shown in my pictures, you have to leave about a finger width of space at the rear of the case, other wise the shell cant slide back into its closed position. Work this out before hand as its a pain to move the filters once they are on the case.

5. As i stated before, i have now set the front 120mm fan as an exhaust. The GPU is bringing alot of air into the case, as i have a dual fan design not a blower, and dumping it into the case. With this setup, my Load GPU temps have dropped by 5 degrees while Idle temps have halved! Idle CPU temps have also dropped by 5 degrees despite hotter air now going through the radiator, I'm guessing that perhaps the CFM of the fans has balanced so the the airflow is greater? CPU load temps are about the the same.

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mjwhelan

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It looks good, did you filter all the intakes + outtakes or just the GPU Intake?
 

David Dewis

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I filtered both side inlets, and also made avery small 'curtain' to hang over the gap abouve the GPU at the rear. No filter on PSU as 1, my PSU is taking air from inside so dust cant get into it anyway. 2. couldn't see a way to fit a filter in te space between PSU and case shell. If i needed too, i could just to size and lay it in place, and it probably wouldn't move.

No reason for filter at the front now that its exhausting air, plus i don't have anyway of attaching it. Fan is sung into case, but not flush on front, and Radiator on inside.

Might make up some filters for my 600t now.
 

mjwhelan

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Only just found out how much difference there is in noise when I unplug the molex fans and only use the 3 pin fans on my existing PC, what a difference! I hope my new mother board has enough 3 pin headers so I don't have to use noisy molex fans. Do 3 pin splitters to molex work as well as just a 3 pin?

Also whats a good affordable water cooler? I have looked at the H60 but the reviews are very mixed, I want something low profile and very reliable, so airflow is good inside the case and so I never have any problems like it breaking down or leaking water over hundreds of pounds worth of kit. I cant overclock anyway so it doesn't really need to be the best.

Also how are the stock fans that come with the elite 130? is it worth replacing them with potentially quieter more powerful fans to increase the amount of airflow?

Thanks
 

David Dewis

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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.
 

mjwhelan

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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