- Apr 30, 2006
- 222
- 0
- 18,680
Note: If you want to cut to the chase, start below the graph.
Hi. My name is Rev, and I have a cooling problem.
Everybody: Hi, Rev.
I guess it all started about nine months ago, but it seems like only yesterday... I was the proud new owner of a 3D Aurora chassis from Gigabyte. Ah, what a sight it was to behold! How the light danced on its smooth, black aluminium skin... How the soft blue glow of its fans beckoned even least-savvied among us to bathe in its subtle radiance... And, oh, the side panel! The beautifully transparent side panel! How it provided each witness with a glimpse into the PC's soul!
Yes, the case had it all -- it was stylish without sacrificing a shred of functionality, it was an air-moving monster with one 120mm intake fan in the front and two 120mm exhaust fans in the rear, and the plastic-windowed side panel kept fan noise in and dust out. I couldn't have been happier with my purchase.
I assembled all my components in their new home, including my D805, which was essentially a place holder until the release of the mighty Conroe. Pairing it with a Zalman 9500, I had little trouble of hitting a stable overclock of 3.75GHz.
For months, I never once concerned myself with the temperature of the chip. Perhaps I was brash, or reckless, or both. After all, I had a CPU I didn’t intend to keep for long and a case designed to keep parts cool. If everything was running stable, why should I concern myself with something so, seemingly, trifling as temperature?
Fast forward nine months… I’ve since traded in my D805 for an E6600. Since December, I’ve been satisfied with my moderate 20% overclock (2880MHz), but now I wish to push the envelope. Unlike my 805 before it, I do actually care about the lifespan of my 6600, so I recently installed Speedfan to keep track of temps.
Alarmingly, (now with a 25% OC, i.e., 3GHz), I found temperatures to be at 40C idling, and hitting 65C under load. My initial thought was, how could this be happening?! My cooler and case are much too reputable to allow a 3GHz-1.2V-65nm part to hit that range.
I thought perhaps my heatsink was not properly seated, but with the help of my fellow forumzers, I discovered, much to my dismay, that my beautiful Aurora was to blame!
The clear plastic side panel window, the one that kept fan noise from reaching my ears, dust from reaching my components, and displayed geek eye candy to the masses, was also severely restricting my airflow. You see, the 3D Aurora was originally designed with an aluminum mesh side panel window which would provide the two rear fans with plenty of cool air to suck into the case. The front intake fan alone, which is obstructed by hard drives, simply can’t meet the air demands of the case.
Here’s a shot of Speedfan’s temp graph at each stage of the game:
(Note: Though the green line is labled ‘CPU,’ the red and gray lines are the temps of each core… I have no idea what ‘CPU’ is actually measuring…)
The leftmost plateau is the temp when under 100% load with the side panel closed (approx. 65C). The next plateau is after the side panel is removed while the 100% load is maintained (approx. 51C). As you can see the change is pretty remarkable once the case innards are allowed to breathe properly. When load is removed, temps hit the floor, bottoming out at 25C. (Not bad considering ambient temp is 21C!) And finally, you see idle temps climb back up to 37C when the side panel is replaced.
Ok, so after all these months, I can finally admit I have a cooling problem. But I really do want to change! I want to get better.
I’ve decided that I can deal with a little noise and dust if it means my cpu will stay 12-14C cooler. I want to replace my gorgeous clear plastic window with an efficient, albeit less attractive, aluminum mesh panel. However, I’ve scoured the internets, including Gigabyte’s website, looking for someone who sells the mesh alone, but my efforts have been fruitless.
I guess this is a ridiculously long post considering I really only have one question… I hope you’ve stayed with me... Here it is:
Does anyone know where I can get one of these mesh windows for this case?
I guess worst case scenario I would have to try to make one myself... and, trust me, nobody wants that.
Thanks,
Rev
Hi. My name is Rev, and I have a cooling problem.
Everybody: Hi, Rev.
I guess it all started about nine months ago, but it seems like only yesterday... I was the proud new owner of a 3D Aurora chassis from Gigabyte. Ah, what a sight it was to behold! How the light danced on its smooth, black aluminium skin... How the soft blue glow of its fans beckoned even least-savvied among us to bathe in its subtle radiance... And, oh, the side panel! The beautifully transparent side panel! How it provided each witness with a glimpse into the PC's soul!
Yes, the case had it all -- it was stylish without sacrificing a shred of functionality, it was an air-moving monster with one 120mm intake fan in the front and two 120mm exhaust fans in the rear, and the plastic-windowed side panel kept fan noise in and dust out. I couldn't have been happier with my purchase.
I assembled all my components in their new home, including my D805, which was essentially a place holder until the release of the mighty Conroe. Pairing it with a Zalman 9500, I had little trouble of hitting a stable overclock of 3.75GHz.
For months, I never once concerned myself with the temperature of the chip. Perhaps I was brash, or reckless, or both. After all, I had a CPU I didn’t intend to keep for long and a case designed to keep parts cool. If everything was running stable, why should I concern myself with something so, seemingly, trifling as temperature?
Fast forward nine months… I’ve since traded in my D805 for an E6600. Since December, I’ve been satisfied with my moderate 20% overclock (2880MHz), but now I wish to push the envelope. Unlike my 805 before it, I do actually care about the lifespan of my 6600, so I recently installed Speedfan to keep track of temps.
Alarmingly, (now with a 25% OC, i.e., 3GHz), I found temperatures to be at 40C idling, and hitting 65C under load. My initial thought was, how could this be happening?! My cooler and case are much too reputable to allow a 3GHz-1.2V-65nm part to hit that range.
I thought perhaps my heatsink was not properly seated, but with the help of my fellow forumzers, I discovered, much to my dismay, that my beautiful Aurora was to blame!
The clear plastic side panel window, the one that kept fan noise from reaching my ears, dust from reaching my components, and displayed geek eye candy to the masses, was also severely restricting my airflow. You see, the 3D Aurora was originally designed with an aluminum mesh side panel window which would provide the two rear fans with plenty of cool air to suck into the case. The front intake fan alone, which is obstructed by hard drives, simply can’t meet the air demands of the case.
Here’s a shot of Speedfan’s temp graph at each stage of the game:
(Note: Though the green line is labled ‘CPU,’ the red and gray lines are the temps of each core… I have no idea what ‘CPU’ is actually measuring…)
The leftmost plateau is the temp when under 100% load with the side panel closed (approx. 65C). The next plateau is after the side panel is removed while the 100% load is maintained (approx. 51C). As you can see the change is pretty remarkable once the case innards are allowed to breathe properly. When load is removed, temps hit the floor, bottoming out at 25C. (Not bad considering ambient temp is 21C!) And finally, you see idle temps climb back up to 37C when the side panel is replaced.
Ok, so after all these months, I can finally admit I have a cooling problem. But I really do want to change! I want to get better.
I’ve decided that I can deal with a little noise and dust if it means my cpu will stay 12-14C cooler. I want to replace my gorgeous clear plastic window with an efficient, albeit less attractive, aluminum mesh panel. However, I’ve scoured the internets, including Gigabyte’s website, looking for someone who sells the mesh alone, but my efforts have been fruitless.
I guess this is a ridiculously long post considering I really only have one question… I hope you’ve stayed with me... Here it is:
Does anyone know where I can get one of these mesh windows for this case?
I guess worst case scenario I would have to try to make one myself... and, trust me, nobody wants that.
Thanks,
Rev
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