Sealed or open case best for cooling?

[mancid rilk]

I had a couple PCI/rear case slats open because the metal covers came off (there were perforated to come off or something weird) and I covered said slats in a single layer of thin tape. I also had a few other open areas on the case that were not fan intake/exhaust openings so I covered them.

Is this good or bad for the cooling of my components? I noticed that my GPU's exhaust fan for some reason that possibly is unrelated, has less noticeable airflow out of the case at the same fan RPM settings. .Can anyone explain this?

 

[rolli59]

Apart from the PCI slots those areas are usually to let air into the case. If you have less air coming out through the GPU vent you are probably starving the case of air which is not good for cooling and will affect your temperature. You need cool air in and warm air out!

 

[mancid rilk]

I apologize for doing a real bad job setting this up, I have a 120mm intake fan at the front of the case and a 120mm exhaust fan above the GPU/CPU area and a power supply with a 140mm intake/exhaust fan above the case's exhaust fan. I had to rob an extra molex to power my 6950 and the 120mm case exhaust fan had to be shut off and is now back on due to me cutting power to a CD drive instead. Is it at all possible that the 120mm exhaust fan, which is approx. 4 inches above the GPU is so much more powerful than the GPU's exhaust fan that it's sucking the GPU's exhaust out as well? The GPU's exhaust sits pretty close to flush with the outer rear case. .

 

[rolli59]

I am presuming that your PSU being top mounted is exhausting from the case. That means that you have the PSU, 120mm and the GPU all exhausting but only one 120mm intake fan in the front. Apart from the PCI slots I would leave all other perforations in the case open. The fans can be fighting for air if flow into the case is restricted.