Ok, first of all I have an Antec 902 that came with (rather ugly) vented PCI slot covers. I also have some spare solid black PCI slot covers that look much better. Here are 2 pictures showing the way things are setup now A problem I am experiencing is that the PSU fan (I assume) is causing dust to get sucked in through the bottom 3 vented PCI slots. This could be another problem because obviously the air being vented out of the back of the PSU is warm so that means the case is sucking warm air back into it. I don't use a side panel fan on my case (temps actually got worse when I tried) but I still have that hole there with a filter. What I would like to happen would be that any additional air that is not supplied by my intake fans be sucked in through the filter on the side panel. Would using solid PCI Slot covers help this without disrupting the rest of the airflow? Thanks for any help.
so you dont have any fans drawing cold air in yet? its always better to have more cold air been blown in, than hot air being blown out. 1 at the front, one on the side, and the pci (vented or solid) would be the ideal setup, with the top one drawing the air out, aswell as the psu fan Therefore, have the most powerful fans at the front and side, then a normal powerful one at the top, the psu fan should be a low speed one as its not meant to act as a case fan but only the psu fan. If you did use solid PCI slots, theere would be no worry of heat build up because of the psu fan and the cpu fan at the top with cold air being directly blown onto the GPU. ideal setup the front fan would create a sort of draft which would channel most of the air in the case to go from right to left, which is what you want. hope this helps
Like I said, I've tried a side intake fan, several times in fact, and it actually causes almost every temperature to go UP by 1-2 degrees. I'm fine with how I have my fans setup, I'm just more curious about the cons/pros of solid pci slots vs vented pci slots.
The surface where the computer is at, you can place a hard, less dusty surface on top and see if that helps. Rugged carpets are really bad for laptop ventilation so I would say, if you could try this, it might work. I don't know but I guess the same sort of fans are used. It could also be due to faulty dust filters? I am not sure much about if I am right so if I got something wrong, tell me please. Kalish
Circulation, you have to have more air getting blown out than in. All the holes are there for a reason, the air pressure inside been blown out means theres cold air coming in though those holes. Leave it as it is, those cases have been tested to optimize air flow and circulation.
I <3 slotted pci slot covers. I'd be more than happy to trade you some solids for your vented It's easy to see what the problem is: YOUR BOTTOM PSU IS MOUNTED UPSIDE DOWN. Solution: Cut a 120mm hole in bottom of case, and turn that PSU right side up! It should be drawing cool air up from under the case and ejecting it out the back, never mixing with your case air. You may need to put some larger rubber feet on the bottom of your case so that you have at least 1cm clearance to the floor. And get it off that carpet! While you are at it, you can cut a second hole in bottom for another 120mm intake fan. My case as an example:
really? i thought it was you need more cold air going in? otherwise you get a draft pulling dust through your dvd-rom drives and stuff etc?
There are benefits and disadvantages to both positive and negative pressure set-ups. What is most important is having the overall airflow go in one direction to minimize turbulence. That's why the general rule of thumb is In through the Front/Side/Bottom, and Out through the Rear and Top.
Get your case up off the carpet and turn the PSU over if it has ventalation in the bottom of the case. As for more air coming into the case or going out ?? .. I would say its better to have more coming in, through filtered fans than not enough. My case only has 1 intake fan and I am constantly having problems with dust getting piled up inside drive slots and the DVD burner tray area. Also, if there is not enough air inside the case, the internal cooling fans cannot do their job properly of cooling those components. So from personal experience, more air inside the case = better cooling / less dust than not enough air being sucked through other non-filtered places.
Thanks for the suggestions guys but turning the PSU over and/or getting it off the carpet are not options. I put solid PCI slot covers in to see if it made a difference in temps and they appear to all be about the same, hard to tell.
Well i think shifting hot air out is more important than bringing cold air in. Every case on the market has more Exhaust than it does intake, theres a reason for that. You can bring in all the cold air you want (intake), but if its not get thrown out then its pointless. Alot of cases have a 3 huge fans 200mm,140mm,120mm Exhaust and only 2 120mm,120mm intake. Since all cases have more mm exhaust than intake i assume exhaust is more important. And mate try find a piece of board to put under the case, i have mine on the floor to, but its on a piece of MDF.
