What makes this worse is that even when used within the vertical configuration this stand restricts the new air exhausting out of the PSU and causes your entire chamber for the PSU and motherboard to regularly construct up warmth, which additionally results in extra fan noise from the PSU. On this vertical configuration, the CPU and GPU temps had been utterly cheap, however I did nonetheless have a great deal of fan noise from the ability provide as a result of restricted exhaust stream.
You’ll be able to swap the facet panel which the stand attaches to from the PSU facet, to the GPU facet, after which use the case vertically with the GPU on the backside, which permits the PSU to breathe freely. I did discover a slight improve in general system temps like this, as the warmth from the GPU rises into the remainder of the system, however the energy provide fan was capable of run at a a lot decrease and quieter pace.
There simply isn’t a big sufficient hole between this stand, and the panel to which it attaches. It truly is the Achilles heel of the Fractal Ridge. In fact if Achilles had simply worn some strengthened boots, the issue might have been solved. The identical is true with the Fractal Ridge.
After seeing how a lot worse the efficiency was when positioned horizontally, I made a decision to take away the included toes and easily place the case on high of 4 stereo element toes. This allowed for a a lot bigger space of airflow beneath the chassis, and improved efficiency dramatically within the gaming check (which means that it might truly full the 30 minute run).
This check was made with the case positioned as Fractal exhibits within the guide, with the PSU and CPU cooler followers going through downward. My thought was that even with the extra open airflow allowed by utilizing the 4 element toes; this nonetheless relied fully on the PSU and CPU followers to tug air from beneath the chassis, so I attempted yet one more experiment.
Whereas nonetheless utilizing the 4 element toes, I flipped the Ridge over, positioning the GPU consumption on the backside, and the CPU and PSU on the high. This was completely the best choice because the temperatures on this horizontal place truly bettered the vertical outcomes with much less noise and warmth buildup. Throughout all of this I additionally made some makes an attempt at using the area for the three 80mm followers, however they really didn’t make an enormous distinction to the GPU, and had a adverse impression on the CPU temps (some extra of these unusual fluid dynamics)