Best airflow config for Corsair Carbide 200r?

andrewmsprague · July 30, 2014

Hey everyone,

I've got a Corsair Carbide 200r that's configured with 1 AF120 in the front, 1 AF120 in the bottom/front, and 2 AF120s in the top/rear. They're all currently running at the same speed. I also have an ASUS GTX 560ti DirectCU II and my PSU is oriented fan down (pulling in air from the bottom of the case). I run a Zalman CPU cooler (the copper one with the fan blowing toward the rear). I get around 72°C consistently on the GPU, and around 60°C on the CPU at load playing Crysis at 1080p with all settings at Ultra and 8xMSAA (pretty much the most demanding game I typically play).

Is there anything about this current configuration that could be changed to help temps? Also, are these safe temps for my components? I do remember a Samsung laptop I used to have with the AMD A6 APU which would get up to 90°C on the GPU during gameplay (definitely not a number I'm comfortable with), so 72°C seems pretty decent to me.

The computer sits on top of my desk, and not on the ground/carpet.

Thanks!

KeithD · July 30, 2014

60 degrees on the CPU is a very safe temp, so there is really no need to panic on that front. 72 on load is also fine for the graphics card. You could always get a better CPU cooler to improve temps but to be honest I don't think you need it.

LogicalDrm · July 31, 2014

Your temps are fine. In my own tests, changing case fans or orientation of them doesn't do that much. Only sidepanel fan aimed for GPU could lower temps. Case fans affect on how fast GPU/CPU fans are spinning so more airflow through them decreases rpm of those fans and so making whole thing more quiet. What you can do, is turn intakes up and/or exhausts down a bit. This will help against dust and maybe improve airflow little.

andrewmsprague · August 2, 2014

Thanks for the replies! I ended up going with a positive pressure config with more RPMs on the intake and less on the exhaust. It seems to have helped and keeps my temps very consistent.