Thanks AllnGap, that cleared alot of my doubts concerning the case. My only concern is that my system will be very noisy after adding another 2 or 3 fans. I know there will always be a trade off between silence and coolness, but really much want to strike a balance between the two..

I'd probably add a 120mm fan on the side panel for now and hopefully it improves the airflow.

Just wondering, i have an old thermaltake case fan2 12mm lying around somewhere, if I were to replace the fan infront with this fan, would it help improve the airflow situation. I'm sure its going to be noisier but just wondering if its worth it?

Again, thanks for links and the thorough explanation. very much appreciate it.

AFAIK, a fan on the sidepanel covering the CPU and GPU area helps the most even you've got a good intake....

i went to this forummer's place before, same casing as yours....his Opteron 170 also get the same problem, have to open up the side panel and the temp drop a lot !
then the front intake filter must be clean very often coz if it's dusty, the airflow is like totally zero....

regarding changing the front intake, i suggest you to remove the filter, cut the mesh, remove the plastic bracket from the front......that will actually work better than replacing the fan itself coz a filter that near to a fan will simply kill the airflow....

just imagine you put on a surgical mask, it's difficult to breath right ?
the same apply for the fan also

This post has been edited by AllnGap: Dec 22 2006, 12:26 PM

u state "someone say negative things about it".... may i know em

sometimes, people get offended easily you know.........and sometimes i'm really good at spotting all the weaknesses

just remember this :

Good airflow is equals to free flow and cooling on the hot spot, meaning no obstruction for the intake the exhaust and active cooling on the hottest spot, which is near the CPU, GPU and mofset area.....

i built some kind of wind tunnel last time, with motors to monitor the airflow,not really accurate but it can give whether air is moving faster or slower and stuff like that....

i think it's got related with fluid mechanics stuff.......i tested that if you duct the intake for a fan to a specific length, the pressure is more, then putting a grill or anything which will distort the direction of flow, like grills and things like that, the airflow will drop a lot....the same applies for exhaust......

This post has been edited by AllnGap: Dec 22 2006, 12:37 PM

Yerp.. definitely will be doing that after christmas!



SHould have done more research before i bought the case. Anyway, its kinda good to know that i'm not the only one facing this problem. So what did the forumer do to solve his problem?

Remove the filter - can try later today
cut the mesh - dont think i have the tools.. imagine that i would have to remove my mobo etc..
plastic bracket from the front - have to see later.. i think i could pull this one off

But if i remove the filter, my system will be super dusty super fast rite?


I always believe constructive comments are good! but kinda ouch coz when i bought this case i thought it would be like a 'complete' case, that I wouldnt need to change here and there to make it work. I actually opted for this case because of the size. Thinking that it could bring better airflow. Thats why i was willing to shell out RM 440 for this case. Boy was i wrong


about the wind tunnel, where can i get such a thing? Dont really get you actually, does the wind tunnel replace the fan or the grill?

I beg to differ from Allngap..

Personally I'm not a big fan of side panel fans cos I'm a bit of a silent freak (silent means you won't know your comp is on until you look into the power LED)

So this means blowholes and sidepanel fans are out of the question for me since soundwave travels straight. Having a side panel fan with the rig on the table means it's goes straight to your ears.

1:

Find out whether better airflow fixes the problem or not. Simple... no need to drill anything.. just leave your front case doors open and remove all the 5" bay bezels. Check if that reduces your temps.

2:

If that works... then you can remove the original crappy HDD cage. Build a tunnel/shroud using whatever material you can find....acrylic, wood or even cardboard ....pimp it up a bit... mount the fan inwards as per the pic (blue = fan).

Reason for this is that the space between the front of the case and the fan reduces some back pressure thereby increasing the cfm. And having the fan closer inside means your northbridge, southbridge, vga and cpu benefits from the turbulent air directly vented from outside.

No major cutting or drilling involved in this.

However, if you have the time or tool...it's always best to remove those stamped grills on the fan mounts both on the intake and exhaust. Intel did a presentation sometime back... those stamped grill reduce airflow at about 40%.

Edit: oops..forgot to add attachment. Fixed.

This post has been edited by sniper on the roof: Dec 22 2006, 01:27 PM


Attached thumbnail(s)

Oh.. I like silent as well.. but dont really mind if there's some sound, as long that its not high pitched or annoying.

My pc is on the floor actually and the side panel is facing away from my bed (I dont really mind the sound when im sitting on the table, but when im on my bed, it has to be quiete!). but i love always love a quieter solution, ceterus paribus.

Never thought of this yet. Will try it later. have to take out one of the optical drives till i get a longer ide cable I guess. (had to mount on my optical drives on the 1st and 3rd slot. The 'middle'/slave ide connector cannot reach my dvdrw drive if i mount it on the 2nd slot )

Hhmm.. Interesting idea. Had to re-read the description few times to understand.
So from what I understand, remove the hard disk cage. Mount my hard disk at the 5" area is it? so that the area where the hard disk drive was before is clear, allowing a unrestrictive air flow from the intake fan?

the tunnel/shroud this is kinda difficult to imagine. I need to create something that could 'hold' my intake fan rite? I'd be damn if i could pull this off

well, probably not in the near future la kot. but 40%? damn these case designers should have left it out in the first place!

Good to hear a solution from a different approach. Thanks abang sniper! Very much appreciate it



This post has been edited by vassalle: Dec 22 2006, 02:31 PM

The biggest problem with this case is the HDD cage n the side mesh. This was the config tested by Custom PC magazine. There's an issue where they tested about 20 cases with a military grade FIR camera to see the heat signatures of all the cases they tested. The Aurora came out the worst. The HDD temps were the highest coz no intake. The graphics cards were extremely hot. N the roof of the case was extremely hot showing a bright red spot up there. Well, I'll bring along the magazine to show u what I mean later. That's the best coz that issue actually uses equipment to test n show where the hotspots r exactly instead of guessing.

Lian Li EX 34 = $35.95 mahal la pulak barang Lian Li ni! @ Coolerguys

Err.. I guess silence doesnt come cheap.. This mod have to wait for bonus la I guess..

Is there anyway i can get the review from the Internet? Anyway, did the magazine mentioned anyway on how to overcome the problem?

Graphics card i'm not too concern coz I dont OC, and its only a 7300gt. As it is, the idle temp is 45c which is alrite I guess.

But why in the world is the roof hot?

Mine is an arcrylic side panel. Not the mesh. So that take cares one of the problems.

This post has been edited by vassalle: Dec 22 2006, 02:46 PM

Dude, it's a rm40 magazine ler. If they put the feature article for that month on their site then no1 buy the mag lor. Wait lar, after xmas then u get to read the mag over a cuppa coffee.

The roof gets extremely hot coz the ventilation is bad. All the hot air rise to the top n got stuck there.

Cool. Can't wait to see the report. Funny that none of the reviews on the net mentioned about this. I only found out about the hard disk cage problem by reading pages and pages in various forums. Most of the review will say good value case, ample space and good ventilation

I think sniper's mod is a bit 'out of range' for me at the moment. THough I would really love to have a quiete case with really good airflow. But dont think I can afford it anytime soon. ALready spent RM3k for my system plus another RM 190 for the TBTVX wish money grow on trees

yalor.......that's why i dont want so spoilt the fun....knowing that you spent so much on a casing that doesnt have good airflow is heartbreaking isnt it.....

1. i tried that also with that forummer with Opty 170......works for a while only coz once the bay door is shut tight, it's really limiting airflow again coz the holes are really small.......

it's the same old airflow problem that every casing has, especially those with bay doors......


2. good idea also.....but why not just make a duct from side panel to the heatsink area right ?
that fan is claimed to be at 18dB

since opening side panel will allow around 10°C drop.....

This post has been edited by AllnGap: Dec 22 2006, 03:45 PM

On the ODD.... no need to remove lar... the whole idea is just to open up holes in front to see if its merely intake restriction

On the fan grills.... not that case designer don't think about it but it's an EMI issue..hence folks like Lian Li still have that stupid fine mesh to cover the hole but users can remove it.

On the air guide... apa susah? Find a couple piece of styrofoam... measure a bit... cut with knife... make sure can ngam ngam squeze a 12cm fan in the center... at worst double side tape the fan also... Kasi spraypaint kau kau --> Mission accomplished.

On the roof is hot thing...that's important too. Hot air pocket trapped on top of the case = psu fan have to spin faster to remove heat = noise.

On no money for lian li thing.. then do the cheapo silent approach of HDD suspension. --> check this in www.silentpcreview.com.
Or if you don't have too many HDD's...then can use those 5"--> 3.5" converter. Pretty cheap..couple bucks per pop. Pic attached as well.




Edit: How come today I asyik forgot attach pic wan.Corrected.

This post has been edited by sniper on the roof: Dec 22 2006, 04:23 PM


Attached thumbnail(s)

yerp.. it is painful

Hhmm.. interesting idea too but the duct have to bend a bit i guess. Coz if go straight to the side panel, it will hit the handle

cant wait to go home at take some photos la. easier to describe..

what can I do for the roof thing?

I think i found the el-cheopo solution you are referring to. suspending the hard disk using some elastic materials rite? gotta go back and check whether i could find a way to ikat my hdisk that way on the 5" slot


ahh.. brilliant! could get this from LYP i assume. I only have 1 hdisk atm, but planning to get a second one later. would never know this thing exists actually if not for you. thats why i love this forum

This post has been edited by vassalle: Dec 22 2006, 04:36 PM

Roof thing --> Do nothing.. once airflow is fixed (exhaust not chocked)...it'll fix itself. Somefolks will say blowhole but I hate them.

Suspension thing --> You gotta remove those annoying tool free thingy first. (con-job... cos it's fine if ur an OEM that have to assembly thousands of PC's but a private individual that cannot spend extra 5 secs to unscrew a thumbscrew ought to be shot at the scrotum)

bro, wanna ask, instead removing the HDD cage what if placing another fan at the 5" bay, using Scythe "KAMA BAY" 120mm Fan



which one is better, placing ur HDD at the 5" bay or add another 120mm fan at the 5" bay

this will only work if you leave the bay door open....if you close the bay door, then it's meaningless

this is the main reason i hate casing with cover...
anyway, so it didn't matter much where u place it... as long it has sufficient air sucking in