'side panel'? don't you mean 'air barricade'?

[The_Rev]

Note: I also posted this in the pc case/psu section, but since this is related to issues in oc'ing, I'm putting it out here too.

Note 2: To skip the story telling and get straight to the important stuff, 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

 

[grindking134]

I know this dosnt dosent answer the mesh question but here are some alternatives to keeping the window. On my lian-li case my psu covers my top blow hole from instaling a fan. Im going to drill holes in my window to put a 120mm fan just to force more air in forcing it out the top hole.

Now if you dont want to add a another fan to keep noise down and keep the window. Get a ruler and space out a bunch of holes with a marker. then drill as many holes as you feel you need. Now you can keep your window and the pressure diffrence will pull in air through these holes. Its up to you to to pick the bit size and how many holes but I think its a good alternitive if you cant find mesh and want to keep the window.

 

[The_Rev]

Yep... Looks like that may be what I have to do. Just have to find a tool bench and a drill...

 

[ZOldDude]

Better to remove and fan grills on the exit of the case...no matter how large the holes look any obstuction cause air swirls that create up to 70% restriction.

Even if you have to use a nibbler revmove the grills on back of case and watch your temps drop like a brick.

 

[CompuTronix]

(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…)

If you'd like to know, then check out the Core 2 Duo Temperature Guide Sticky in the "Hardware-Overclocking-CPU" section of the Forum. While you're reading, keep in mind your temp values displayed in SpeedFan are incorrect. They are actually "transposed" or "inverted" which also means they are "offset" and need corrections. Use the "Offsets" section of the Guide to tweak your temps.

Hope this helps,

Comp 8)

 

[Mugz]

What I'd suggest - a CD or DVD gives you a perfect template for the size you need to put a hole for a 120mm fan in, or the area where you need to put intake holes. If you're good enough with a jigsaw you can even hack a nice design for the fan intake.

(The black metal side panel on my old case had a stylized 'M' logo in it, the 'M' being the metal left behind and the circular area around it being hole.)

Obviously you're going to use a clear plastic fan. I'm just not certain if it'll be LED or not.

 

[Bluefinger]

I had heat build up problems with my Antec Super Lanboy case, but instead of drilling into the side panel, I merely added another fan inside the case... except stuck onto the other side of the HDD cage, so though the air from the intake fan gets slowed down by the HDD's and cage, I at least have an extra fan boosting the intake airflow, and blowing it onto the chipset and graphics card (mine's a X1900XT with an AC Accelero X2 cooler... it needs all the airflow it can get in order to keep it cool). Immediately, temps dropped, especially with the chipset, since all the hot air coming out of the graphics card cooler was dumped straight onto it.

So all in all, its easier just to get another fan to boost the airflow coming from the intake fan through the HDD cage, though I reckon a side fan will allow for better temps since cool air is blown directly onto the board and bits, instead of air that is probably a little bit warmer thanks to the HDDs heating it as it blows over them.

 

[Sheepish]

On my lian-li case my psu covers my top blow hole from instaling a fan.

Mine too but ive just left the PSU hanging out a few cm

Regarding the side panel, ive found that my temperatures drop maybe 10% without it but also the sound volume increases and im pretty sure the fans will be more prone to dust.

 

[grindking134]

On my lian-li case my psu covers my top blow hole from instaling a fan.

Mine too but ive just left the PSU hanging out a few cm

Regarding the side panel, ive found that my temperatures drop maybe 10% without it but also the sound volume increases and im pretty sure the fans will be more prone to dust.

Last night i thought of a better idea so to keep the air flow one direction. In my bottom 2 5.25 inch drive bays that I dont use im going to grind the lips away on the inside of the bay covers. Drill some holes that match the front bottom intake fans and pop another 80mm fan up there in the drive bay. Then ill put another exhaust in the pci slots. Then Ill have air going strait acrossed on the top and bottom of my case(antec 900 style).

 

[PotGoblin]

well if you really want to go with the mesh by replacing your window - I thought the case came with it so you could just swap it out.

if not you can find modders mesh here - http://www.mnpctech.com/moddersmesh.html

 

[The_Rev]

I think the new Aurora 570's come with both types of windows, however the original Aurora only came with either one.

I've taken a look at that particular mesh, and the honeycomb looks like something that might work. Unfortunately, I'd need a 2'x1' piece and they seem to be sold out of that currently... I'll keep my eye on it, though.

 

[flasher702]

CPU isn't the only thing that needs cooling, and there are also noise considerations. Without good airflow design each component in the case needs it's own fan. That can be very noisy and use a lot of energy. If you already have CPU, GFX, NB, RAM, and HD coolers anyway then taking the side panel off will certainly reduce temps all around. If any of your components are relying on the case exhaust fan to cool them if you open the case they no longer have any active cooling (ie. your hard drive). If you had a perfect airflow design the entire modern computer needs only 1 fan (plus an isolated PSU with it's own fan). I have 1u rackmount cases at work that use 2x40mm fans for exhaust with an isolated PSU. Those two little fans cool the CPU, mobo, ram and disks because it's all ducted together.

A CPU intake duct plus ensuring proper airflow through the case would be a better long-term solution than simply taking the side panel off, but I do have a couple very low-budget systems under my care where not having a side panel has been a long term solution. However, these are system that don't require any active cooling for chipsets, RAM, or drives and having no side panel was a decision that was arrived on primarly because 1. I lost the side panel and 2. they wouldn't need any extra case fans that way, (and in the case of my mother's 110°f summer daytime temps without any air conditioning she uses a large room fan on her computer so that she can burn CDs without crashing). This does introduce a certain "Diet Pepsi" peril to the computers long-term stability forecast though (as in someone might spill soda on it).

removing the side panel as a quick cooling hack: great
as an elegant long term solution: uh, no

Side panel fans not so good either. You want to increase the speed at which the air in the case is completely refreshed without causing turblance (and possibly without causing too much noise or straining your PSU). If you wanna just point lots of fans at your components without and pesky panels getting in the way don't use a case at all

 

[The_Rev]

(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…)

If you'd like to know, then check out the Core 2 Duo Temperature Guide Sticky in the "Hardware-Overclocking-CPU" section of the Forum. While you're reading, keep in mind your temp values displayed in SpeedFan are incorrect. They are actually "transposed" or "inverted" which also means they are "offset" and need corrections. Use the "Offsets" section of the Guide to tweak your temps.

Hope this helps,

Comp 8)

Ok, so I read over the guide, but I'm not sure I understand all of it exactly. So the 'CPU' reading just needs to be set to 'Core 0' (or 'Core 1') + 15? Why is that temp relevant if it's just a linear function of the Core temps? Is the 'CPU' temp something I should concern myself with, or are the Core temps what really matter?

Here's a shot of the Speedfan readings at idle (with the side panel cracked about an inch at the top):

Is there some reason these need to be adjusted? They seem fairly reasonable... Any help would be great, thanks!