The function and usefulness of side vents?

ugly · Post by **ugly** » Fri May 06, 2005 11:06 am

Hello,

My case, like most, has vents (a grill? or whatever the proper term is) on one side. It seems to be the main point of entry for dust. In a single case fan, rear-exhaust situation (not counting CPU fan), if I were to tape up the vents, would this cause a significant increase in temperature?

I've read that vents actually have a negative impact in the cooling process themselves. Perhaps having something to do with altering the "wind tunnel" that is supposed to be created?

Thanks,

ugly

alglove · Post by **alglove** » Fri May 06, 2005 11:50 am

It is hard to say exactly, without knowing more about your case. For example, are there any other intake vents, like behind the front bezel? How freely can air move through them? What components do you have in your case? Even if the temperature does go up, is it still acceptable?

What you say about disrupting the wind tunnel effect does have some merit. On the other hand, Intel has called for intake vents on the sides of cases in their "Thermally Advanataged Chassis" specifications. They even go so far as to define the sizes and locations of these vents, aligning them with the locations of the CPUs and graphics cards.

As to whether or not you actually need these vents in order run your computer, I say the easiest thing is to experiment yourself. Go ahead and tape up those vents and see what happens. Take temperature readings before and after taping the vents, both at idle and under load. Post the results here.

This assumes, of course, that you have some way of measuring your temps. If you do not have a program to do so under Windows, try looking in your BIOS setup. You may see a section titled "PC Health", for example. The BIOS temperature will not be the same as the temperature under load in Windows (since your computer will have had a little bit of time to cool off), but it can serve as a rough guide.

ugly · Post by **ugly** » Fri May 06, 2005 12:39 pm

alglove wrote:It is hard to say exactly, without knowing more about your case. For example, are there any other intake vents, like behind the front bezel? How freely can air move through them? What components do you have in your case? Even if the temperature does go up, is it still acceptable?

I taped up the vents, and so far so good. There has only been about a 1-2°C increase in temperature. There are intake vents in the front bezel, but my airflow is pretty bad due to case crowding with non-round cables all over the place. Improving that situation should make up for that 1-2°C increase or maybe even more, I would hope.

alglove wrote:What you say about disrupting the wind tunnel effect does have some merit. On the other hand, Intel has called for intake vents on the sides of cases in their "Thermally Advanataged Chassis" specifications. They even go so far as to define the sizes and locations of these vents, aligning them with the locations of the CPUs and graphics cards.

These side vents don't seem to be very strategically placed. They are near the bottom of the case panel, and extend all the way from the front to the back.

Green Shoes · Post by **Green Shoes** » Fri May 06, 2005 12:53 pm

ugly,

Welcome to SPCR!!!

Vents are typically a bad thing, unless you're ducting your CPU directly out of the case...but it doesn't sound like you are. Can you list a model # or manufacturer of your case? It would help a lot. In any case, you are correct that tidying up your cable runs would help temps immensely. Use the search tool and look for "cablegami", you will find several basic (and a few truly ingenious) tips to get rid of the clutter.

ugly · Post by **ugly** » Fri May 06, 2005 1:37 pm

Green Shoes wrote: Vents are typically a bad thing, unless you're ducting your CPU directly out of the case...but it doesn't sound like you are. Can you list a model # or manufacturer of your case? It would help a lot. In any case, you are correct that tidying up your cable runs would help temps immensely. Use the search tool and look for "cablegami", you will find several basic (and a few truly ingenious) tips to get rid of the clutter.

You're right, I'm not ducting my CPU. Cablegami looks neat, but I don't forsee myself trying that any time in the future. ;) As for model number; I have no clue. The case says "Elite Systems." I was given the computer by my school, who received it as a gov't donation. It's pretty generic.

I don't think I'll have trouble reducing the clutter since I'm planning an upgrade, among other things, that will reduce the number of components in the case. I don't play games, so onboard video it is!

Reading another thread about the merits of front intake and bottom intake PSUs has left me with a dilemma though. Do I value a marginal decrease in noise (front intake) over cooling (botton intake)? Still gotta decide :)

ugly · Post by **ugly** » Fri May 06, 2005 2:24 pm

Ahh, all moot points now. Noticed a great deal on an Antec SLK3700AMB here:

http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productde ... pr1c3watch

Surprisingly, much cheaper than newegg.

Green Shoes · Post by **Green Shoes** » Fri May 06, 2005 5:23 pm

wow, that is a good price. Must be on sale or something. I've never heard of that vendor, though...but if they check out okay let me know.

If you already have a power supply you like, also check out the black SLK3000-B on that same site for cheaper. While the power supply that comes with the 3700 isn't terrible, there are better out there.

ugly · Post by **ugly** » Fri May 06, 2005 6:05 pm

Green Shoes wrote:wow, that is a good price. Must be on sale or something. I've never heard of that vendor, though...but if they check out okay let me know.

They're on pricewatch.com with a decent rating (same goes for resellerratings.com).

Green Shoes wrote: If you already have a power supply you like, also check out the black SLK3000-B on that same site for cheaper. While the power supply that comes with the 3700 isn't terrible, there are better out there.

Only some terrible, 200w OEM PSU here at the moment. Basically I was debating this case or using current case + seasonic super silencer 300w. Since the review of the case on silentpcreview's recommended section says it's "decently quiet," I decided to go with it.

tay · Post by **tay** » Fri May 06, 2005 6:20 pm

Green Shoes wrote:wow, that is a good price. Must be on sale or something. I've never heard of that vendor, though...but if they check out okay let me know.

Chiefvalue = Newegg sister site and yeah $70 shipped is not bad. I think its been that cheap at newegg before but since gone up.