HD 5770 Cooling in confined cases (mATX)

[valerik]

I'm currently in the process of building an mATX system for a friend's daughter. She definitely wants one of those Aspire X-Qpack2 cases, the cubed shaped ones. It'll be used mainly for WoW, homework and internet browsing. Maybe some Portal or HL2. I'll be replacing the PS that comes with it with a Seasonic Modular PS seen here, and possibly replacing the fans inside of the case with a more reliable brand.

I'm concerned with air flow in this case, so my primary question regarding the choice of video card is: Would a shroud-type reference card, that pushes hot air out the back of the card be a better choice than something like an egg-shaped or vapor-x cooling fan/heatsink that pushes hot air into the case? I will probably replace the thermal compound on the GPU with some OCZ freeze to help keep temperature lower in case they decide to ever OC the GPU.

Extra Credit: Is it feasible to zip-tie two 120mm fans together to better exhaust the heat from the case?

Thank you. =)

 

[Twoboxer]

Dunno if you've seen this review, but they say the handle on this puppy is of questionable value:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2007/12/05/apevia_x-qpack2/4

I guess the best alternative might be:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112223

and maybe the color will attract her

You definitely want a vid card w/shroud and rear exit air flow.

The 5770 is a good choice, especially if her screen is 1680 resolution.

The biggest problem with heat might well be her stacking stuff on top of this cute little box and restricting air flow.

I get no extra credit

 

[coozie7]

I'd stick with the stock cooler, even under heavy loads it's quiet and although the HD5770 is not exactly a room heater it will not hurt to eject its heat out of the case directly.
Replacing the thermal paste will invalidate the warranty, unless you're thinking of heavy overclocking where every degree makes a difference, I'd leave it alone.
Extra Credit: Yes, or you could use a suitable glue. However, a single high efficiency fan will give similar results with less noise.

 

[Doom3klr]

The saphire 5770 vapor x or the Msi 5770 Hawk seem to run very well and cool

 

[valerik]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm looking at the Lian-Li case; Trying to find info one the clearance needed for heatsink/fan for CPU.

 

[valerik]

Best answer selected by valerik.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey