Drilled 12 vent holes in my case and temps barely changed

I got annoyed watching my GPU hit 83 degrees under load and figured some extra airflow would help. So I spent a Saturday afternoon measuring and drilling twelve half-inch holes in the side panel right over where the graphics card sits. Cleaned up the sharp edges with a file and everything. Booted up my game and the temp dropped maybe 2 degrees. That was after all that work and dust getting everywhere. Turns out those pre-made mesh panels actually do something with their angled cutouts and spacing. My random holes don't seem to let air move the same way. Anyone else wasted an afternoon on a mod that sounded good but barely did anything.

2 comments

2 Comments

mason36113d ago

Watched half a dozen YouTube videos after that trying to figure out what I did wrong. Turns out it's not just the holes but the turbulence and negative pressure you create inside the case. My random holes probably just let dust in while messing up the air path the GPU fans were designed to pull from. Kind of makes me wonder if those fancy cases with cutouts have engineers doing way more math than just drilling holes in a straight line. At least now I got a side panel with a unique ventilation pattern I guess.

pipera5013d ago

You've tried drilling holes into a PC case? Because I've tried drilling holes into a drywall anchor and accidentally hit a pipe, so I feel your pain.