Found out my airflow was terrible because of a $5 laser thermometer from Harbor Freight

2 comments

2 Comments

Started flipping fans around last week after getting the same readings. Took me about an hour to figure out my top exhaust was fighting my front intake. Ended up pulling the front panel off completely and that single change dropped my CPU temps by 5 degrees. Now I check everything with that laser before I close the side panel back up. Makes a huge difference for almost no money. Keep that thermometer handy it'll save your hardware eventually.

the_anthony23d ago

Bought one of those same thermometers last year and it changed everything. I was getting hot spots in my case and just assumed my fans were fine. Turned out my intake was pulling almost no air while my exhaust was doing all the work, creating negative pressure that just sucked dust in everywhere. Spent like 20 minutes moving stuff around with that laser pointed at every component. My GPU temps dropped 8 degrees just by flipping one fan around. Best five bucks I ever wasted on a tool I use maybe once a month.