Which one? Intake or exaust?

[youngbuck]

If I was able to only have 1 case fan, and 1 case fan only, would it be better in the exaust or intake position?

Also, how do PSU fans help in exausting air from the case?

 

[beezee]

I prefer intake... possibly directly over cpu (if you're using air cooling)

 

[youngbuck]

My case has only 1 slot for a case fan. Then I have my PSU which exausts directly above the case fan slot. Does anyone know what my PSU might exaust out in CFM? I have an Enermax 350W PSU.

Is what I'm thinking of doing, for the time being, is just having the PSU exaust, and have a rear case fan intake. I know it won't be nearly as affective as things should be, but I guess it's my best bet. (?) Then, depending on what temperatures are like, I may or may not add a 5.25" front bay fan (intake). That way I'll I'll have better airflow rom one end to the other.

I wish I had a dremel tool to cut some slots in myself

 

[Lusankya]

Yea I recomend a dremel.. I only have 1 mount in my case also.. or I did.. I mounted a side fan last week and am gonna dremel 2 more holes to mount another pair this weekend.

Now this case fan you can have.. is that the one that came with the case or another one you bought seperately?

I managed to mount a 60mm on the rear of my case where the grill is but still need more.. so I cut a hole in the side between the PSU and the top drive bays and that works as a top exhaust..

I am goign to mount 2 80mm's in the bottom front side of my case for intake to get some positive pressure.. if this dosen't work.. I'm geting a new case and going H2Oh yea

 

[ChillPhatCat]

Ok, this is my first post, I've been reading the tech articles and reviews for 3 years and for some reason I never went to the forums... talk about stupid!

Anyhow, I am a case fan nut and I just can't have enough... a fan fettish you could say. I've had 4 case fans including power supply for the longest time, one 90mm blowing directly in and across my second hard drive (epoxied into the bottom drive bay) one 90mm blowing at an angle down onto my main drive... and one 80mm exhaust. I am installing the chip, Volcano 7+ and 120 mm fan in my sig tomorrow (later today actually LOL). So, I'll have a 120mm fan with fanguard as intake, and I'm planning to use the 90mm on the front as exhaust and I've got another 90mm to put somewhere else...

A COUPLE QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO SKIP TO HERE:

Is it a good idea to have multiple exhaust locations? Like one on top, one in front and one in the back? Or is this too disruptive for the airflow? I'm gunning for 8 fans total when I'm finished... I gotta beat my sister's 7... of course I built that computer so it's in effect my brainchild.

I have a dremel and I am not afraid to use it!

 

[Stedeman]

My case has only 1 slot for a case fan. Then I have my PSU which exausts directly above the case fan slot. Does anyone know what my PSU might exaust out in CFM? I have an Enermax 350W PSU.

Is what I'm thinking of doing, for the time being, is just having the PSU exaust, and have a rear case fan intake. I know it won't be nearly as affective as things should be, but I guess it's my best bet. (?) Then, depending on what temperatures are like, I may or may not add a 5.25" front bay fan (intake). That way I'll I'll have better airflow rom one end to the other.

I wish I had a dremel tool to cut some slots in myself

In this situation you would want to exhaust with the case fan because of its location to the psu fans
1) if you where to blow in it would loop right in to the psu
2) and vise versa suck in the psu’s hot air being blown out
3) if you exhaust with the case fan it will draw more air in from the front of your case (make sure you have enough air inlets in the front of your case if not use a dremal or drill and make some)

 

[Stedeman]

In this situation you would want to exhaust with the case fan because of its location to the psu fans
1) if you where to blow in it would loop right in to the psu
2) and vise versa suck in the psu’s hot air being blown out
3) if you exhaust with the case fan it will draw more air in from the front of your case (make sure you have enough air inlets in the front of your case if not use a dremal or drill and make some)

PS you could always cut a few fan holes in the side or top of your case if so go with 120mm / 12cm fans at lower rps to keep the sound down

 

[james.miller]

im only using one exaust fan

 

[Zerrus]

A COUPLE QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO SKIP TO HERE:

Is it a good idea to have multiple exhaust locations? Like one on top, one in front and one in the back? Or is this too disruptive for the airflow?I have a dremel and I am not afraid to use it!

In my old case I had 2 intake fans 80x80's both at the bottom by the hidden 3.5 bays.
Then my 2 80x80's exaust at the back top... above my PSU (full tower with PSU mid mount)
Then I had another exaust just by the CPU 60x60

On my TBird 1.33 with a Alpha Pal FH60 and a delta 60x60

I was holding mid 20's C case and about mid 40's C CPU Load.

To me, I like having air flow go from
Intake: Front/lower to
Exaust: Back/high

I was thinking of adding another blowhole to the leftside pannel for another intake but I opted to buy a new case... and added my 2 intakes tot he lower left pannel.

Originally posted by ChillPhatCat

If I was able to only have 1 case fan, and 1 case fan only, would it be better in the exaust or intake position?

Intake....
My friend said it best... "Its hard to blow up your case, so air will force its way out. Its harder to suck in air than it is to blow it though the case."

Originally posted by Lusankya

I am goign to mount 2 80mm's in the bottom front side of my case for intake to get some positive pressure.. if this dosen't work.. I'm geting a new case and going H2Oh yea

ROFLMAS!

I hear ya.... I am so close to going water! But am still in the chicken phase....

 

[h0mersimps0n]

I read this on the forums here once and it makes a LOT of sense to me, I suggest you try to stick to this reasoning:

RULE OF THUMB:

Keey total CFM IN greater than total CFM OUT...


reason, and #1 killer of mechanial fans, DUST. If you have more air blowing in, air will blow out through all cracks and spaces. If you have more air blowing out then air will get sucked in through the cracks and settle on your hardware.

I always try to keep my cfm IN 20cfm greater than OUT...

good luck.

 

[Stedeman]

I read this on the forums here once and it makes a LOT of sense to me, I suggest you try to stick to this reasoning:

RULE OF THUMB:

Keey total CFM IN greater than total CFM OUT...


reason, and #1 killer of mechanial fans, DUST. If you have more air blowing in, air will blow out through all cracks and spaces. If you have more air blowing out then air will get sucked in through the cracks and settle on your hardware.

I always try to keep my cfm IN 20cfm greater than OUT...

good luck.

This is a half truth you could have no inlet fans and still do ok as long as you had enough free flow in the correct spots ( 2-3 X 3" tunnel rams one to the inlet of the cpu and one across the pcis would work well also *if done right)