Wanted: Successful ducting of Zalman 7000

Pjotor · Post by **Pjotor** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 3:34 am

Hey all,

I'd like to duct my Zalman 7000-AlCu so it sucks outside air in. I wouldn't really like to carve a hole in the side (which some of you folks have done). Please give me info on the following:

- What materials did you use?
- From where did you draw the outside air (rear/front, low or high, from 5.25" bays or bottom)?
- Have you got any measurements?

I have a Compucase 6A-21 (similar to Sonata and BQE3700).

silvervarg · Post by **silvervarg** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 3:43 am

Basicly you got two good options. If you just want lower temps you can make a hole in the side at the right place and use a straight tube to let air travel the least distance to the CPU heatsink.
The drawback is that this lets noise out through the tube as well.

The other option is to use a duct with turns to reduce the noice that escapes. This might require a longer airpath to make room for the turns. There is a rather long and detailed thread about ducting inte for a PSU this way.

What is your goal?
More cooling to the CPU so you can overclock more or just run cooler?
Reduce noise?

What other things have you done so far to reduce noise?

Pjotor · Post by **Pjotor** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 5:37 am

What other things have you done so far to reduce noise?

Noise reduction:
- Lined the inside of the case w/ eggcrate foam (from Biltema)
- Suspended the hard drive (Barracuda 7200.7 160GB, brand new = ain't gonna replace it anytime soon)
- PSU channel from the 2 top front drive bays

What is your goal?
More cooling to the CPU so you can overclock more or just run cooler?
Reduce noise?

My goal is to provide better cooling for the CPU without having to crank up the fan. The idea is to prevent warm air from the CPU cooler to be recycled over and over before being exhausted via the 120mm rear case fan.

The other option is to use a duct with turns to reduce the noice that escapes. This might require a longer airpath to make room for the turns. There is a rather long and detailed thread about ducting inte for a PSU this way.

You mention a solution with a duct with turns -- that's the one I'm looking for. Do you have a link to it? (I would like to know things like dimensions and materials used.)

silvervarg · Post by **silvervarg** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 7:26 am

You mention a solution with a duct with turns -- that's the one I'm looking for. Do you have a link to it? (I would like to know things like dimensions and materials used.)

I have only seen threads where this has been done to the PSU. Ducting from a 5.25" drivebay. It is much easier to do this with a low and wide rectangular area than it will be to do it in a round duct, but the theory is the same. It is just harder to manufacture things that fit well in some shapes.

So far the straight ducts to the CPU I have seen posted have not been that successful. They do give lower temps at same fan speed, but they also allow noise to escape a lot easier. Some people have been so unsatisfied with the result that they have removed the duct and plugged the hole again.

This might be an interesting thread that talks about similar things.
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=11499

Feel free to drop me a private message for info in Swedish.

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:16 am

A straight duct to the CPU can work great if the CPU heatsink has no fan. My main workstation has a straight intake duct sucking air straight at the CPU heatsink. This required me to use a negative pressure case strategy, of course.

Regardless, I have a simple idea for an internal duct. On the inside of the removable side wall, attach a simple long rectangular box. The thickness of this box is such that it just barely fits next to the CPU cooler. One end of this long box is over the CPU cooler, with a simple circular hole to feed air to the cooler. The other end of this long box is open, and placed near the case's front intake.

This duct should be easy to construct since it's just a box with a hole cut in the side. It doesn't introduce any new pathways for sound to escape.

zoob · Post by **zoob** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 7:18 pm

Funny,

I always thought that ducting the Zalman 7000A to an exhaust would have been an awesome idea. I really liked the Alpha/elbow duct mod idea. Very tempted to buy a Lanboy just to try it.