Newbie with some HTPC cooling questions!

Hallsy · Post by **Hallsy** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 11:39 am

Hi guys,

new here

I have decided that I want a dedicated HTPC and have started gathering some bits to get me sorted, I was on a bit of a budget but am nearly there.

The system consists of:

Silverstone LC13 case
Gigabyte MA78G-DS3H motherboard
AMD 64 X2 5000+ EE 65W CPU
2GB PC6400 RAM (will be uprading to 2x2GB)
Thermaltake TR2 RX-450 450W ATX 12V 2.2 Modular PSU
Pioneer DVR-216DBK DVD-RW
Hitachi 1TB Deskstar HDD
Terratec Cinergy 2400i PCI-E TV card
Windows 7 RC

The HDD hasn't arrived yet, and I'll also be adding some kind of MCE IR receiver to use with my Harmony 885 remote.

Right, my main issues are around cooling and keeping it farily quiet (wouldn't be here otherwise!!!), and as I'm sure some of you will know, the LC13 is perhaprs not ideal for this.

So here it is before I add the drives:

So far I have removed both of the rear 60mm fans, and mounted a single 80mm Coolink SWiF using an adaptor, this flows just as much air as a pair of quiet 60mm fans, and is nice and quiet itself.

I'm going to ditch the stock AMD cooler, and probably fit a Scythe Mini Ninja, unless anyone has any other good ideas? I have 115mm from motherboard to the cross brace. I had considered the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro but not sure if this will fit in with some slight modding to the cross brace, depends on height of actual tower, as I assume total height includes the height of the tubes (126.5mm).

Anyway, if I go with the Minja I will probably use another 80mm Coolink in place of the stock fan.

I guess my questions are,

1: Do i definately need a fan on the cooler with the exhaust fan being so close behind it (also the PSU intake fan being close)

2: If not, would a single intake fan in front left (92mm stock position) be adequate, maybe upgrading to a 120mm slow running fan.

I have also seen an LC13 on here with a pair of 120mm fans installed in the bottom of the case floor, is this likely to be of much benefit in my system against a single 120mm intake fan blowing across the case?

Finally, my modular SATA power cable is very short between the two power connections, which means it won't reach from the DVD in 5.25" bay across to the HDD in the 3.5" bay. Would it be worthwhile moving the HDD to the 5.25" bay and use something like this:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebP ... ce=froogle

or would this be too hot having both drives close together, in which case I'll use a SATA power extension?

Any other general advice/recommendations would be excellent

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 12:54 pm

I think Scythe fans are usually pretty quiet--you could try the stock Minja fan--if you even need it, like you said with PSU and case fan nearby.
I have my HD in a 5.25" bay using something like that and it seems fine. There's room for air around it now at least. Does that thing just stick to the drive with tape?!?

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:46 pm

I'd try at least running the Ninja Mini passively, with the aid of a little ducting perhaps.

Stage 1:

Tape the remaining 60mm exhaust hole shut, to prevent short circuiting any airflow.

Replace the front silverstone fan with a 92mm Scythe or Nexus fan and undervolt it.

Duct the airflow from this fan to the edge of your TV card with some cardboard, so that the intake air is flowing towards your Ninja Mini.

Then put a little duct in place between the edge of the Ninja Mini and the power supply (it probably won't be a big gap).

The idea is to force all exhaust air to be dragged through or around the NB heatsink and the Ninja Mini.

Do a stress test for your temps (as a worst case scenario) and see how this goes.

If the result isn't great, stage 2 would be something like this:

Extend the left hand side duct from the edge of your TV card to the edge of the Ninja Mini. However, cut a bit off from the bottom of this duct so that there is room for some air to be pulled underneath (and therefore through the NB heatsink) by the Coolink fan.

Mount either the default Ninja Mini 80mm fan (it is quiet if you undervolt it to 5V) or another Coolink fan on the Ninja Mini just to help push air through the Ninja Mini. This should help your CPU temps a little more.

As for your HDD, it doesn't look like it will be easy to mount it quietly. I would suspend it in the 5.25 inch bay under the DVD drive. If the HDD needs a little more airflow you could pop out the drive bay cover and replace it with some modder's mesh cut to fit to provide some intake air that should be drawn over the HDD by the pressure of the rear exhaust and PSU fans pulling air through the case.

Anyway, hope some of this makes sense and is useful for you!

Hallsy · Post by **Hallsy** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 2:09 am

psiu wrote:I think Scythe fans are usually pretty quiet--you could try the stock Minja fan--if you even need it, like you said with PSU and case fan nearby.
I have my HD in a 5.25" bay using something like that and it seems fine. There's room for air around it now at least. Does that thing just stick to the drive with tape?!?

Yeah, it will definately be a little trial & error, I'd just like to get it roughly right in the first place without buying stuff I don't actually need.

Not sure about those Akasa heatsink mounts, I think they use the std mounting holes on the HDD, and then have new threaded bosses to mount into the 5.25" bay.

Hallsy · Post by **Hallsy** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 2:15 am

JamieG wrote:I'd try at least running the Ninja Mini passively, with the aid of a little ducting perhaps.

Stage 1:

Tape the remaining 60mm exhaust hole shut, to prevent short circuiting any airflow.

Replace the front silverstone fan with a 92mm Scythe or Nexus fan and undervolt it.

Duct the airflow from this fan to the edge of your TV card with some cardboard, so that the intake air is flowing towards your Ninja Mini.

Then put a little duct in place between the edge of the Ninja Mini and the power supply (it probably won't be a big gap).

The idea is to force all exhaust air to be dragged through or around the NB heatsink and the Ninja Mini.

Do a stress test for your temps (as a worst case scenario) and see how this goes.

If the result isn't great, stage 2 would be something like this:

Extend the left hand side duct from the edge of your TV card to the edge of the Ninja Mini. However, cut a bit off from the bottom of this duct so that there is room for some air to be pulled underneath (and therefore through the NB heatsink) by the Coolink fan.

Mount either the default Ninja Mini 80mm fan (it is quiet if you undervolt it to 5V) or another Coolink fan on the Ninja Mini just to help push air through the Ninja Mini. This should help your CPU temps a little more.

As for your HDD, it doesn't look like it will be easy to mount it quietly. I would suspend it in the 5.25 inch bay under the DVD drive. If the HDD needs a little more airflow you could pop out the drive bay cover and replace it with some modder's mesh cut to fit to provide some intake air that should be drawn over the HDD by the pressure of the rear exhaust and PSU fans pulling air through the case.

Anyway, hope some of this makes sense and is useful for you!

Thanks for that - great post

I will definately try what you suggest. I can easilly fit a 120mm fan where the 92mm fan would go, would this be a better idea or no real difference?

Also, is the Minja a better bet than an Arctic Freezer Pro? I think I could fit one of those in as well.

Other thing I forgot to mention is that there are two vents on the case lid. One on the left side, about level with the TV card, and the other on the right side level with the 5.25" bay.

Would it be a good idea to block the left hand vent, but leave the right vent open, maybe forcing some air to be pulled across the drives via the exhaust fan?

I realised that I have a third 3.5" bay under the two 5.25" bays so the HDD could've gone there anyway, but I think I'll remove it and try suspending it - I hadn't come across this method until today!! Then I can also remove the 3.5" cage (screwed in) if it would help further with airflow.

bartfriend · Post by **bartfriend** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:55 pm

I have a LC-10 that is basically the same lay out. SO i will be watching what you are doing. I am having some issues with heat... I have cut out all of the stock fan covers and that helped with the noise but with the summer heat I am still having some heat issues.

Fans
ARCTIC COOLING 60mm CPU Cooler - too loud
VANTEC 60mm Case Fan x2 - exhaust
VANTEC SF9225L 92mm Case Fan - intake
ZALMAN VF1000 2 Ball VGA Cooler - on a 8600GTS

bartfriend · Post by **bartfriend** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:53 pm

i just got a SilenX IXP-54-14 80mm Case Fan from newegg and a 80-60 adapter from a company called SVC.com it was only a $1.50

Now it installed and other vent blocked off (thank you duct tape) Under full load with cover on for 30min nothing got over 64C!

Now I need newegg to get more of the mini ninjas in so i can get rid of that arctic cool noise machine.

=b