pc case with air duct

[ultimate99]

I found a case with an air duct for the cpu which connects to the side panel. Also it comes witha one rear 80mm fan. would that case be effecient?

I really don't how the air duct works. Would it just attach itself to the zalman hs/f and blow that hot air out thru the side panel?

[callumy]

Is the air duct supposed to bring air in or blow it out? I always thought that they bring air in, as this is what cools the most. Blowing out hot air doesn't lower the CPU temperature, but bringing in cold air does, as normally the air is already warmed by your hard drives and things in the front of the case. Attaching the air duct to the HFS would be the go, do it can bring in cool air. let the rear fan take it out. If it isn't enough to suck the air out to your liking, then you could always upgrade to a higher-output fan.

Cal

[ultimate99]

Then how would the air duct blow air in while the cpu fan blowing air out?

[callumy]

Attach the duct to the 'in' side of the CPU cooler. I don't know what model HSF you use, but I am assuming it is big, much like a 9500 where it has a distinct in and out side. BTW, what use in cooling something down (the CPU I am talking about) is there to take the hot air away but not offer cooler air which is more effective at fixing the original problem?

Cal

[Rob2687]

What case it is?

I don't think it would attach to the CPU heatsink...probably just positioned over it so it provides constant cool air flow from the outside. My Antec case came with a duct and it drops the temps like 5C with the stock cooler. It is attached to a grill thingy on the side panel. I've positioned the duct right over the CPU fan with a 120mm fan blowing out the back.

Edited May 31, 2006 by Rob2687

[echo]

I went ahead and spent the money ($150) for an antec p-180. I have 6 120mm fans in this thing (1 attached to the heatsink, 1 on the front, one in between the PSU and HD's in the lower compartment, 1 on the rear, 1 on the top, and one over the GFX card)....it's insane for cooling..... I LOVE IT! It looks badass too. All the air is brought in from the front (2 big grills, one grill has a fan behind it) and then air is pushed out the top and the back via a 120mm fan. Another great feature is that the 2 grills on the front have air filters on them. So it keeps dust inside the case down. I just take them out once a month and rinse them with warm water and stick them back on afte 10 minutes of drying.

[Pc_Madness]

Err, 6? 1 in the lower chamber, 1 in the front of the upper chamer, 1 top and back, so 4 + a 80.. or 90mm fan for the graphics card vent :p

On topic:

I really don't think a air duct over the CPU will help much.. if your going to be doing some insane overclocking, maybe, but I think having one of those fancy CPU coolers that pulls the heat away from the cpu with with a heatsink and then blows it straight out the back vent would do the job just fine. Just make sure you have plenty of airflow from the front of the case. Not sure if that would need a fan on the front though, a friend of mine suggested that its better to have all exhaust fans so the air gets sucked into the case as you push more out, but perhaps someone with alittle more knowledge can post about that.

[Brian M. Veteran]

I have an air duct on my dual core machine - its basically creates a direct flow between the heatsink fan and the outside of the case, meaning that it draws cool air from outside for the cpu, rather than using the warmer air from inside the case.

Where did 6 fans come from? I have the heatsink fan, plus one small fan at the rear, which has double action (it blows air in direct, and out at an angle. And that keeps the case cool to the touch - The temp inside the case never goes above 40c. (as it has the air duct, there's no need for extra fans to keep it cool in there.

I will post some pics of the air duct in action when i get up there.

EDIT: This p4 machine has one - pics...

Edited June 1, 2006 by bmaher

[echo]

Err, 6? 1 in the lower chamber, 1 in the front of the upper chamer, 1 top and back, so 4 + a 80.. or 90mm fan for the graphics card vent :p

1 front

1 top

1 rear

1 on heatsink

1 lower compartment

1 graphics card vent (hacked box, tight squeeze, but it worked)

= 6 :)

so you would have 4 with the stock case, 5 if you use a heatsink that supports a 120mm fan and 6 if you hack the graphics card vent box :)

CPU - 36c idle

Ambient - 32c idle

Hard drives - 30-34c idle

graphics - 37c idle

according to EVEREST.

Edited June 2, 2006 by echo

[callumy]

Six fans seems a little excessive, plus it doesn't seem to have cooled your system down much more. It may help on hot days or when running games, but for low usage, the figures don't seem to do the number justice (unless you are running six low-noise+low-throughput fans). Can you post your stress/load temps as well? That would be great (have you added them to the temps. database too?)!

Cal