Cooling Your SFF

Alyosha

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
May 1, 2003
Messages
1,883
I got my shuttle a few months ago and have been toying around with different cooling methods, here's what I've found so far.

-I initially left everything the way it supposed to be with the stock sunon fan exhausting from the case with the smart fan speed deal set to spin up at 38C. It worked alright but I didn't like the auto fan speed change deal. It was obnoxious at the transistion points as it would vascilate between speeds as the temp rose and fell between 38-39C. Also, in this setup, my max temps were over 60C which I found unnacceptable.

-I then tried turning the fan around to have it blow into the case which I had heard would help with temps. My CPU temps dropped by a couple degrees but my case felt like a toaster. I'm not sure where my "case temp" sensor is, but it was idling at 50C and was more than warm to the touch. Also unacceptable.

-I am now using my thermaltake smart-case-fan 2 with a manual controller on it. It is blowing out of the case and does a much better job, though this comes at the expense of some noise. I can usually let it run at about 2000 RPMs which is fairly quiet, but not as whisper soft as the sunon fan. Really, the least amount of noise will cover it up, a little music and I can't here it at all. This keeps my CPU at about 38-40C. At full speed (about 5000 RPMs) the thing screams, but my CPU never goes above 55C and my case temps stay below 45C. And any time I need the added cooling I'm playing a game or something which will drown out the noise so I don't care anyway.

-OCing will be my next project.

What has anyone else found in their SFF tinkering, I'd like to do better if I can. Hope this is helpful.
 
Cut out the rear grill. Thats a good drop right there of a couple degrees. And I found with the stock sunon, moving the fan/shroud to the outside of the case dropped the temps a bit more too. Make sure its always blowing out though, its how the airflow of the case works:

-sucks air through side holes over components
-out ICE

Yes, a 120mm or 92mm would be best. With some modding, you can even use either internaly.

And if you move the fan/shroud to the outside, cover up the bottom part that is cut off where the ICE pipes normaly go. When I did this I also used some tape to shroud the ICE and the case so the air would only go through the ICE and not around the gaps there are when the normal shroud is gone.
 
Use speedfan, its a great program that monitors temps and gives you the option of adjusting fan speeds.

Also, try cutting out the grill, that's an easy way to lower temps. Oh, and replace the sunon fan. It's obnoxiously loud. I prefer silenX, though Noiseblockers, and Sharkoons are recommended by others. Airflow is slightly less, but there is so much less noise.
 
your case temp sensor is behind ur USB port on the motherboard, [with the ICE heat sink installed] its under the heatpipes bend
 
dotZIP said:
I prefer silenX, though Noiseblockers, and Sharkoons are recommended by others. Airflow is slightly less, but there is so much less noise.
Or Panaflos.
 
I have the Shuttle Reflexion and I replaced the Sunon with a Panaflow, much quietier and better air flow. Then I placed (Wedged) a 80mm right between my video card and the front of the case drawing air in through the mesh sides. This dropped my temps alot, not sure how much since I didn't measure, but my ICE exhaust don't feel like a hair dryer anymore. This is just a temp setup till I can cut some 60mm exhaust blow holes above the ICE.

Adding a 120/92mm adapter to the rear isnt a good option since I transport my shuttle alot and use the shuttle carry bag.
 
I heard the same rumor about turning the fan around being better... but on my SN41G2 it just seemed to get louder and the case itself hotter. I suppose it might help the PSU cool down a bit just from greater internal pressure. Removing grills always helps, as does replacing the rear fan. The one that is in there is made for quiet, not for performance... but if you get a Vantec Stealth or something similar, you can get better blow for the same noise.
 
I removed my grill before I knew that it voids the factory warrenty... :rolleyes: ...and recieved quieter operation and cooler temps. I tried the "turn your fan around" and recieved ~60° case temps and quickly yanked that fan out and put in a generic 80mm (not that F#(%!N Sunon) and dropped my temps a few more degrees. Since I'm not OC'in I'm satisified with the temps that I get with it now.
 
_Korruption_ said:
Or Panaflos.
No not panaflos... they're too loud for those in the constant search of quiet... They tend to emit a clicking noise when scaled down with speedfan. However, I might have to switch back to panaflo as my room does not have AC... damn university
 
personally, i cut the fan grill out. take the sunon fan out (way to loud for me). then i put 2 80mm led fans 1 in usual position (internal) blowing out,then i put another fan also blowing out (external) over where the grill would have been. believe or not it is quieter than the stock single sunon fan is, plus much better air flow!!
 
I have used the 80mm-120mm alluminum fan adapter and a adjustable 120mm fan and it works better and quieter than a highstrung 80 mounted inside on full speed.

My server (sb62g2) is living with the stock fan on auto and it's doing fine.

heat on both is still pretty high considereding here in california it gets to 80-90+ degrees some days....

i use my main workstation to keep my dinner warm while i'm gameing.. just sit the plate on the case... hahahah
 
Intersting ideas.... just got my SB75G2 in still trying to decide on how to cool it. Found some low profile fans if anyones interested:

80x15 here (20CFM at 21 db's):
http://store.yahoo.com/sidewindercomputers/sandenpetace.html

70x15 here (28 CFM at 28 db's):
http://www.directron.com/ec7015m12ca.html

60x10 here (16 CFM at 27 db's):
http://www.directron.com/ec6010.html

I got 2 of the 60x10's and mounted them on both sides towards the front. I wanted to mount them on the mesh grill but the power supply on the left side prevents this. Had to zip tie it to the case instead. Was able to do this on the right side towards the front though, just drilled some holes for the screws.
 
Are those 60x10's loud? i want to replace the cooling scheme of the PSU in my shuttle, thinking of taking out the 40mm intake and replacing it with a 60x10 blowing in from the side. i'm running the psu with its cover off.
 
like others have already said, just cut out the rear grille and that should do ya wonders. I know it did on mine especially when I put the 80mm fan on the outside of the case. its much more effective that way.

shuttle5.jpg
 
ozzigen, i tried the rear fan mod, and it doesnt help me at all, i get better results with it installed inside the shroud..

i have a 60x10mm fan like that evercool, but it came off of an old retail amd HSF, and mounted it on the bottom of my hard drive cage like this...
1024_810.jpg

i have the blue zalman northbridge heatsink , and the fan blows directly over the ram/NB/part of cpu , and with it off, i get 48c load, with the fan on i drop 2c... it makes an annoying high pitch wine in full blast mode, but i have that on smart fan settings, with my cpu (coolermaster led 2500rpm) on full blast, so its not too bad

ima start moddin the top of the heatsink ICE fan, the flat part over the ice, if i can weld/solder some copper fins , and have my 60mm fan blow over it, im sure to get better temps,
 
did you cut out the rear grill?

if so, I dont know why it didnt help cuz that simple mod seems to have done wonders for lots of peeps with these systems.
 
BatteryAcid said:
Are those 60x10's loud? i want to replace the cooling scheme of the PSU in my shuttle, thinking of taking out the 40mm intake and replacing it with a 60x10 blowing in from the side. i'm running the psu with its cover off.

It's rated at 27 db's so it's not ultra quite but it's still fairly quite. However, it doesn't have that irritating high pitched whine that some fans do, just sounds like air moving.

These are some good ideas fellas, got me some new ideas to think about....
 
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