I have a case with 5 80mm case fans in it: one in front, one on the side, one on top, and two in back. Right now I have all sucking air in and two in the back blowing out. I am using a Zalman cnps9500 so it takes heat from cpu and blows it out the back. Is it better to have more blowing air in or out? Should I make the top case fan blow out to maybe suck air out since hot air rises? I"m not sure. It seems like my 7900gtx isn't gettig the air it should, but I'm confused because I know I have enough fans sucking air in. Maybe it's just hot the room. Have a room really hot compared to cold I think really makes a difference.
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Optimal case fan configuration?
- Thread starter Dutt1113
- Start date
I have 5 case fans in my Aspire X-Navigator.
I've been through EVERY possible scenario with these fans, and tested each one in EVERY direction...thoroughly!
I've found for my case, that:
1 front blowing IN (80mm)
1 top blowing OUT (80mm) (heat rises)
2 back blowing IN (blowing in cool air over my CPU hsf) (80mm/ea)
1 side blowing OUT (120mm)
If you think about it, I've got a 'Vortex' of air inside my case...
Air coming IN the front bottom (front fan) and air coming IN the top back (2 rear fans) the side to expel OUT (it rotates the same direction that the air moves into the case!) and the top to expel the hot air above the PSU out the case.
Mine may be a special situation, but as I said, I've tried each and every fan in each and every way, and THIS was the most efficient!
Something else to think about is positive and negative pressures.
Fans generally don't do well in pressures that are either too positive or too negative, you need a balance.
I always laugh when people put a fan right in front of their VGA fan, thinking that it's going to cool their graphics card better for a higher oc...this NEVER works, as one fan is negating what the other fan is doing...this is an example of positive OR negative (depending on which way each fan rotates) pressure.
So, the same holds true inside your case. If you have a high output, large diameter fan on the side of your case, it will blow out relatively as much as 3 fans blowing in...and you should DEFINATELY have your top fan blow out, as heat rises.
No matter what, all cases are different, as are ambient temps in the rooms we all compute in...the ONLY way to find the perfect combination is to TEST TEST TEST! (5 fans X 5 configurations = 25 tests! - Go slow, and track your findings...you'll be happy you did this, cause you'll NEVER have to do it again (with this case...)
Psychlone
I've been through EVERY possible scenario with these fans, and tested each one in EVERY direction...thoroughly!
I've found for my case, that:
1 front blowing IN (80mm)
1 top blowing OUT (80mm) (heat rises)
2 back blowing IN (blowing in cool air over my CPU hsf) (80mm/ea)
1 side blowing OUT (120mm)
If you think about it, I've got a 'Vortex' of air inside my case...
Air coming IN the front bottom (front fan) and air coming IN the top back (2 rear fans) the side to expel OUT (it rotates the same direction that the air moves into the case!) and the top to expel the hot air above the PSU out the case.
Mine may be a special situation, but as I said, I've tried each and every fan in each and every way, and THIS was the most efficient!
Something else to think about is positive and negative pressures.
Fans generally don't do well in pressures that are either too positive or too negative, you need a balance.
I always laugh when people put a fan right in front of their VGA fan, thinking that it's going to cool their graphics card better for a higher oc...this NEVER works, as one fan is negating what the other fan is doing...this is an example of positive OR negative (depending on which way each fan rotates) pressure.
So, the same holds true inside your case. If you have a high output, large diameter fan on the side of your case, it will blow out relatively as much as 3 fans blowing in...and you should DEFINATELY have your top fan blow out, as heat rises.
No matter what, all cases are different, as are ambient temps in the rooms we all compute in...the ONLY way to find the perfect combination is to TEST TEST TEST! (5 fans X 5 configurations = 25 tests! - Go slow, and track your findings...you'll be happy you did this, cause you'll NEVER have to do it again (with this case...)
Psychlone
AlteredState
n00b
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2006
- Messages
- 27
Here is how i solved my heating issues....
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1045991
See if you can have a word with gud4u.... he/she helped me out and got me sorted in the end
Good luck
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1045991
See if you can have a word with gud4u.... he/she helped me out and got me sorted in the end
Good luck
My recommendation would be to trash any case using 80mm fans. To achieve good case ventilation of an overclocked CPU with hot vid cards, you pretty much have to use multiple 80mm fans or run the fans with screaming RPMs producing high audible noise.
A case such as the Antec 3000 allows 2 120mm fans for decent ventilation, priced at $50 or less. Many people spend more than that on fans.
Favored case configuration:
- Optimized front-to-back air flow with 120mm front intake and rear exhaust.
- Matched flow-rates for intake and exhaust fans.
- No side-vents or top blow-holes.
- Avoid negative case pressure.
- Relieve air flow restrictions.
Front-to-back air flow provides a flow path to cool all devices - not just the CPU or vid card. Side-vents create a side-to-exhaust flow path that results in low air flow over your hard drives, resulting in warm drive operating temps. They also provide a noise leak path.
Best ventilation with matched flow-rate for both front intake and rear exhaust. If flow-rates are mismatched, the lower-flow fan becomes a flow restriction. If, for example, you have fans rated 50CFM and 35CFM, using the 50CFM fan alone as front intake will produce more air flow than combining the two fans in series air flow combination.
Avoid negative case pressure. Most power supplies are designed to draw air from your case. Negative case pressure tends to stall air flow through the power supply, resulting in warm PS temps and PS fans speeding up to compensate, possibly damaging the PS and adding to case noise.
Positive case pressure is simply inefficient - but it can't harm your power supply.
Relieving air flow restrictions can significantly improve air flow. Check for:
- Restrictive case fan grills.
- Restrictive case front bezels.
- Restrictive filter media.
- Restrictive internal hardware, such as side-mount hard drive cages.
Hope this helps!
A case such as the Antec 3000 allows 2 120mm fans for decent ventilation, priced at $50 or less. Many people spend more than that on fans.
Favored case configuration:
- Optimized front-to-back air flow with 120mm front intake and rear exhaust.
- Matched flow-rates for intake and exhaust fans.
- No side-vents or top blow-holes.
- Avoid negative case pressure.
- Relieve air flow restrictions.
Front-to-back air flow provides a flow path to cool all devices - not just the CPU or vid card. Side-vents create a side-to-exhaust flow path that results in low air flow over your hard drives, resulting in warm drive operating temps. They also provide a noise leak path.
Best ventilation with matched flow-rate for both front intake and rear exhaust. If flow-rates are mismatched, the lower-flow fan becomes a flow restriction. If, for example, you have fans rated 50CFM and 35CFM, using the 50CFM fan alone as front intake will produce more air flow than combining the two fans in series air flow combination.
Avoid negative case pressure. Most power supplies are designed to draw air from your case. Negative case pressure tends to stall air flow through the power supply, resulting in warm PS temps and PS fans speeding up to compensate, possibly damaging the PS and adding to case noise.
Positive case pressure is simply inefficient - but it can't harm your power supply.
Relieving air flow restrictions can significantly improve air flow. Check for:
- Restrictive case fan grills.
- Restrictive case front bezels.
- Restrictive filter media.
- Restrictive internal hardware, such as side-mount hard drive cages.
Hope this helps!
Asian Dub Foundation
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2005
- Messages
- 7,940
gud4u said:
this thing helps quite alot! i have some dremeling to do tomorrow
I also have the Navigator, but the prebuilt configuration is horrible. I Took off the lower front detachable panel because it restricts intake, went ahead and added another fan to the middle drive bay, and reversed the side and rear fans. Average Ambient case temps went down over 10 degrees C. Later I replaced the side with a silverstone and now I can get the case in the low 20s C.Psychlone said:
I have 4-120 intakes and 2-120 exhausts and I have never had my case go above 32c (26c ambient) even during gaming. Like what many are saying it all depends on your airflow. You dont want to be causing a lot of turbulence, lets say around your mobo mosfets, because then you will have overheating problems. Try to think about the path your air will follow since you dont want any areas to remain relatively still. Fans cause convection and that is the key to cooling. Its like getting done with a long run, while your moving your sweat helps you cool off but as soon as you stop you feel like your in a sauna
I would also recommend going with something bigger than 80mm fans. Even 92mm are not bad and can still provide a good noise/performance ratio.
Do you plan on watercooling at all? Some people dont think about the cpu fan for the flow of air but also keep that in mind when deciding on how the air should be expelled.
I would also recommend going with something bigger than 80mm fans. Even 92mm are not bad and can still provide a good noise/performance ratio.
Do you plan on watercooling at all? Some people dont think about the cpu fan for the flow of air but also keep that in mind when deciding on how the air should be expelled.
Right now, I have an 80mm intake bottom front, top, side middle, and two exaust in the back. I used a dreme to cut out the aluminum inside the case for the front fan and the two exaust. I get way more air coming in the front and flows back to my vid card. The side fan blows air right in from of my cnps9500 which then blows the air towards the back of the case and right out the back of the case. The top fan blows air down into the case as well. It seems like I have better air flow since I cut out the holes for the fans so there is nothing slowing down the air coming in. Its funny sometimes to see how little holes they put in the aluminum for the air to pass through. Oh also I have a 120mm fan in my power supply doing some exausting as well. Does all this sound pretty good.