Heat - Ventilation options.

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Buttonmash

361 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#50121 23-Nov-2009 10:55

I have a Lian-Li Muse PC-37B case stuffed in my entertainment unit and I'm having trouble keeping it cool enough.

The intake vents are sitting on the top, one for the power supply and the other for the processor. Unfortunately the heat of the air inside the entertainment unit gets quite warm and my CPU/Motherboard temps are reporting about 53C each while watching TV. I'd like to get this down.

As an experiment I tried blowing air directly over the top of the case toward the CPU intake vent and when this cooler air was sucked in the CPU and motherboard temperatures both dropped by 10C.

What I'm looking for now is a small quiet external fan I can sit at one end of the entertainment units shelf and blow air outwards so fresher cooler air is sucked in but can't find anything suitable.

Anyone else got a work around for warm entertainment unit insides?

Nimma

98 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#275415 23-Nov-2009 11:39

Not sure on the layout of your entertainment unit but leave as much room around the PC as you can - put other components in separate compartments if poss. I also took the rear off the entertainment unit to allow the exhaust to vent better.

You could possible mount a fan in the unit itself but that starts getting messy. If you do go down that track use any case fan and a cheap plug in 12v transformer.

mentalinc

3385 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1024

Trusted

#275444 23-Nov-2009 13:11

The intake vents are sitting on the top, one for the power supply and the other for the processor.

Seems kinda bad design air vents at the top, will be sucking in the hot air sitting at the top...

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Buttonmash

361 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#275450 23-Nov-2009 13:20

It's actually quite good. The vents line up perfectly with the CPU and Heatsink fans so they're sucking air in directly from outside the case.

Case fan might be the way to go. Was hoping for something a little more elegant. Maybe I can make a small black mount for the case fan so it looks a little less... rangi.

browned

636 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 36

#275461 23-Nov-2009 13:53

By the looks of it the 3 grilled areas on the right of the case (when looking at the front) are for 3 x 70-80mm fans for heat extraction. I would suggest filling all 3 of these with low rpm fans to make sure you have the right airflow through the case as it suggests on the Lian-Li website.

It seems to have a left to right airflow, rather than front to back. I would suggest fans are a must for that case.

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blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#275950 24-Nov-2009 20:31

Hey Buttonmash - can you post a photo maybe? Would be interested to see what's going on.

My setup is based on a Antec Fusion which has exhaust fans on the side of the case. This is not ideal as like you, I have it slotted into an entertainment unit and there is only about 10mm clearance on either side of the case. The though of adding more fans appals me as I don't want any more noise that I already have.

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buzzy

217 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#276196 25-Nov-2009 14:14

Buttonmash: I have a Lian-Li Muse PC-37B case stuffed in my entertainment unit and I'm having trouble keeping it cool enough.

When you say "cool enough" is the current temperature causing any specific problems?

Buttonmash: my CPU/Motherboard temps are reporting about 53C each while watching TV. I'd like to get this down.

I tend to be merciless about this sort of stuff. IMHO it's rare to see a PC component fail due to overheating - with obvious (and sometimes spectacular) exceptions like the CPU cooler being removed, etc. If the system's not showing any problems then it's running cool enough.

There's a school of thought that says running a system hotter shortens the lifespan. There's another school of thought that says you tend to replace the components every three or for years, so if you're lowering the lifespan from ten years to eight, who cares?

IMHO, of course
Buzzy