Enclosure Lian-Li PC-Q21 vs EVGA Supernova GM 450

[princess_daphie]

I've recently ditched the Metallic Gears Neo G Mini (it's back in its box, lol) and gone back to my first SFF case I've bought a few years ago, the Lian-Li PC-Q21B. In order to use it I bought an SFX power supply, the EVGA GM 450, which seems like a really good unit so far. I have one question though.

Will it cook itself in that case, or will the fan spin enough to exhaust the heat that builds up inside, as a side effect of most of the case's hot air being exhausted by its fan? The power supply itself is really hot to the touch, like, all the time. There is some warm air being exhausted its back, but... I dunno...

What do you guys think? Anyone had this case for an amount of time with experience?

 

[ignsvn]

I don't have experience with such layouts (i personally avoid them), but I know there are other cases with similar layout such as Silverstone SG05 or SG13. Perhaps you can google the build logs & draw some conclusions.

 

[princess_daphie]

I don't have experience with such layouts (i personally avoid them), but I know there are other cases with similar layout such as Silverstone SG05 or SG13. Perhaps you can google the build logs & draw some conclusions.

thanks, that's true, i'm still google-fuing this as i type this reply, lol

i'm guessing the PSU has a temperature sensor and will run its fan according its "ambient" temperature as well, but i'm just not finding specific info about it.

 

[princess_daphie]

that's how i set it up initially, with CPU cooler fan pushing air down on the heatsink and the PSU intake facing the side panel:
(Removed)

that was giving me very high temperatures all over the system (cpu, system, mosfets, chipset, nvme, etc.) so i tried switching things up with CPU cooler fan pulling air through its heatsink towards the PSU, whose intake is now towards the inside of the case:
(Removed)

that's how i've found most people using this case end up configuring their own. i will add two tiny fans at the top like i've seen done as well and see what gives, because right now i don't even dare running it closed, lol

 

[ignsvn]

Yeah in such layout generally people use the PSU as an exhaust system where the PSU fan suck hot air from within the case blow it out.

 

[ignsvn]

i'm guessing the PSU has a temperature sensor and will run its fan according its "ambient" temperature as well, but i'm just not finding specific info about it.

Btw, IIRC, not every PSU has fan speed controller by temperature. Some are controlled by power load, some are controlled by combination of both.

 

[tifaff]

I have the same case, the design is cute, but temperatures are terrible unfortunately, and i only play dota 2 with a 1060... so i was thinking to moved to a case like node 202 style but smaller and with more ventilation.

Even the side panels not have sockets for air flow, so i imagine that you never put the panel... that can be a bit dangerous.

 

[mijffs]

No experience with the case but looks very restrictive remove any filters on intakes + undervolting probably only chance of putting side panel on. depends what your running of course.if the PSU is running up near its rating maybe a higher rated PSU or more efficient may generate less heat? With the PSU as it is I would be tempted to try any additional fans blowing into the case

 

[princess_daphie]

Btw, IIRC, not every PSU has fan speed controller by temperature. Some are controlled by power load, some are controlled by combination of both.

that's exactly why i was asking, to know if anyone knew how this particular PSU handles its "ECO Mode".

I have the same case, the design is cute, but temperatures are terrible unfortunately, and i only play dota 2 with a 1060... so i was thinking to moved to a case like node 202 style but smaller and with more ventilation.

Even the side panels not have sockets for air flow, so i imagine that you never put the panel... that can be a bit dangerous.

well the left panel has slots for ventilation along the bottom and right edges, but it's not much indeed.

No experience with the case but looks very restrictive remove any filters on intakes + undervolting probably only chance of putting side panel on. depends what your running of course.if the PSU is running up near its rating maybe a higher rated PSU or more efficient may generate less heat? With the PSU as it is I would be tempted to try any additional fans blowing into the case

i have undervolted my 1700x by -0.1V so far, and limited its TDP to 65W. i think both these settings are working. i think. lol

there's a filter on the bottom intake, but it does its job well, and with a graphics card like the one i put in there, it almost acts as a separate chamber. GPU has access to cool air from the bottom, and exhausts it mainly outside towards the back, and some part around and above itself as well.

my PSU will rarely exceed 300W and it's a 450W 80+ gold, so in theory, it's not a bad load.

as for the bottom spot for a fan, i can't populate it, as it would prevent me from slotting in my GPU!

it's many challenges, but i happened to have this case, and it's so close to the design of the case i had in mind to order, it made no sense to me to spend so much money, lol

thank you all for your replies!

from a little usage so far, i think the PSU eventually spins its fan when it gets too hot, regardless of the load, but it's funny, because it runs cooler when I use my PC for light gaming, because it spins up its fan in response to the load, whereas when I do idle web browsing, it waits until it's quite hot to spin its fan!

 

[princess_daphie]

Added 2x40mm fans and while they do a much better job than I thought they would, somehow heat still gets trapped too much and while I didn't have my system catch on fire, it was way too hot for my taste. Now I guess I'll try to make the real mod with a fan on top!