Front Intake Fan on P182
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Front Intake Fan on P182
Ok is it just me or do front intake fans not do much? I just put one in next to the very front of the grill, and it pretty much did nothing for my temps. I have the artic cooling S1 running passively on my 8800GT, I thought it would lower the temps on that since it was blowing the hot air from the gpu out the back, but it did nothing. Is this nromal with a front intake fan? Also I have my top fan removed, and its not blocked off its just wide open, does this affect my temps in a bad way? If I cover the top fan hole with something will my air flow be better and my temps lower?
Re: Front Intake Fan on P182
According to Mike Chin, they don'tfalcon26 wrote:Ok is it just me or do front intake fans not do much?
.In your setup the back exhaust fan pulls a lot of air from the top hole (hopefully blowing through the CPU heatsink) and not from the front of the case & the vented PCI covers.falcon26 wrote:I have the artic cooling S1 running passively on my 8800GT... it did nothing....Also I have my top fan removed, and its not blocked off its just wide open, does this affect my temps in a bad way?
By the way, I would put the intake fan on the other side of the HDD cage to give the GPU more direct airflow without much impact on intake efficiency (thanks to the HDD "tunnel"). Edit: or tie it to the Accelero.
Probably less noise, higher CPU temps, lower GPU temps.falcon26 wrote:If I cover the top fan hole with something will my air flow be better and my temps lower?
Last edited by Elvellon on Sun May 18, 2008 8:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
You need to do a little reading on how the airflow with a S1 is meant to work. It intakes through the rear vent and directs it around the H/S and out the rear exhaust. You're fighting the natural airflow design by adding an intake fan directed that way. You'd need an airguide to make sure the intake air from the rear can't rise and also create a direct airflow path from the front intake across the S1 to the back vents.
I'm not saying it would work well, I'm just saying why your design isn't working the way you thought.
Instead of the intake fan, if you're just trying to lower GPU temps, I'd mount the fan onto the S1 directly. Less direct noise that way and you won't need as much RPMs to cool an S1.
Without blocking off the top vent, it's possible you're creating a short circuit in your airflow by intaking cold air through the top vent and then exhausting it right out the back without doing anything. Try blocking it off and seeing what it does.
I'm not saying it would work well, I'm just saying why your design isn't working the way you thought.
Instead of the intake fan, if you're just trying to lower GPU temps, I'd mount the fan onto the S1 directly. Less direct noise that way and you won't need as much RPMs to cool an S1.
Without blocking off the top vent, it's possible you're creating a short circuit in your airflow by intaking cold air through the top vent and then exhausting it right out the back without doing anything. Try blocking it off and seeing what it does.
unless your running a positive air pressure system (which most people are not), then intake fans will only reduce temps for items located directly in front of them. Which are usually hard drives.
If you dont have anything directly in front of your intake fans, then all they do is increase noise. Nothing else.
If you dont have anything directly in front of your intake fans, then all they do is increase noise. Nothing else.
Not so strange - if you have a single rear exhaust fan, and you unblock the top vent, less air will be pulled in through the bottom of the upper chamber via the front vent and the PCI covers.falcon26 wrote:ok this is strange, I put a book on the top vent hole and my cpu temps stayed the same but my gpu temps went from 46 idle to 44 idle, if I take the book of my gpu temps go back to 46
I have a passive HD2600XT, with the PCI slot cover beneath it removed - it normally reports a temperature of about 49C, but if I unblock the top vent it quickly jumps by 5C or so. Put a book on the top of the case, and down it goes again...
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widowmaker
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You might also try switching up your rear fan. Stick it on the top exhaust and block off the rear exhaust to take advantage of some convection cooling. Probably not much, but every little bit helps. Ideally having fans in both exhausts running at lower rpm's would be best. If you want to go extreme like what I'm about to do, get tin snips and cut out the exhaust grills. I'm not quite sure how I'll handle the top plastic portion of the grill yet though.
Are your temps too high? What would you regard as satisfactory? What exactly are you trying to achieve?falcon26 wrote:Ok I put a top fan in now, same as the other 3 fans scythe sflex 800 rpm fan. And it did pretty much nothing. Temps are exactly how they were before with just the rear exhaust fan and the cpu fan...
Your temps look absolutely fine to me.
Your (passive) GPU temps are a little better than mine, even with a hotter card - the S1 is undoubtedly a good deal more efficient than the stock Gigabyte passive cooler on my HD2600XT, although I'm also running just a single exhaust fan at 600rpm or so (no intake). You don't say what cooling setup you have on your CPU, and what you're stressing it with to produce load temps of 55C, but it's nowhere near the throttling zone anyway.
Unless you want lower temps "just because," which would probably entail faster/louder fan(s), I'd forget about it if I were you and concentrate on enjoying your PC...
Your (passive) GPU temps are a little better than mine, even with a hotter card - the S1 is undoubtedly a good deal more efficient than the stock Gigabyte passive cooler on my HD2600XT, although I'm also running just a single exhaust fan at 600rpm or so (no intake). You don't say what cooling setup you have on your CPU, and what you're stressing it with to produce load temps of 55C, but it's nowhere near the throttling zone anyway.
Unless you want lower temps "just because," which would probably entail faster/louder fan(s), I'd forget about it if I were you and concentrate on enjoying your PC...
i agree, the temps dont seem too bad.
but after reading this thread, am i right that most of you guys are saying, there is no need for an intake fan at the front?
what if you block of the vents at the back except for 1 with the s1, and have an intake fan, he only has an 800 sfelx so its not too loud and it will cool his s1, and if blocking of the top vent helps then leave it blocked.
im no expert, i always thought in pc cases you have an intake and exhaust? intake draws in cool air for the MB, RAM and cpu cooler to cool down components and then exhaust pull the hot air out.
if there isnt an intake fan, and in case like the p182, where most people like to keep the door closed, leaving only the side vents, where does the cool air come in from? or are you saying just having an exhaust is enough to draw air in across the whole system?
but after reading this thread, am i right that most of you guys are saying, there is no need for an intake fan at the front?
what if you block of the vents at the back except for 1 with the s1, and have an intake fan, he only has an 800 sfelx so its not too loud and it will cool his s1, and if blocking of the top vent helps then leave it blocked.
im no expert, i always thought in pc cases you have an intake and exhaust? intake draws in cool air for the MB, RAM and cpu cooler to cool down components and then exhaust pull the hot air out.
if there isnt an intake fan, and in case like the p182, where most people like to keep the door closed, leaving only the side vents, where does the cool air come in from? or are you saying just having an exhaust is enough to draw air in across the whole system?
Normally no, unless you're a dustaphobe and like all your air filtered before it enters the PC case (which would necessitate a positive pressure setup).Ash wrote: but after reading this thread, am i right that most of you guys are saying, there is no need for an intake fan at the front?
Yes, exactly, unless you have something that particularly needs spot cooling by an additional front fan. Having said that, the P182 has a well-documented intake/exhaust imbalance which can cause problems if you have a particularly hot system - even then, adding an intake fan is less effective than modifying the front "inner" door (or even removing it altogether) to allow air to flow in more freely. Opening up the 5.25" bays to provide extra intake area, by installing a Scythe Kama Bay or something similar, can also help.Ash wrote: or are you saying just having an exhaust is enough to draw air in across the whole system?
It's not usually necessary, but quite a few people here like to run a high-powered CPU and/or GPU in combination with ultra-low-noise (read slow) fans, so anything that removes restrictions to airflow can be beneficial.
thanks for the response.
i myself am running an oc'd cpu and ram on my system, and i wanted to get the p182 as i thought the idea of keeping the psu and HD in a separate chamber is a good idea for temps, and i also like the case as i want a quieter computer.
but now im questioning if moving my components into the p182 will even make a difference or even if they might increase my temps.
the temps are not bad, but im upgrading some fans and HS etc to make the system quieter.
i was going to put 800 slipstreams at the front and back, and leave the lower chamber without a fan. and mod the doors and grill. fans are not loud and although they dont provide a lot of air movement, its enough to draw some cooler air in across the MB.
i myself am running an oc'd cpu and ram on my system, and i wanted to get the p182 as i thought the idea of keeping the psu and HD in a separate chamber is a good idea for temps, and i also like the case as i want a quieter computer.
but now im questioning if moving my components into the p182 will even make a difference or even if they might increase my temps.
the temps are not bad, but im upgrading some fans and HS etc to make the system quieter.
i was going to put 800 slipstreams at the front and back, and leave the lower chamber without a fan. and mod the doors and grill. fans are not loud and although they dont provide a lot of air movement, its enough to draw some cooler air in across the MB.
this is probably belated, but --
your setup sounds very similar to mine. i've got a 8800GT with an S1 fanless cooler too. however, my P182 doesn't have a fan in the front at all, and i also took out the fan between the PSU and the lower hard drive cage. it just has 1 fan at the top, 1 at the back, and the PSU's own fan. the two case fans (just stock tricools) are both on low, and the PSU has a temp-dependent fan that goes fairly slowly too. even so, there's so much air getting sucked in the front through simple negative pressure that i can feel it rushing it if i put my hand over the grille. (i can also, unfortunately, hear it going in *LOL*)
anyway, my point is: the speed at which the air is rushing in is, i'd say, about equivalent to what a reasonably quiet intake fan would probably push at -- esp a fan as quiet and, let's face it, weak as the S-flex 800rpm.
so yeah, unless you wanna put a big, powerful fan going at jet-engine speeds and volumes there, i doubt you'll see much diff from having a front fan.
as others have said and you've discovered yourself, i'd suggest blocking one of the two holes in the back if you're only using one of the two fans back there. if you're using both the rear and the top fan as exhaust fans, you might be able to pull more air past your GPU by simply having more negative pressure inside the case... though i'm not certain, because your fans are all 800rpm S-flexes, which might actually be too weak to counteract air leaking back in. and if only one fan is spinning, the other one is definitely just acting as a short-circuit in your airflow -- great for CPU temps, but not great for GPU temps.
your setup sounds very similar to mine. i've got a 8800GT with an S1 fanless cooler too. however, my P182 doesn't have a fan in the front at all, and i also took out the fan between the PSU and the lower hard drive cage. it just has 1 fan at the top, 1 at the back, and the PSU's own fan. the two case fans (just stock tricools) are both on low, and the PSU has a temp-dependent fan that goes fairly slowly too. even so, there's so much air getting sucked in the front through simple negative pressure that i can feel it rushing it if i put my hand over the grille. (i can also, unfortunately, hear it going in *LOL*)
anyway, my point is: the speed at which the air is rushing in is, i'd say, about equivalent to what a reasonably quiet intake fan would probably push at -- esp a fan as quiet and, let's face it, weak as the S-flex 800rpm.
so yeah, unless you wanna put a big, powerful fan going at jet-engine speeds and volumes there, i doubt you'll see much diff from having a front fan.
as others have said and you've discovered yourself, i'd suggest blocking one of the two holes in the back if you're only using one of the two fans back there. if you're using both the rear and the top fan as exhaust fans, you might be able to pull more air past your GPU by simply having more negative pressure inside the case... though i'm not certain, because your fans are all 800rpm S-flexes, which might actually be too weak to counteract air leaking back in. and if only one fan is spinning, the other one is definitely just acting as a short-circuit in your airflow -- great for CPU temps, but not great for GPU temps.