Cooling my new P180.

Anvar · Post by **Anvar** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:25 am

I just ordered my new rig. (Details here.)

Now, I'm wondering what the best way of cooling it is. I.e, how many fans, and how to control them. I'm leaning towards the Scythe S-flex E-model, but what's the best way to control the fan speed. I'd like a set-and-forget solution. I've used Noisemagic's NMT-2 temperature control in my old rig, but I'm not sure if that's the best solution.

Any help is appreciated.

Anvar.

Anvar · Post by **Anvar** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 2:45 am

Is there really noone who can help me?

s_xero · Post by **s_xero** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:16 am

I've got some fans on the little Zalman's Fanmates. I don't really like the PWM-fan-controllers, they've got problems and stuff.

But if you read some of the reviews, I think it can take you far.

Anvar · Post by **Anvar** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:35 am

s_xero wrote:I've got some fans on the little Zalman's Fanmates. I don't really like the PWM-fan-controllers, they've got problems and stuff.

But if you read some of the reviews, I think it can take you far.

I would, but the reviews posted on SPCR date back to 2003. That's a little old for my taste.

Sunfox · Post by **Sunfox** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:19 am

I prefer fans that are quiet enough right at 12V. Saves the whole control issue.

Anvar · Post by **Anvar** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:50 am

Sunfox wrote:I prefer fans that are quiet enough right at 12V. Saves the whole control issue.

True, but I haven't found any yet. Even the Nexus is too noisy for me at full speed.

Sunfox · Post by **Sunfox** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:53 am

Sounds like a Noctura NF-S12-800rpm may be in your future.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:26 am

Greetings,

Except that a fair number of the 800RPM Noctua's are reported to hum.

Fanmates and/or the motherboard fan headers can quietly control the fans that you need to keep your machine cool, in your room. Start with the quietest fans, and slow 'em down -- it has to work for your ears and in your room; so a little tweaking is required.

mcgerard · Post by **mcgerard** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 1:43 pm

I have two Noctua 1200 fans in my P180 - one in the lower chamber and one as rear exhaust. At the moment both are fitted with the adapter which drops the speed to nearly half. The system is very quiet and I am pleased with the temperatures. On idle the CPUs are around 32C/33C (measured with Core Temp) and the GPU is around 52. I did have a bit of humming but I traced that to a cable from the PSU being routed too close to the fan blades in the lower chamber. Tying that back cured the hum. One disadvantge of the Noctua series adapter is that the speed cannot be monitored when they are used so I am thinking of fitting fanmates as suggested by Neil Blanchard above.

PopCorn · Post by **PopCorn** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:58 pm

the PWM controllers work fine the problem with them that i found is that they dont give you FULL controll of the fan but the deafault settings are normally the best... set the fan low controll speed to low then the cpu gets hot so it has to ram up which it does to fast raising it to 100%. causing the cpu temp to drop below the target temp causing the fan to return to low setting and it repeats... if you had that problem with the PWM controller then lower you target temp... and raise the low controll speed

Anvar · Post by **Anvar** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:33 pm

The only problem I have with the Noctuas is that they reputedly have problems with airflow when restricted. Check the 120mm fan roundup thread for more info on this.

Anvar · Post by **Anvar** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 2:50 am

Ok, I think I've narrowed it down now. I'll buy the Scythe S-flex "E" version. 1 for the rear of the case, 1 for the heatsink, and 1 for the lower compartment between the hdd and the psu. I'll put fanmates on all of them.

Now, I've gotten the Evga 8800 GTS, and it has a radial blower that blows air out of the rear of the case. Would it be a good idea to install a fan behind the hdd cage, the one that will blow into the gfx card? Or should the blower be able to exhaust the heat from the card on it's own?