Airflow advice for a P183 build

Shai-tan · Post by **Shai-tan** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 3:58 am

Hey guys,
This is what I have in mind. Feel free to comment or make any suggestions

. What should I do for the CPU cooler? I'm leaning towards mounting it East/West...

Cheers

b_rubenstein · Post by **b_rubenstein** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 4:30 am

There isn't much point in discussing cooling solutions until there is some sort of definition of the cooling load. Really. One needs to know the hardware, applications and ambient temperature range the PC will be in to have some idea of what the thermal loads will be. Otherwise the exercise is rather meaningless.

Shai-tan · Post by **Shai-tan** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 6:03 am

b_rubenstein wrote:There isn't much point in discussing cooling solutions until there is some sort of definition of the cooling load. Really. One needs to know the hardware, applications and ambient temperature range the PC will be in to have some idea of what the thermal loads will be. Otherwise the exercise is rather meaningless.

Sure thats fine. Not very helpful though. I don't see how air flow theories and advice is meaningless especially if there is someone out there who has had a similar issue or setup and can help provide some positive advice.

Anyone have some advice on airflow in the situation I've shown? Maybe you have a had a similar issue with the P183 or have tested cpu cooler configs like n/s vs e/w with different exhaust fan positions.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 8:58 am

the nf-p12 is designed for use on cpu coolers and such, so you'll probably want a case fan in the bottom power supply compartment... something at 600rpm or less would be ideal, because it's quiet.

rather than stacking the 2x slipstreams, you can mount one of 'em on a bay coverter up top, i used a lian li ex-332n, which came with a pretty nice fan... it's expensive, but it's really well made... i used a foam air filter in front of it, which has proven to be rather difficult to keep clean.

cpu fans typically blow front-to-back, i don't think that you'll gain anything by trying to blow upwards.

Shai-tan · Post by **Shai-tan** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 1:19 pm

danimal wrote:the nf-p12 is designed for use on cpu coolers and such, so you'll probably want a case fan in the bottom power supply compartment... something at 600rpm or less would be ideal, because it's quiet.

rather than stacking the 2x slipstreams, you can mount one of 'em on a bay coverter up top, i used a lian li ex-332n, which came with a pretty nice fan... it's expensive, but it's really well made... i used a foam air filter in front of it, which has proven to be rather difficult to keep clean.

cpu fans typically blow front-to-back, i don't think that you'll gain anything by trying to blow upwards.

Thanks dude.

For the PSU bay I was going to put a NF-P12 in for cooling the hard-drives because the fan is quiet close to the cage and I don't quiet know the spacing of the drives yet, but still tossing up whether I should replace that with a NF-S12B or Slip Stream, will wait until the case arrives next week for that one.

Pretty much along the same lines I was thinking of myself. I've seen another forum post on here showing someone putting the upper Hard drive cage into the 5.25" bay with a fan mounted on it, still acts as ducting and will deliver fresh air straight to the CPU cooler, I might try that and use some padding to dampen vibration or just get a bay converter

Yeah but I feel hot air rises easier than it goes sideways, and I'm guessing that's the theory behind the likes of the fortress FT02.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 4:43 pm

the heat will rise, but if there is enough air blowing through the case, it will control where the heat goes.

i have been experimenting with positive air pressure in my p183, as a future setup for a passive high performance overclocked video card... i used some rudimentary foam ducting, with three fans blowing inwards, and the second cpu fan acting as the hot air exhaust.

if you look at the fan facing you in the pic, it's crudely mounted to the case via a couple of pre-existing holes... i put that fan there because there are no vrm coolers on the motherboard, but you might want to check it out for cooling your video card.

KayDat · Post by **KayDat** » Sun Apr 25, 2010 3:08 am

I see you've still got the shrink wrap on your front door

I've still got mine on the side panels, but I took it off my door.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Sun Apr 25, 2010 9:13 am

the plastic covers up those ugly front door vent holes, lol

Shai-tan · Post by **Shai-tan** » Sun Apr 25, 2010 6:44 pm

lol ordered mine... can't wait

KayDat · Post by **KayDat** » Sun Apr 25, 2010 7:10 pm

danimal wrote:the plastic covers up those ugly front door vent holes, lol

It doesn't block it visually though...it'd still offend my eyes. =P