Opinion on airflow (could be related to possible high idle temp on GTX 970)

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Zunichi

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Hello! Just hoping if I can get your opinion with my airflow (see photo in link).

http://s8.postimg.org/i7hfcbryt/IMG_1373_EDITED.jpg

I've been wondering whether to make my front fan going exhaust instead of intake. Do you think it would help with my GPU's temperature if I did that? My MSI GTX 970 4GD5T OC idle temp even with fan usage at 32% is 44°C, while under heavy load temp it goes from 80°C to 85°C? I figured the intake fan at the back with the Liquid Cooler (Corsair H55) could be enough but I'm not 100% sure.

Thanks in advance!
 
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madmatt30
You're not bringing in cool air ,you're bringing in air at 40-50c from a warm to hot radiator.


That case should come with 2 front 120mm intake fans?? You only have 1??

What I would consider your best option is
2 x 120mm front intakes.
Mount the rad to the top front fan vent as an exhaust
1 x 120mm exhaust to the rear

That is what I would consider the most sensible & best performing config in that case.
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Zunichi

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Isn't it better to have more exhaust than intake? That's usually what I hear from other people.

Also I've already checked and there's nothing else using the GPU. Although I sort of expected the temp to rise a bit since it's starting to get hot again here in L.A. I'm just wondering if my temp is still acceptable in my current weather (76-80°F).
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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^ no - its generally better to have slightly more intake pressure than exhaust.
As intake fans are filtered which lowers airflow this normally means 2 intakes to 1 exhaust or 3 to 2.

Looking at the pic you shouldn't really be having temp issues IMO.
I have a 970 in a much more cramped environment than that & my temps are much much lower. As in 27-28 idle & 72 under full load .
With your idle temp being 44c I assume your room is pretty warm?? That's going to make a big difference.
 
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Zunichi

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I see. Anyways yeah, now that you mentioned it I think it's just a bit warm over here. Checked the room's temp and it's 82°F (27°C) in here. But still.

Quick question tho, my fan speed at 32% is going at 990-997 RPM. Do you think that's normal? How's yours? Just wondering if maybe the GPU's fan also has something to do with it.
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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Fan speeds on 80&92 mm GPU fans tend to be max 2500-3000rpm so looks about right.
Think about setting a custom fan curve with MSI afterburner mate - on a lot of 970's the second fan doesn't kick up till 50c+ ,if idle temps are 44 its only going to take 30 seconds under load to hit 80c .
Those temps aren't dangerous but there's not a lot you can do if your ambient temps are high.
Not a problem here in the UK - at work on site now & just been bombarded by 10 minutes worth of golf ball sized hailstones!!!
 
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GeForce Junky

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I found my MSI cooler tends to push a lot of hot air forwards, so if you have the front fans as intake, the air stagnates as it tries to push against the GPU hot air and your GPU temp rises. Changing to front exhaust helped significantly. Can you fit a side intake fan? I modified my side panel to take a 200mm side intake fan that runs very slowly but provides the gpus with a good amount of cool air to use. Does you case have space for a top mounted fan/radiator. If this is the case you could make your rear radiator intake and leave the top open as a natural air vent.
 
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Zunichi

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Yeah I've actually made a custom curve already which got me those temps I mentioned. It helped but not by much. Although maybe it's just my room temp that's the main culprit, so nothing much I can do, except maybe try different configs with my front fan as "GeForce Junky" have mentioned.

Hail stones aside, I'd love to have your weather. :)
 
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Zunichi

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I thought about switching my front fan to the sides since I think my case can fit 2 side fans, but I don't have small nuts for the fan screws to latch on so I decided not to do it.

I think I do have space at the top but I've put an exhaust fan placed on there already. Also the radiator actually is doing intake already so I'm not quite sure what you meant.

Although your explanation for switching my front to exhaust actually makes sense so I might give that a try. I can always bring it back to my current config if it actually got worse. I'll let you know what happens.
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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I wouldn't entertain switching the front to exhaust to be honest mate - its the only cool air coming into your case at the moment .
Think about switching your rad to exhaust & fitting a side fan as an extra is my advice.
You don't need nuts to fit a side fan - the screws go in with the heads on the outside ,through the side panel & into the fan itself.

What case is that exactly - looks like a spec 01 but I could be wrong.
What country are you ?? I'll point you to the fans Id use for a side panel - you don't want anything too high rpm to minimise vibration.
 
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Zunichi

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But wouldn't the fan with the radiator be enough for pushing cool air inside? I know the air is getting filtered through the radiator but I just thought maybe it still gives in enough.

As for my case, its a CM Storm Scout 2 Advanced ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BKUYZWS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ). The places on the side that I think are for the fans have holes that are too big for the screws to latch on so I'm assuming I'd need some nuts.

I actually do have an extra fan but I don't have anymore fan ports in my motherboard. If I did, that would solve my problem right away! :(
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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You're not bringing in cool air ,you're bringing in air at 40-50c from a warm to hot radiator.


That case should come with 2 front 120mm intake fans?? You only have 1??

What I would consider your best option is
2 x 120mm front intakes.
Mount the rad to the top front fan vent as an exhaust
1 x 120mm exhaust to the rear

That is what I would consider the most sensible & best performing config in that case.
 
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Zunichi

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LOL Yeah it did come with 2 but decided to put the other one to the top as an exhaust.

If I put the radiator with fan as an exhaust tho, wouldn't that be a bad idea since I'm pushing hot air through the radiator? Or are you saying that I pull the air from the radiator?

As for your config, that actually looks good. But my problem is I don't have any more fan ports in my mobo. I actually have 4 but the Liquid Cooler with radiator needs 1 + Fan with that radiator needs 1 + 1 top exhaust + 1 front intake = 4.

Is there a way around that?
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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Dont the case fans come with molex adapters ??
Most people run intakes pretty much full rpm anyway & just leave the exhaust & CPU fan under pwm control.

Regarding the rad & fan - either way will work
Either

1. Rad to the case ,fan underneath pushing air upwards through the rad.

2. Fan to the case ,rad underneath - fan pulling air from the rad & exhausting outwards.

I prefer option 1 personally but theres nothing really in it.

If you're struggling to run another fan either a 4 pin to molex adapter for your current spare fan or buy one of these for your rear exhaust.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00261HV2Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1430331757&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&keywords=pwm+pro&dpPl=1&dpID=51ZVxQjcjWL&ref=plSrch

It comes with an inline splitter which you link to your cpu fan - they'll then ramp up or down together under pwm control depending on CPU load/temps
 
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Zunichi

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So basically, connect the fan directly to the PSU using an adapter? I'm not sure yet if mine came with an adapter but I'll check.
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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^ yes mate exactly that - for the intakes not the exhaust.
A cheapo way is splicing 3 of the 4 pin wires together yourself on the intakes leaving the yellow wire taped up on one of them.
Splitter cables are like $2 or so though so not really worth doing.
 
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Zunichi

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I think I just might get the adapter. Thanks!
 
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Royalblunts

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NEVER put a rad on intake, I did this just to test the stupid pressure theories (there is no difference in temps with positive/negative/neutral pressure) but just for shits and gigs I put the rad on intake and my gpu went up 10c and my cpu only went down like 1 or 2c. Your 970 should not be hitting over 80, not a stock clocked 900 series. I have the MSI gold edition and I idle at 34 and load at 65 (auto fan speed so off under 60c). You should at the most only be 10c more and that's being very generous. Get a fan splitter, I am running 2 fans and a pump off the cpu fan port and 3 fans of they system fan port. Don't use molex adapters, the fan can't be controlled that way and will be loud as fuck. Buy a nice sleeved splitter for exactly what you need. The mobo ports put out tons of power, could probably power 5-10 fans off one... depending on the board I guess.

I know this is old but you got some pretty half assed answers up there. You can probably find my fan pressure test results on the tek syndicate forums.
 
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Royalblunts

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Cool air is better sure, but when its exhausting hot air onto your GPU because of that then its defeating the propose. The best way is simply to have enough airflow to keep both components cool, exhausting the heat from both, outside of the case. Blowing how air into the case is just plain... against all logic.


 
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