Help improving cooling with a touch of modding?

HerbieSpot

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I'm wanting to build a system to mainly do emulation and a little gaming. I've decided to use my old HTPC case. It's a monster of a case for storage but a little lacking in space in certain areas

Anyway, I'm not so much after help in which components to get, I'm more after advice on improving cooling.

Take a look at the pictures I've posted and I'll explain my plan, parts and possible ideas... Any feedback would be most appreciated!
The case I'm using is the OrigenAE S21T

Below are the parts I have with the exception of the PCI fan

(1) 120mm rear exhaust fans - Noctua NF-A12x25
(2) CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-U12A (Cooling a Ryzen 5 5600G)
(3) PCI Exhuast Fan - YET TO PURCHASE
(4) x2 92mm intake fans - Noctua NF-A9

The 92mm intake fans blow are in from the front of the case upwards, the air is then exhausted out of the back of the case by the 120mm fan. There are no other exhaust fans, and when the PSU and CPU cooler are fitted the centre and right hand side of the case will be quite cramped. So essentially the basic air flow is front to back.

I will have my hard drives on the right hand side of the case and more than likely, have a long GPU which will run into the hard drive area on the left. So you'll have the fans from the GPU blowing air towards the lefthand side of the case.

I wonder if the current 120mm exhaust will deal with the excess heat, but my thought is that a big GPU will kind of divide the case and cooling will not be optimal.

My first thought was to buy one of those cheap PCI exhaust fans and some vented pci brackets pictured below and that would exhaust some of the heat created by the GPU. I've then toyed with the idea of cutting a fan hole or two in either the left hand side of the case or in the lid (See A & B marked in yellow). (A) If two fan holes are cut then the second fan would be in the hard drive area near the front 92mm fan.

This is where my PC cooling knowledge is lacking... With the current fans installed from my list and the GPU, where is it best to locate a fan, or will my cheap PCI exhaust idea be enough?

*One thing that I wanted to ask is if I did mount two fans on the left hand side of the case, would that cancel out any air being blown by the 92mm intake? Presumably the air coming in would be sucked out before reaching the rest of the case. Following that train of thought would it not be better to have one or two fans at the back of the case so the 92mm fan can blow air along unhindered? I not sure I understand the airflow pressure and how fan orientations effect that so hence my cry for help

OrigenAE did have a GPU cooler accessory for this very issue but the case is old and try as I might, I can't find one
 

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As cool and unique as that case is, it's also old and outdated (~15 years AFAICT?). It's not really designed to move the amount of air modern systems tend to require. You could hack a bunch of fan cutouts into it, but that could get ugly and potentially destroy parts of the paint/anodization around the cuts. Unless you really want to utilize that built-in screen (a low-res VGA display) I wouldn't bother. It'd probably be fine as a case for a modern HTPC (utilizing a lower-end CPU with an iGPU), NAS, or light/medium duty ESXi/Plex host, but not something I'd look to use with a modern dGPU + mid/high-end CPU.

Were it me, I'd probably be looking at one of the following cases currently:
  • Fractal Meshify 2 series
  • Corsair 4000D Airflow
  • Lian-Li PC-O11 Air or Air Mini
 
As cool and unique as that case is, it's also old and outdated (~15 years AFAICT?). It's not really designed to move the amount of air modern systems tend to require. You could hack a bunch of fan cutouts into it, but that could get ugly and potentially destroy parts of the paint/anodization around the cuts. Unless you really want to utilize that built-in screen (a low-res VGA display) I wouldn't bother. It'd probably be fine as a case for a modern HTPC (utilizing a lower-end CPU with an iGPU), NAS, or light/medium duty ESXi/Plex host, but not something I'd look to use with a modern dGPU + mid/high-end CPU.

Were it me, I'd probably be looking at one of the following cases currently:
  • Fractal Meshify 2 series
  • Corsair 4000D Airflow
  • Lian-Li PC-O11 Air or Air Mini
I really appreciate the reply! Yes I agree that it is showing it’s age and it is not ideal for modern tech. The screen is a big reason I’m holding on to the case and although the screen does not have a great picture by todays standards, it does display a 1920x1080 image. If I did cut the case I’d be getting it done professionally. I do however agree with what you are saying and if I’m going to go to the effort of cutting the case I may as well do a water cooled system, air won’t cut it. I’m not sure I’ve got the skill or time at present to do that so I appreciate the case suggestion. I’ll have a good think and maybe I’ll jump in at the deep end and mod the case in the future, we’ll see. I’ll continue to use the case for the time being and see how I go with the Ryzen 5 5600G

Thanks again for the comments!
 
If you have the skills and tools to cut clean vent holes, I would defintely put one in GPU side centered on GPU fan/s, and probably one in CPU side of case as far forward as possible in motherboard area so it's air flow in front of and into CPU cooler.

120mm and 140mm fans are much better than 92mm. I use a hole saw myself, but there are other tools that work. Obviously need to drill fan and grill mounting holes. Black felt marker will blacken vent hole edges so they don't shine.

I would cut a side vent for intake fan by GPU and use no PCIe back slot cover. Even vented covers restrict 50-80% of airflow.
This is because even round wire grill create turbulence and turbulence disrupts smooth airflow thus reducing it.
 
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If you have the skills and tools to cut clean vent holes, I would defintely put one in GPU side centered on GPU fan/s, and probably one in CPU side of case as far forward as possible in motherboard area so it's air flow in front of and into CPU cooler.

120mm and 140mm fans are much better than 92mm. I use a hole saw myself, but there are other tools that work. Obviously need to drill fan and grill mounting holes. Black felt marker will blacken vent hole edges so they don't shine.

I would cut a side vent for intake fan by GPU and use no PCIe back slot cover. Even vented covers restrict 50-80% of airflow.
This is because even round wire grill create turbulence and turbulence disrupts smooth airflow thus reducing it.
Thanks guys for the comments, most appreciate!
 
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