I need some suggestions on System cooling

My motherboard temp right now is at 40C when idling and goes up to about 47C when my CPU goes full load. Now I'm thinking my CPU can handle that heat but i dont think my MOBO cant. Also My hard drives are getting pretty hot when i touch them. They're not burning me but thats with the cover off the case.

Now here's where you guys come in

1) Is there such a thing as a case that can pull air from the front side of the case and have a fan there so it can cool the HDD

2)I also wanna put another fan at the back of the case to pull air in - the one i have there right now just spits air out (the one with the power supply)

Will I run into the problem where the air that its pulling in will go straight out without cooling the system because the intake is sitting right under the fan that spits it out.....

Am I making any sense?

you wabnt intakes at the front and side and exhausts at the back and top. dont have more intakes than exhausts though.

sort of. those mobo temps are way too high. u can get fans moulded into a 3.5 or 5.25 inch drive bay so get one of these and put it in front of your HDD. To solve the rear fan problem. Instead of having one at the rear blowing air in, have one at the side blowing air in as the air from that fan can easily be exhausted by ur current rear fan. You can also get HDD heatsinks. I have one, reduced my HDD temps by 7C and completely silent. downside is, u have to use a 5.25 bay for them as the heatsink adds to the width of the HDD.

my case has to front fans that cool the hard drive, you can find it at xpcgear.com or frozencpu.com or xoxide.com its called the x-dreamer2, very nice case

The front intake fan needs to be installed to help cool the hard drive and provide a good source of cool air.

Look at the Chill Vent. It may do the job for you. Some models come with an extra 80mm 3,000rpm fan and/or twin 40mm fans to help out the video card and motherboard chipsets.

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Okay
I guess with a $20CND case i get what i pay for

I'm gonna buy a new case about $100CND
From what i saw it has
2 intake fans in front - by the hard drives
1 side intake
2 exhaust at the rear
1 exhaust from the PowerSupply

6 fans? Overkill?

Whats wrong with having more intake fans than there are exhaust fans?

here's a link to the one i'm thinking of buying

http://www.elcosystems.com/products/newproducts/axiochassis.html

That case looks like a good choice. I think I see a filter in front, large front intake with few restrictions, and a dandy fan mount under the power supply. I don't believe you'll need the side window fan. If the power supply is a dual fan like shown on the site, you've got a winner for a case here.

I'd think the dual 80mm fans in front with the power supply and a single 80mm in back will prove to be all you need.

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I'd say one in front and one in back, then one situated internally and aimed at the hard drive, and perhaps one more internally aimed at the northbridge. Use GOOP glue to affix the edge of the internal fans to whatever, or just let them hang by their wires. It could also be that your northbridge sink is stuck on there just with two way tape instead of thermal adhesive and if so you should reseat it, or replace it with an old pentium sink.

The reason internal fans are good is because the air in the center of your case is only 2-3 degrees higher than the external ambient air, so blowing 25C internal air onto a 45C hard drive or northbridge does help a lot. The internal fans do not need to be audible -just take regular 80mm case fans and volt them at 7V or 5V.

Good point johnoh.

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http://www.tech-pc.co.uk/lanboy-1.php

Antec - famous name!! No side panel fan, why I wonder.

Maybe because the case works?

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Maybe because a good design case does not need one.

Yup; and I still see reviewers expounding on the merits of a window fan. Don't they realize it's just a band aid to cover up the deficiencies of the case? Some of this patchwork utterly amazes me.

A little slot under the front of the case - did they try to build a vacuum cleaner first?

Front panel jacks and cabling blocking the little slot

No holes, no slots, no nuthin' to let air in the front of the case

Holes and louvers too small to allow dust to go thru

No wonder they put a 2 dollar fan in the side window. It's cheaper than retooling to build a real case.

Fortunately, a bunch of good cases exist in that same $40-$80 price range if a person knows what to look for. I guess it's time to write a "Case Buying 101" tutorial.

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