How to cool an ancient case?

Drenlin

Drenlin

Active Member
Like the title says. I have a 10 year old Gateway tower that I plan to use for a non-O/C, Core i5 based system. pic:
DSC00722.jpg


With 5 external bays and 3/4 internal, it's definitely got the space, but I'm worried about cooling. It's only got one space for a mid-size fan in the back(pic), and the front fan/s will be underneath the faceplate here....there is an intake vent at the bottom of the face. Airflow through the faceplate shouldn't be a problem.

What I'm worried about is 1) what fans to put up there, 2) which direction to flow it all, and 3) if 2-3 fans will be enough to cool it. The fans on the front are lined up perfectly with the hard drives inside.

So...#1. I can either fit two 30mm fans hand have their full volume go past the hard drives like this, or I can get a much larger fan and have part of it be obstructed, and part of it blowing into the empty space in the case like this.

#2, I have no idea about. It seems like if I flow it front->rear like normal, then the hard drive/s could obstruct airflow more. Could they? Rear->front airflow seems a bit odd, but it also seems like it might be a bit more efficient.

I suppose #3 is what it comes down to. Will I be able to cool this thing enough to run a modern system?

edit: Guess I should include the model and whatnot. Tag on the back says "LP Mini Tower TB3 Performance 550". Looks pretty much like this fully assembled.

edit again: fixed links
 
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With some added fans to the case it should be okay....but the problem is, that case looks rather on the small side... And Coolers and graphics cards these days don't tend to come small...especially if you opt for the higher end stuff.

what do you intend to build in it? what's the full specs?

Personally, Id get a new case....something like this if your funds are tight.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...047&cm_re=coolermaster-_-11-119-047-_-Product
 
It's not as small as it looks...that mobo is pretty big. Takes up all 7 slots in the back. It could use a bit more width, but it's not bad. The other dimensions aren't far from the ones on that Cooler Master.

I could get a new one...but I like this one, lol. Been with my family since '98. Is that strange?
I did look at new ones though, out of boredom...I liked this best.

So I couldn't get away with high-CFM fans? I was thinking two of these for the front, and one of these for the back. Where else should I put one? If need be I can just use one hard drive and move that contraption out of the way. It's not really necessary.


I don't have the full specs yet. So far I've only picked out this for the CPU and this for the motherboard. I haven't even looked to see if they're properly matched though...I'm just getting myself into a budget. 600W should be enough power, right?
 
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High rpm fans can only go so far in cooling. Well planned airflow generally work better. See if you can dremel out 120mm fan holes in the front and the back and attach two medium rpm 120mm fans (~1500 rpm). Drill another hole around the pci slots on the side panel and mount a slim 120mm fan. Along with a good set of heatsinks that case should cool a high end system.
 
Oh hell, I've done it again...I was measuring radius, not diameter. Poorly, at that. Edited the post. With no mods, it'd be an 80mm in the back, and two 60mm ones in the front. Does that change things any?

There's no way I'm going to fit a 120MM on the back. I could fit two 90MM ones pretty easily though. would that work? It'd be above the back one, and they'd both be blowing straight across the CPU and RAM, and right over the GPU.

I'll have to get the side panel to see if there's a place for one. The last pic I posted shows holes in the side big enough for a right monster of a fan, but I don't know if mine has it.
 
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Drenlin said:
There's no way I'm going to fit a 120MM back there. I could fit two 50MM ones pretty easily though, would that work? It'd be above the back one, and they'd both be blowing straight across the CPU and right over the GPU.

I'll have to get the side paned to see if there's a place for one. The last pic I posted shows holes in the side big enough for a right monster of a fan, but I don't know if mine has it.
Click to expand...

60mm fans is about as small as case fans go, anything smaller wouldn't really do anything. Maybe you can do a front to side airflow scheme? Mount 2 120mm fans on the side and instead of using tower heatsinks you can use a top down heatsink. How big of a fan can you fit in the front?
 
^ Very cool, I like it. That case is very similar to mine, too.

So I've gotten the side panel, and there's a vent in the side big enough to mount this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233037
It'd be blowing straight on the processor. I could have that and the back fans as inlets, and the smaller fans as exhaust...how's that?

edit: Just found these...could I just use one or two of them instead of cutting another hole in the back? I'm sure there'll be extra pci holes. Look at the airflow on this one! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119065
 
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But what would I do with two cases? :confused:

I think I may have this figured out. I hadn't thought of attaching a side fan before...that pretty much solves it I think. 2x60mm front and good 120/140mm side fans as the intake, with the rear 80mm fan and a PCI slot fan as the exhaust. How's that sound? Here's what I'm looking at:

2x 60mm(front)
1x80mm(rear)
120mm(side) (could swap this for 90mm tornado if need be. I'd have to get a controller though...)
PCI fan

That's 151.18 CFM in, and 126.1CFM out. Roughly 2.5CFS, mostly across the motherboard. Probably more like 2.25 with obstructions. I can also mount those fans in the pictures inside to help circulate things more...they're Mobo powered. Will that do it? It'll sound like a vacuum cleaner, but I'm ok with that.
 
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Once again, more airflow does not necessarily mean better temperatures. Are you planning to overclock? If not, then the extra cfm really isn't going to do too much. Currently I'm running a quad core CPU and 4890 with only 2 120mm fans (800rpm, 1200rpm) and my temperature is reasonable (~55C load).
 
Drenlin said:
But what would I do with two cases? :confused:

I think I may have this figured out. I hadn't thought of attaching a side fan before...that pretty much solves it I think. 2x60mm front and good 120/140mm side fans as the intake, with the rear 80mm fan and a PCI slot fan as the exhaust. How's that sound? Here's what I'm looking at:

2x 60mm(front)
1x80mm(rear)
120mm(side) (could swap this for 90mm tornado if need be. I'd have to get a controller though...)
PCI fan

That's 151.18 CFM in, and 126.1CFM out. Roughly 2.5CFS, mostly across the motherboard. Probably more like 2.25 with obstructions. I can also mount those fans in the pictures inside to help circulate things more...they're Mobo powered. Will that do it? It'll sound like a vacuum cleaner, but I'm ok with that.
Click to expand...

You forgot that with a bigger PSU you will probably have another 120 working in the top end doing exhaust.. Actually I would forgo the twin 60's up front and the PCI fan. The 120 in the lower forward part of the side panel will give plenty of intake and will keep the noise levels pretty low. The 80 and the 120 in the PSU are going to provide a fairly positive exhaust flow. If it still is a concern you could install a second exhaust in the upper rear of the panel over the CPU area.

If HDD cooling is still a concern I would go with one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119063 style of coolers depending of course on drive bay space and how many drives you want to put in the case.
 
How did I forget the PSU? It was only a few hours ago that I was wondering what dual fan in the stock one would push. Whoops! :o

So I've overkilled it, then? I'm not planning to overclock.

I shouldn't have to worry about HD cooling either...if I do I'll probably just mount one of the fans I already have near them.

And I don't know about CC's, lol, but I might do something with white LED's under the faceplate to compliment the side fan.
 
What graphics card are you planning to use? If you get good heatsinks for the processor and the graphics card then 1 or 2 mid rpm 80mm fan along with a side 120mm fan would provide plenty of cooling.
 
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