I'm currently shopping for a new video card as my 2 year old x1900 xt went dead on me recently. However as I've researched replacements and am finding that I like the 38X0 and 4850 from AMD/ATI my thoughts are once again turning to heat, especially since unlike the x1900 these have single slot cooling solutions with no rear exhaust. I am aware that these cards seem to run hot, and that the solution seems to be increasing the fan speed via the CCC or other software application. My PSU is mounted upside down on the bottom of my case, I got it as a warranty replacement for my old PSU that decided to stop working. This PSU is too large with the fan grill sticking out to properly mount in the proper place due to a cage inside my case (CM Stacker). If I recall correctly it is the 850w version of the GamerXstream from OCZ. So my concern is, will I need to worry about heat issues as my PSU and future graphics card fight for air supply to cool themselves? Do I need to be concerned that since my video card won't be exhausting out the rear that my PSU may over heat by sucking out the hot air expelled by the video card? Thanks ahead of time.

IMO, putting the PSU at the bottom of the case is a bad move. I'm sure your OCZ unit is a standard ATX size unit & I'm also sure your case is designed to accept standard ATX PSUs, so it *should* fit in the cage. I tried pulling up some pics of the Stacker but couldn't get a really good shot of that cage...can't you just remove it? Or how about modifying it to make it accept your PSU? It seems to me that mounting the PSU at the bottom on the case would throw off the whole case cooling configuration. Bottom mounting is for BTX systems with the motherboard mounted on the left side of the case, it's not for ATX systems. Find a way to mount your PSU properly.

Indeed, it isn't ideal and I understand proper ATX layout is having the PSU at the top and is taken into consideration for the cooling of the entire case. From what I saw the cage is riveted to the case, not screwed on so no way to remove it. If I recall, and it has been awhile now that I gave up trying to get it to fit in the top slot, but I think the issue was a combination of the cage inside the case and the mounting plate. In the pictures below the mounting plate is not visible as far as I can tell but it makes the large square opening at the top of the back of the case look a lot more like a normal opening for a power supply (along with appropriate mounting screw holes). Combined the two caused issues for me. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... I'll have to investigate again and see if it was just my user error (That would be a nice surprise with my recent luck). If it isn't, and I can't get it to fit without physically modifying the case would you consider mounting two 80mm fans up there blowing out as a suitable solution? In the pictures above at the bottom of the case you can see the mounting plate for the 2x80mm fans (you punch out the circular shapes). At any rate, thanks for your input, I'll have to investigate again and see exactly what that issue was, and certainly take another look at video cards before I spring for something that runs so hot. Thanks again.

How is the PSU supposed to be installed in the case? Is it supposed to slip in thru the back opening? Where did you have your old PSU mounted...top or bottom? If it was on the top, what is the difference between the 2 units that's preventing the OCZ from fitting in the top. Physically, all ATX PSUs are *supposed* to conform to the same dimensions.

Well, it has been over a month and due to being way too busy I haven't had the time to check this properly. However I did just check it. The old PSU was mounted in the top and fit just fine. The difference in the PSU's is that the new one has an external fan guard (piece of metal wiring that stops you from shoving your fingers inside the fan). At any rate, the chief difference is that the new PSU has that external fan guard/grill feature, and that raises the entire psu up a small bit which makes it so that the screw holes in the psu do not match up with the screw holes on the psu mounting plate. the fan grill/psu unit sits on the bottom of the psu cage inside the case. It is interested from the back of the case. The only way to get it to sit properly would be to cut the steel the case is made of, or to open the psu (voiding warranty) and removing the fan grill. The last option is to leave it mounted upside down on the bottom of the case.