Case heaven

[phcjpp]

Found these little puppies on Toms Hardware.

http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20030428/index.html

These are the links.

http://www.gmc.co.kr/english/good_e_x21.htm

http://www.gmc.co.kr/english/good_e_no_se.htm

I currently have a LMP pc case but I have to leave its top off all the time as it gets too hot with what I've got in there - Radeon 9700 + H3D + 2.5 gig P4 + RME digipad (I even modded it with extra blow holes but its so cramped that the air just can't flow).

What you reckon?

Any other suggestions for black midi / full towers ?

Chris

[phcjpp]

I have since found out that Jeantech www.jeantech.com are the UK suppliers. Now I just need to find someone that resells jeantech.

Chris

[Mr. Wilby]

They don't look as nice as the LMP IMO.... what's the biggest problem with your heat build-up? Do you think it might be the g/card? I thought P4's generally ran quite low temps...

[phcjpp]

Most of it is from the 9700 - you should feel the heat coming off the Zalman heat pipe - staggering.

The LMP is a lovely looking case I agree (thats why I bought one). Its also very well made. Unfortunately it only has one fan mounting at the front, inside behind the front panel. As there is obviously no grill at the front it sucks (or attempts to) air from below the case through some small vents.

Further the mid mounting of the pioneer dvd stops any useful air flow getting near the processor.

There are no rear vents.

I'm sure this is fine for some setups but when you consider most cases come with 3-4 blow holes these days you can see why its not sufficient.

I cut a hole in the top of my case and added an extra fan but I think it really needs a few more, maybe on the side but there is not a lot of room in the case to add them and as I said the principal problem is that the case is full and so not air can flow. The H3D is a bloody big card. Also the back is not big enough to mount fans.

Chris

[Mr. Wilby]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the info. I was under the impression that the zalman wouldn't fit inside the LMP case. I am personally using an old 7500 since I don't need my HTPC for gaming so its a non issue. Definitely not good news if the 9700 generates that much heat

(I've not really thought this through but anyway)
What about mounting a fan at the bottom of the case... if you look straight on at the front (facing the dvd slot) then, IIRC, there is space for a fan towards the front left hand corner? I'm not actually in front of my PC so apologies if I've not remembered this correctly...


I mean the space shown in the top right of this picture

At least, IIRC, there is enough room with my motherboard for a fan here...

Personally I am seeing v. good temps with my athlon (assuming I don't overclock the hell out of it ;-)... but as I say, I don't use it for gaming and don't have the graphics card hardware in there that you do

[phcjpp]

Zalman heat pipe cooler fits fine as do the various versions of the flower cooler I've tried. I have a fan attachedf to that hole but its mostly blocked by the front facia. There are grills below the front facia (and underneath) - but they are small and hard work for the fan to draw the air in.

I'm sure most of my problems stem from just having to much stuff in a rather confined space. I think for my application I will have to bite the bullet and get a tower instead with decent air flow. I need the 9700 for the H3d card to complete my scaling system.

Chris

[hornydragon]

Have you any spare PCI slots? if so fit a PCI fan next to the Radeon too keep it cooler, If thhe LMP is ALuminium why add some heat sinks to the case should help especially if it is on a nice open shelf with space around it

[phcjpp]

Nope - no spare PCI slots although nice idea. My problem seems to be how to get the heat off the zalman heatpipe heatsink. I assume thats what is making the system unstable and causing it to halt -it is absolutely stable with the top off. Also I do want to keep it quiet and so a 200mm fan at 12,000 rpm is not an option .

As for heat sink, the case is (as it arrived) painted black so cannot really attach to that on the outside short of scraping paint off. Also the case isn't really getting hot. I need to get the heat away from the zalmann most of all and the cpu next. Neither are touching the case. Fans under and around the zalman are a good idea but there is no room in the case to do that.

Chris

[hornydragon]

I'm not up on this but a mate is serious over clocker i can reconment there furom though they are really good with cooling issues
www.amd3d.com try the forum some nice stuff reveiwed etc as well

[phcjpp]

Looks good will ask there !

[hornydragon]

Cool mate, they know there stuff!!!!!!!!
PS mention where you came from!