Case Cooling and Fan Setup

[captmrwill]

OK, i'm going to install my case fans later this evening. The setup of fan location areas follows:

Two front fans
Two rear fans
One Top "blowhole" slot
Power Supply fan, blowing out, of course.

now the question is how do I set them up. Tradition says front as intake, rear as exhaust. I'd imagine the top blow hole would be more effective as a exhaust than the rear two fans. However, I worry that two rear fans and the top fan, as well as the power source fan, will create too much negative pressure, so I'm thinking one blowing out on the rear, one blowing out in the blowhole, and two on the intake in front. Thus, leaving one of the rear without a fan.

The result would be negative pressure, but not nearly as extreme as with a 4-2 fan ratio.

Thanks for any help.

Will

[Whyzman]

Hello captmrwill,

Welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!


There are a couple of items that you may also want to take into consideration: (1) Air flow, and (2) Dust control.


If you're going to have negative pressure with your prospective setup you will be drawing air in from every possible orifice that exists in your case. This leaves you wide open to be drawing in dust and other environmental junk seeking a domicile in your pristine clean machine...


I use a flexible air-conditioning filter, cut to fit with a scissors, just behind my front fans. The AC filter is inexpensive, works well, and can be rinsed clean or simply replaced. If I remember correctly, I purchased the 15"x24" piece from HomeDepot for around $5.00 and there's enough to keep me with replacement material for a few years...


Air flow passing across the heatsink and motherboard and out of the case is actually more critical than the number of case fans IMHO Granted, air volume does factor in, but the movement across the warm components is vital...


Using warned air's natural tendency to climb certainly would want us to focus in on lower front intake and higher rear expulsion, as is the design of most modern cases.


I would suggest that you attempt to focus on a slightly positive case pressure. Of course, if you're room is always cleaned and your socks neatly aligned, I suggest you've the necessary personality traits to routinely maintenance your computer's innards...at which point you would only need to concentrate on proper air flow...;)