I pretty much agree with everything you've said there. You've obviously got a pretty good understanding of what you're tryin' to accomplish. As I'm sure you've already guessed, your sitch may come down to trying a few combinations of different airflow & cooling schemes to see which gives the best results.
The relationship between incoming room-temp air, CPU cooling hardware, and case air evacuation is, I think we both agree, not an easy one to quantify. Like you say, an analysis is "beyond your capabilities." It's beyond mine too. I just don't have the right kind of test equipment. Some aspects of the equation affect temps in some ways, while others affect temps in other, more indirect ways. My admittedly unsophisticated opinion is that the importance of intake air is often overestimated; but, it depends on the rig. I also know that the more air you draw in, the more dust you draw in as well. And since dust build-up on boards & components traps heat, that affects the overall equation as well. (And we all know what a hassle it can be to open the case up every month or two to blow the dust out. We can do it -- it's just a nuisance.) Plus, we know that room-temp air doesn't stay room temp for very long once it enters the case -- the internal hot air in the case warms it up pretty quickly. On the other hand, that air does cool the internal case air before it warms up. [Duh! :laugh:]
I was at Fry's a month or so ago and briefly got a look at a new case from Silverstone (forgot the model #). It's a large, fairly nice looking case, almost server size, and it has what they call a "wind tunnel" or something. It's a good idea, albeit kind of a ripoff of Apple's G5 compartmentalized design idea whereby the portion of the case where the CPU is is kinda isolated from the rest of the case. In this case, it's in a mostly-sealed clear plastic tube (or "tunnel"), with an intake fan on the front end and an output fan on the rear. So, theoretically anyway, the CPU and its heat are isolated from the rest of the case. I didn't have the chance to check it out very thorougly though 'cuz the place was kinda crowded.
If I ever get time and have nothing better to do [ha! -- that's gonna happen real soon ], I'd like to try some different cooling schemes & combinations to see what'll yield the lowest temps in my WaveMaster. A person could prolly fabricate some sort of "wind tunnel" or isolation apparatus without too much difficulty. I have an Athlon 2600-based system right now, not overclocked, and a tame vid card, so I don't have the heat that your case does. But the cooling principles will be the same. I also have an awesome Thermalright all-copper heatsink -- I don't know the construction of your Zalman, but I'm sure you know that an all-copper heatsink will yeild the best heat absorption off the CPU. Then, like you say, you just need to focus on evacuating that heat from the fins and out of the case.
Another thing you could try is to cut a hole in the side of the left panel, towards the front of the case, and put another intake fan there. It might look kinda odd if you have the windowed side panel, but if not, if wouldn't look too bad. Anywho, good luck. Let us know if you hit on anything that makes a dramatic difference in your temps.
The relationship between incoming room-temp air, CPU cooling hardware, and case air evacuation is, I think we both agree, not an easy one to quantify. Like you say, an analysis is "beyond your capabilities." It's beyond mine too. I just don't have the right kind of test equipment. Some aspects of the equation affect temps in some ways, while others affect temps in other, more indirect ways. My admittedly unsophisticated opinion is that the importance of intake air is often overestimated; but, it depends on the rig. I also know that the more air you draw in, the more dust you draw in as well. And since dust build-up on boards & components traps heat, that affects the overall equation as well. (And we all know what a hassle it can be to open the case up every month or two to blow the dust out. We can do it -- it's just a nuisance.) Plus, we know that room-temp air doesn't stay room temp for very long once it enters the case -- the internal hot air in the case warms it up pretty quickly. On the other hand, that air does cool the internal case air before it warms up. [Duh! :laugh:]
I was at Fry's a month or so ago and briefly got a look at a new case from Silverstone (forgot the model #). It's a large, fairly nice looking case, almost server size, and it has what they call a "wind tunnel" or something. It's a good idea, albeit kind of a ripoff of Apple's G5 compartmentalized design idea whereby the portion of the case where the CPU is is kinda isolated from the rest of the case. In this case, it's in a mostly-sealed clear plastic tube (or "tunnel"), with an intake fan on the front end and an output fan on the rear. So, theoretically anyway, the CPU and its heat are isolated from the rest of the case. I didn't have the chance to check it out very thorougly though 'cuz the place was kinda crowded.
If I ever get time and have nothing better to do [ha! -- that's gonna happen real soon ], I'd like to try some different cooling schemes & combinations to see what'll yield the lowest temps in my WaveMaster. A person could prolly fabricate some sort of "wind tunnel" or isolation apparatus without too much difficulty. I have an Athlon 2600-based system right now, not overclocked, and a tame vid card, so I don't have the heat that your case does. But the cooling principles will be the same. I also have an awesome Thermalright all-copper heatsink -- I don't know the construction of your Zalman, but I'm sure you know that an all-copper heatsink will yeild the best heat absorption off the CPU. Then, like you say, you just need to focus on evacuating that heat from the fins and out of the case.
Another thing you could try is to cut a hole in the side of the left panel, towards the front of the case, and put another intake fan there. It might look kinda odd if you have the windowed side panel, but if not, if wouldn't look too bad. Anywho, good luck. Let us know if you hit on anything that makes a dramatic difference in your temps.