Help with getting negative airflow on my Antec 900?

[rashod0]

Just got my Antec 900 Gaming Case seemed a pretty positive solution to keep my 8800gtx oc video card from getting hot. But, now that I transfered all my components to this new case I'm still get idle temps of 60 degrees C in this case. I have the stock fans running and added an additional 120mm fan on the back of one of the 3 in1 hdd bays and a pci slot fan below my video card and turned my fans on high. I find this hard to believe after having it in my centurion 5 case and was getting a 63 degree C idle (although my panel was off on the side of that case. Heres my question I'm now trying the case without a side panel 120mm fan and I'm noticing a ton of air being sucked into the case from the mesh on the side of the case, I even have a piece of paper holding it up in place just to verify it is sucking in a bunch of air. It seems somewhat contradictory that the side panel fan is supposed to blow air OUT of the case but is instead sucking it INTO the case. Can any one shed some light on how to get the best possible airflow for this case?

THANK YOU!!

*Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775
*ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro (cpu fan)/Artic Silver Themal Paste
*ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775 Intel P965 Express
*Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) -timing: 4-4-4-12 -voltage: 2.0v -cas latency: 4
*COOLMAX CW-650T EPS12V 650W Aluminum ATX v2.01
*BFG 8800GFX 756 MB OC video card
*Antec 900 Gaming Case

*Just turned my fans down to low and now my idle temp is 64 degrees C, what is going on here?

**Just tried to use the side panel 120mm fan and that seems to be blowing some hot air directly out of the case and is lowering the temp of the VC. But any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Gundam1s]

It is normal for graphic cards to reach temps of 60 C, don't get this temperature confused with CPU temps.

Only at temps around 100C you should worry about your graphics card overheating.

 

[rashod0]

hmm, but now i'm getting a idle gpu temp of 65 degrees C. I'm not too impressed here!

 

[Gundam1s]

Your graphic card seems to be fine.

8800GTX idling 60C-65C, can't ask for much more.

 

[smokedyou911]

Why the swich from the centrion 5? 65 ona 8800gtx is great, no need to worry unless gpu temps are 100+ and cpu temps are 75ish+

 

[rashod0]

lol, ok. Well, I have all my fans 5 120mm fans (the 3 stock tri setting fans set to high), a 200mm fan and a pci slot fan all blazing away. It's loud but my gpu temp is a constant 63 degrees c. I guess i'm stuck with listening to these fans and a temp of 63 degrees c?

I heard that the temp of my gpu was a bit high and the centurion 5 case didn't have the best airflow so I decided try the antec 900....it does push a ton of air but I guess there is only so much you can do short of water cooling for this particular card?

 

[Gundam1s]

You can always try quieter fans.

Also, try different combination of the fans running and unplugged (unplug fans while power is off of course) and see how this affects the GPU temp.
Might be able to find a quieter setup with the same GPU temps.

 

[Abrahm]

My 8800gts used to run at around those temps with load temps going up near 70*, until I rearranged my fans to 2 80mm's blowing right on it and it idled at around 53 after that. I'd assume the GTX might run a little hotter. Another big effect on temps is your room temp. I just moved to a new apartment and my room temps are 20 degrees cooler and my gpu temps dropped to where I idle at 42* now OCed a bit, and under load I don't go past 50.

 

[ZOldDude]

I only build out with CoolerMaster cases and either the small C-5's or the older style (TO-1) CM Stacker.

The whole "trick" to getting air cooling to work as well as a non-chilled water system is to move the air in as much of a dirrect path as possible.

Cool in,move it over the warm areas and exit the back in a dirrect flow with as little other airflow diversions as you can manage will cool things better than alot of fans blowing everyplace.

The #1 thing anyone can do to improve case cooling it is remove/cut away the exit fans grill cover(s) as most of these no matter how large the holes look obstruct up to as much as 70% of the fans airflow.
(Air dam concept)

If you have done this and your side case fan is located in the area of your GFX card,make it blow air inwards feeding cooler air to that area.

Also swap out your exit fan(S) with a Silverstone FM-121 100qfpm fan will insure even higher vacume (and they come with a free speed controler...$11-17 USD).

The system listed via my build icon is OC 50% and runs 3C over room air temps and has only hit 12C over after an hour of Prime benchmarking.

Z

EDIT: If your case does not already have a grilled opening in the bottom of it under your card area you may want to cut one open and cover it with bug screen.

 

[rashod0]

ok i'll try upgrading the rear exit fan to the silverstone....i've seen those before but was sceptical due to price but the cfm is alot greater.

 

[ZOldDude]

ok i'll try upgrading the rear exit fan to the silverstone....i've seen those before but was sceptical due to price but the cfm is alot greater.

Try the "remove/cut away exit grill" first...you will be amazed at the drop in temps and it costs ZERO.

Z

PS: I edited my first post...good info.

"ok i'll try upgrading the rear exit fan to the silverstone....i've seen those before but was sceptical due to price but the cfm is alot greater."

I have been moding/building computers from the early 80's so I know these things work.
I also spent a few years of my life dealing with office building AC,cooling towers and related air flow issues as well as 25 years or so dealing with high power 2-way radio mods and cooling issues for extra cash.
Correct airflow is the key and more fans in the same case often RAISE temps due to disrupted airflow.
This is why I do not build out for customers with the newer Stackers or other cases unless they insist.

 

[donch]

I completly agree with ZOldDude fan grills can block airflow quite a bit.
Just another thought as well, make sure you don't have all your fans blowing in one direction (intake/exhaust) because having all your fans blowing the same way does absolutly nothing, you need a good ratio of air coming in to air going out. Good Luck.

 

[nastymat]

"It seems somewhat contradictory that the side panel fan is supposed to blow air OUT of the case but is instead sucking it INTO the case. Can any one shed some light on how to get the best possible airflow for this case? "

No.. the side fan should be blowing onto the gpx card.

Also I would only whack the fans on high if your ambient temps are high. I found I got about 4 degrees difference having them on high as opposed to low so I set them low so it is nice and quiet.

I think you may have done this looking at your reply but if not move your hdd to the top hdd cage, then put the fan on the bottom cage on the back of it so it is closer to the gpx card.

Lastly, what is you cable management like? Make sure your air flow path way is nice and clear. Maybe get some round cables if you have them in the air flow.

What are your cpu temps? As others have said 65 is not bad for your gpu.

 

[rashod0]

I guess it would make a lot of sense to put the 3 hdd I have in my computer at the top of my case since they generate alot of heat. I'll have to tinker with it. I really don't want to start cutting away at my case just to clear the the rear fan grill although I appreciate the advice and I'm sure it would work thanks Z for the great info and all others for your great advice. I did notice yesterday that the idle temp of 63 degrees C was when the ambient temp of my house was warm due to summer and last night the idle gpu temp was 59 degrees C, this morning it's so far running at a constant idle temp of 51 degrees C, so I guess ambient temp is a huge factor in case cooling...I never realized it before! Also I guess i'm an idiot I never realized the side panel fan is supposed to blow into the computer, I guess this makes sense due to the air being vacuumed into the case from the side. I'll have to flip it over and see what results I get. Also the middle hdd cage is where I have a 120mm fan blowing air into the case from the outside and another 120mm fan about 6 inches away at the end of that cage and it is actually kissing the video card and blowing air onto the video card, actually the video card is right in the middle of the 120mm fan at the end of the cage so half the air is blowing on top of the video card and half is blowing on the bottom of it (hope I explained that well enough). This case is pretty hard to get the cable management thing done nicely I did the best I could and tried to make sure my cables are somewhat out of the way but there is only so much I can do short of dremmeling.

 

[little_scrapper]

Are you kidding me? 60C is cold for a GPU. What exactly is the problem. Hell even if your CPU is 60C it aint gonna fry.


As for your side fan sucking in...it is probably supposed to. If you want it to blow out you MAY need to turn it around..hehe

 

[geofelt]

VGA cards run hot, and they are built to do so. I see no problem if it runs at 75c at idle, and up to 95c at max. The noise in your system is directly proportional to the speed at which the fans are turning. If they can be kept to 1200rpm or less, then they are reasonably quiet. Cooling is dependent on the ambient temperature, even the best coolers can't approach ambient. For good airflow, the travel path is usually In from the front and side, and out through the top and rear. Once you have good airflow, look for places where hot air might be recirculating. The slot cooler is good because it immediately removes the hot air coming out of the 8800GTX slits, and expels them out the back. Make certain that the cpu cooler fan is directing heat out the back or top.

What is the CPU temp? After all this, are you certain you really have a cooling problem?

 

[Gryphyn]

As an owner of an 8800GTS in an Antec 900, I've never seen my card run below 60C idle. I don't think the fan on the card really even kicks into gear until it hits a much higher temperature. If you install Rivatuner, you can control the fan on the card (and track what it is currently running at). If I remember correctly, the fan sits at 60% duty cycle all the time until the card hits a pretty high temperature. I realize you have a GTX, but I'm willing to bet the fan control is similar.

As far as the way to get the best airflow in the case:

First, try and think of the air as a liquid; picture it as if you're trying to run water through your case. Water doesn't like to be smashed against each other from all directions, its just going to get trapped inside of your case. Similarly, water doesn't like to have things get in its way. Think of a stream, with a large rock or something out in the middle. The water splashes against the rock, and behind it creates vortexes, all of which slows it down and interferes with a smooth flow.

Second, hot air rises, cool air falls. As the air heats up inside your case, it wants to go upward.

Third, Cool air in, hot air out. This can be very important if you have your computer inside of a desk, with a door that closes. It doesn't do any good to pull air into your case if it is already warm air.

So, to get the best airflow out of an Antec 900 case, I would suggest having the front fans in the bottom portions of the face, blowing cool air in. The way the video card fits in this case can create a barrier, so try to keep the area between the video card and the drive bays as clear as possible to allow as much air up past your memory as possible. The rear fan and the upper fan should be pulling the warm air out, as will be your power supply fan and Video card fan. I'm not convinced that the side panel does anything for you, because with negative pressure, the air it pulls in may be recirculated from the powersupply and GPU. You want the air from the front to be expelled out the back. Try closing that opening to force the air to be pulled in from the front.

Just remember, pretend it is water. You want it to smootly enter the case cool, travel in an unobstructed path through the case, and be pulled out the back.

 

[No1sFanboy]

I have an 8800gtx in an Antec 900 also so I'll weigh in here. Heck, I even have the same MB and cpu hsf as you.

First I agree with others that air going in the side is a good thing. I have an extra 120mm fan on the side blowing into the case. I think the biggest advantage of this is avoiding any dead spots around the motherboard, chipset etc.

Second 60c is a very good idle temp for an 8800gtx. Mine idles around 65-66 at stock speed. When it was new last December it idled around 57 but it seemed to jump after a driver update through the year.

If you really want lower idle temps there are only four ways I know of.
-Run the GPU fan higher than default with a utility like Rivatuner.

-water cooling

-Thermalright HR-03, the only air cooler I've seen reviewed that significantly reduced temps. Other than size and cost I see a disadvantage in that you no longer exhaust the GPU's heat out of the case.
http://www.thermalright.com/a_news/main_news_hr03.htm

-Finally my personal solution, underclock the card on startup for non gaming use. My 8800gtx is at 49c as I right this. It is set to startup at core 130 mem 260 using ati tool. I have also measured power savings of 20w at idle/desktop use.

 

[lumpy]

i have same case,8800gtx s/c.so ive got 2 fans in front,blowing in,on low.200mm on med.1 rear fan blowing out on med-low,this is the one i turn up and down as i see fit ,hot day etc.and side fan BLOWING IN on low.my card at rest 52c and at most when playing games 68c ish. also use riva tuner to set fan speed at rest to 80% or so.make sure you take out card and clean with compressed air . once every 2 months at least! good luck

 

[Hatman]

Right.

Put the front 2 and the side fan as intake, to cool your GPU/HD's and put them on medium setting, this will get some air coming into your case nicely.

Then simply put the back 120mm fan to medium and exhaust and set it to medium and the 200mm fan to high, the 200mm on high SHOULD be quieter then the 120mm on medium.

Then what you'll get, in a continuous fast stream of air coming from the front of the case to the back of the case, and it sould pass right past your GPU and CPU.

SHOULD give you some cooler temps.

 

[Gryphyn]

Now that I'm at home, I just checked my GPU temps, it idles at 50C in windows.

 

[gwolfman]

I have the stock fans running and added an additional 120mm fan on the back of one of the 3 in1 hdd bays and a pci slot fan below my video card and turned my fans on high.

What kind of PCI fan do you have? Is it pushing air towards the VGA card or is it pulling ari out of the case? I'd probably remove it, especially if it's pulling air out. It might be stealing air the VGA cooler needs depending on how close it is to the VGA card.

 

[Gryphyn]

Just remember that having a lot of fans blowing air into the case may not be doing you any good if they aren't promoting a good flow. Do some testing with enabling or disabling the case's side fan to see which gives you lower temps.

 

[plguzman]

So...

I have an Antec Nine Hundred and a 8800GTS, and my idle temps are never over 53C. I have a PCI blower under the card (extracts air from the case) and the card's fan always @ 100%. And 53C is because right now is very hot here, because it should be 49-50. I tested the temps with a side fan, but temps went up (vacuum effect disrupted). Anyway, I'm very happy with my setup as it is now. Great cooling case.

 

[Gryphyn]

I've taken the approach of trying to maintain as quiet a system as possible, because I have (in this case unfortunately) extremely sensitive ears.

I have the front fans on low, top fan on medium, and rear fan on low. No side fan, opening is unblocked though. Since my case in inside a desk cavity (leave front door of desk open when computer is on, back of desk is open as well) I am able to place foam around the case to block the sound, as well as force hot air only out the back of the desk.

I'm running an Opteron 170 at 2.7 Ghz, stock voltage, with a Tuniq tower as well (its fan is on the lowest setting). I've left the 8800's fan on auto, and I've never seen it move above 60%.

My cpu temps never move above 40C under load. Under heavy gaming, my card will hit 65C, idles at 50C. I love the case as well, with this setup it is super quiet.