Airflow Tips/Help

[GrymReefer]

So I'm slightly baffled at the increase in temperature of GPU when I switched my hardware from a mini-ITX case to a midsize ATX.

Also worth noting that my ITX case had no case fans whatsoever and was just an open case. Inside the old case my GPU would bounce around between 65C-73C and in the new case it stays a solid 71-75C. Not as large of a fluctuation, but the custom fan profile remained the same in both builds. Only hardware that changed between the build was I upgraded from a 600W PSU to a 750W.

My CPU has a slight temperature increase however I'd consider it negligible. Maybe 1-2 degree difference that I can notice with some activities.

My new case

My old case

Hardware currently

-Gigabyte Z97N (mini mobo)
-Intel i-7 4790K @ 4.0Ghz
-Titan X SC (old architecture)
-Coolmaster G750M
-Corsair Vengeance LP 1866Mhz RAM 8x2 (sitting at 1333Mhz)

The fans the case came with are generic i'm assuming though my GPU fan's intake is sitting right at the inlet of the side panel fan. Which leaves me rather puzzled as it's set up the best possible way IMO? (pic below) My CPU heatsink is right on the exhaust so that's what I assume the minimal rise in temperature on CPU came from. I wouldn't think it's exhaust would bother the GPU as the case exhaust fan is within an inch of the actual heatsink itself. My room is around 22C-23C.

I know the temperatures aren't outrageous and the case does a solid job of muffling the fan noise even with it's aggressive profile it currently has for cooling... the temperatures are hitting the mid 70s when the GPU doesn't get close to 75% load. Seldom does anything actually get it too 100%, but a lot of games will get it turning into a toaster oven.

At this point I'm thinking of just getting a 1070 Ti and give up on trying to work with this card. I got it a while ago when I used to do a lot of rendering and 3D modeling and the 12Gbs of VRAM was nice. Now it's just a multi-purpose space heater/graphics processor.

 

[GrymReefer]

How my old case was set up...

 

[neversickanymore]

Soon I will be building a gaming computer with my son. How much of an advantage does liquid cooling provide?

 

[GrymReefer]

Soon I will be building a gaming computer with my son. How much of an advantage does liquid cooling provide?

I've never had liquid cooled as I have no idea how to tinker with it. A few friends I know have liquid cooled CPUs and boast about how their CPU rarely goes above 50C. I'd assume if you went liquid cooled on the CPU then it'd lower the ambient temperature in the case as it's exhaust isn't being let out directly into neighboring components like a traditional fan cooler.

It's easy to replace a blower motor or it's bearing if you have the tools. I'd be clueless if something happened within the water block or pump.

 

[Tranced]

When installing the components to the case did you do so having researched airflow? If not, its possible that you quite simply have things set up wrong. For starters, there is the issue of passive vs active airflow to consider, which I can't remember off the top of my head (its been a while). That said, I think my PC is passively cooled, with fans on the top and back blowing air out, and a fan on the front pulling air in. The cold air passes over my components and then is pulled out dragging the hot air with it. Other tips I use:

- remove dust from components using paint brush/hoover/compressed air
- remove things from the passage way of the airflow if possible, to create a kind of lane. Move PCI devices to the edge etc
- cable ties for wires/cables to keep them tight against the side of the case
- good fans. you want some decent fans - they make a huge difference for low cost. I use antec tricool, I think they are the 120mm ones.
- make sure fans are the right way round. one way sucks, one way blows
- if your PSU is modular, you can really lose a lot of it if you keep excess (hot!) cables out the way
- keep it tidy

I really can't determine anything from the first pic you posted, so no specific advice on that front. Is it next to the CPU in that pic?

 

[GrymReefer]

Let me take apart my setup and put up some better pictures of where intake/exhaust is. My case has no fans on top. Simply intake on the front, intake on the side, and exhaust at the back near the CPU heatsink.

 

[GrymReefer]

inside case facing towards 120mm intake fan with the HDD/SDD mounting brackets in the way.

Front of case with "dust-proof" mesh which I do say has helped marginally. There has been a small collection on it that I've cleaned off.

CPU cooler/heatsink sitting on top of the exhaust fan. I got a mini mobo

That side case fan is a 120mm, but the brackets it sits in can hold a 140mm fan and I'm thinking if I can tear out the HDD/SDD mounting bracket and put them somewhere else I might be able to put another fan on the other side of my intake for a push/pull effect? This is my first time building a case so I'm clueless. A lot of information out there is all over the place because some people are hardcore dick riders for specific brands of hardware that generally don't perform.

 

[GrymReefer]

My temps aren't crazy by any means and I'm wondering if anyone has ever done some custom work to their cases to allow for more case fans? I know I'm going to upgrade the side fan to a 140mm. I looked at the specs of the factory fan and it was atrocious. I can buy the factory case fans for under 8 dollars...

So I'm starting to think I should just upgrade ever single fan on my case and see if the CFM increase wil lead to a temperature drop. I'm just trying to stay around 65-70C. On some games during highly intensive work, it'll briefly jump to the high 70s for temp.

EDIT: for more information.

My PSU exhaust is out the back and it's intake is coming from underneath the case and it has spacers so it's not completely flat on a hard surface. Also, my desk that my hardware sits on is porous so I don't believe my PSU is throwing off extra temperatures.

 

[Tranced]

Sorry I totally forgot to check this thread. Did you get it sorted?

 

[GrymReefer]

Sorry I totally forgot to check this thread. Did you get it sorted?

Nope. I'm just saving up for a 1080 Ti now at this point. I thought about taking apart the card again and maybe getting an aftermarket cooler as they have quite a few kits for my model, but at this point it's almost becoming a situation of me polishing a turd so to speak.

I never realized how much 80C card running for an hour or two in a smaller apartment will drastically affect ambient temperatures throughout the whole entire place.