Now first thing u should ignore is the cathode light since
it obviously doesn't have anything to do with cooling/ventilation. Now I believe I failed to mention that I was using a positive
cooling system before. I decided to switch to negative since I now have 4 expansion cards in my system and heat is not released
fast enough to prevent them from generating too much heat and cause stability problems.
Given that, my high CFM Thermaltake which used to be located
on the mid-front is now located at the back. That badass fan is responsible for sucking all the hot air out from my expansion
cards, and at the same time suck air from my right side panel air grill. So not only does it suck hot air out, but suck cool
air in. Now because of its high CFM, cool air coming in from the lower intake grills will go up to the expansion cards to
cool them down and immediately gets sucked out the case by the fan even before its temp rises up. And oh, did I mention since
the fan is sitting right next to the processor it helps cool it down as well? Pretty nice stuff huh?! I also used the RPM
knob switch for this fan so I can lessen the noise by lowering the speed when its raining outside ;)
Now if u look up the case, I have added an exhaust fan which helps release the heat
coming out from the PSU and optical drives. Now since I have an intake fan in front of my case, I only purchased a low CFM
fan for my top exhaust. Adding a high CFM fan on top will render my front intake fan useless since it will just suck out the
cool air immediately even before reaching my processor. The top exhaust fan is just meant to suck some of the trapped hot
air in my case since my PSU is not equipped with a powerful fan and the heat coming out of it is pretty alarming especially
during the afternoon ... so it needs a bit of help ... and that's why I now have a top exhaust fan.
Now my high CFM fan that is used to be located in front of my case was replaced
by a low CFM fan. Having a high CFM should further help my case run cooler because its going to suck cool air in and push
hot air out to my rear exhaust fan. Problem is, I cannot find a quadled high CFM fan.
Now the only main stay in this picture is my Thermaltake intake fan on the lower
front. Its job is to force cool air into my case since the grills will obviously not cut it. This one is set to run on full
speed 100% of the time.
If u guys noticed the cables are better arranged this time around. The center portion
of my case is pretty much free from cables which also helps cool my system even further.
If u guys do not have a clear side panel then adding a cardboard to direct air coming
in from the lower intake fan upwards in the direction of the expansion cards is a good idea. That will also prevent cool air
from going straight out of the case via the side panel air grills. Positioning one in between the upper exhaust grill and
rear fan is also a good idea since that will prevent mis-circulation of air (cool air getting sucked inside the case rather
than hot air naturally going out due to fan).
The overall result of this experiment of mine made the air coming out of my rear
fan contain almost zero trace of heat even on hot afternoon's and/or after playing games. Compared to nerve whacking hot even
right after just a couple of minutes of using the computer before.
