Pro/Forums - View Single Post - Is it worth the trouble to vent radiator output outside the case?

Cathar · 08-14-2005, 06:30 PM

A little bit of logic is required here. In a typical air-cooled system all the heat is being dumped into the case anyway, and the only way that gets removed is via exhaust fans. Exhausting the radiator into the case pretty much gives the same effect. The hottest bits are still being cooled well by the water-cooling, and everything else is about the same as it was with regular air-cooling.

Far more important to draw in fresh cool air through the radiator in terms of achieving better temperatures on the hot bits that generally affect cooling performance the most. In my experience the memory and mosfets and northbridge don't really care that much if they're 4C warmer than at some other time, unlike a CPU which in general does care to a noticable degree.

So yeah, exhausting into the case is fine IMO. If you want to achieving cooler in-case temps then exhaust the air a little better, but overall the ambient+2-4C air coming out the radiator isn't really going to affect anything much at all.

08-14-2005, 06:30 PM	#2
Cathar Thermophile Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,538	A little bit of logic is required here. In a typical air-cooled system all the heat is being dumped into the case anyway, and the only way that gets removed is via exhaust fans. Exhausting the radiator into the case pretty much gives the same effect. The hottest bits are still being cooled well by the water-cooling, and everything else is about the same as it was with regular air-cooling. Far more important to draw in fresh cool air through the radiator in terms of achieving better temperatures on the hot bits that generally affect cooling performance the most. In my experience the memory and mosfets and northbridge don't really care that much if they're 4C warmer than at some other time, unlike a CPU which in general does care to a noticable degree. So yeah, exhausting into the case is fine IMO. If you want to achieving cooler in-case temps then exhaust the air a little better, but overall the ambient+2-4C air coming out the radiator isn't really going to affect anything much at all.