Upside down PSU in Solo?

J. Sparrow · Post by **J. Sparrow** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:03 am

I'm toying with this idea to reduce the chance of hot air pockets around the PSU: but I think it may have several undesired consequences.

I seem to recall someone tried this already? What were the results?

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:01 am

If you want to mount your PSU in the solo with the fan facing up, the clearance between the PSU and the top of the case is going to be less than a centimeter (about half and inch I believe)... and that's not much
I thought about trying in my build but it's too much of a hassle to move the PSU in the solo (you need to remove the motherboard). Please post your results if you decide to try it !!

KadazanPL · Post by **KadazanPL** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:05 am

I agree with frenchie, there's likely to be very little clearance - perhaps too little. I was thinking about doing this but I can't even squeeze my finger between the PSU and the top of the case. A straight-through PSU would be better in a Solo, because it can be ducted to the front of the case...

Let us know what you've found out should you decide to flip your PSU.

J. Sparrow · Post by **J. Sparrow** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:13 am

Yup the clearance is an often quoted problem, but in all the threads I've found, it never looked as if someone actually tried it in practice.

But quiet PSUs don't move a whole lot of air, and maybe clearance is not /really/ that much of an issue. In fact I am more concerned with the effect on the air paths inside the case.

frenchie wrote:I thought about trying in my build but it's too much of a hassle to move the PSU in the solo (you need to remove the motherboard).

That's why I haven't done it yet: I need a reasonable excuse before I can spend that kind of time... like a fanswap

A straight-through PSU would be better in a Solo, because it can be ducted to the front of the case...

I played a lot with ducts in my previous case and found out it was always detrimental to cooling. My opinion now is ducting is a thing of the past: in current cases, with properly designed airpaths, big fans and big heatsinks, there's no need for ducting.

Another idea I came up with is closing or filling the gap between the PSU and the case: this should maximize the effect of the front intake ports on the PSU and avoid pockets.