Fan Setup for Best Airflow???

Gudziel · Mar 18, 2009

How does everyone set their fans up for the best maximum airflow?

Here is my computer case:
Newegg.com - Rosewill R6426-P BK ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Here is my CPU cooler:
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

I changed the stock fan that came with the case for a better 80mm fan, which is blowing inwards towards my cpu fan. I have the CPU fan turned so that the back fan is blowing into the back of the fan on the heatsink, so all airflow is coming from the back, through the heatsink towards the front of the case. I had to remove the duct from the side of the tower because the CPU cooler is so freakin' tall it is literally a 1.25" from the wall. So placing a fan in the duct's place is also pretty hard. The other available spot on the side panel also has an 80mm, which i'll upgrade to a 120mm fan. This fan blows inward towards my HUGE video card to try and keep that cool. I also removed all of the front aluminum panels (the ones which are removable when you place in a cd/dvd rom, which helps the air from the back to be blown through the front. Since the cd/dvd rom covers on the case are perforated, air blows through them nicely.

Anyone have any suggestions for me that will help my airflow with this case?

stew2 · Mar 18, 2009

I need more rep for this lol.

Airflow should be front to back. Intake should be one fan at the front and one intake on the side. This allows for one fan at the rear of the case extracting the air along with the fan of your power supply. This makes for 2 intake and 2 outake.

By using this config your pushing cold air in at the lower part of the case and extracting it at the top of the case. The way you have it just now your pushing the hot air of the cpu over your northbridge and ram which isnt a good idea. You should also put back in the aliminium bezels.

skunksmash · Mar 18, 2009

stew2 said:
I need more rep for this lol.

Airflow should be front to back. Intake should be one fan at the front and one intake on the side. This allows for one fan at the rear of the case extracting the air along with the fan of your power supply. This makes for 2 intake and 2 outake.

By using this config your pushing cold air in at the lower part of the case and extracting it at the top of the case. The way you have it just now your pushing the hot air of the cpu over your northbridge and ram which isnt a good idea. You should also put back in the aliminium bezels.

great post.......

this is EXACTLY what i would of suggested...

personally i try & aim for a ''positive'' pressure in the case rather than ''negative'' (more fans in than out)
this will ensure air is not being dragged in where you do not want it to be....i.e cracks, drive bays, IO ports....you'd be amazed where dust builds up in a ''negative'' environment...

the side panel fan IS A MUST if possible... air blowing directly on your RAM DIMMs & mobo keeps those temps nice & low....

SK

Gudziel · Mar 18, 2009

Thx gentlemen for your help once again. I've looked at that website you linked in another post for me Stew. Thanks! I'll probably be going there for another new case.

stew2 · Mar 18, 2009

OK cool, lian li cases are by far the best cases for the money. Also try some cable management in your new case as this can help to keep temps down as well.

"more fans in than out" i follow that as well. With lian li cases there will be air filters, if you ensure you have a positive pressure within the case you should only have to clean the filters and not the inside of the case.

Gudziel · Mar 18, 2009

I've already found a couple of cases I like on Newegg:
Newegg.com - LIAN LI PC-7FW Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - LIAN LI PC-7BYCF Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

I like the second one, mainly for the clear side and large fan. Just worried it won't fit with the height of my Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks. :sarc:

I'll probably order either case when I get another 4G's of ram.

But when I get home, I'll switch some fans around so that the back fan is pushing air out.

thepizzaman · Mar 18, 2009

Gudziel said:
Thx gentlemen for your help once again. I've looked at that website you linked in another post for me Stew. Thanks! I'll probably be going there for another new case.

if you go for a new case try to get the Cooler Master 932 HAF case if it is in your budget
if not go with NZXT or thermaltake

Gudziel · Mar 18, 2009

thepizzaman said:
Gudziel said:

Thx gentlemen for your help once again. I've looked at that website you linked in another post for me Stew. Thanks! I'll probably be going there for another new case.

Click to expand...

if you go for a new case try to get the Cooler Master 932 HAF case if it is in your budget
if not go with NZXT or thermaltake

I like the Cooler Master 932 case too! That's not a bad price either. Hmmm... decisions... decisions...

How does that case treat ya?

Edit: Just saw you aren't using it, nvm. :-/

thepizzaman · Mar 18, 2009

well i know it is a good case..... was just outta stock when i ordered

but xgunthercx,smartyeyeball, and many others have that case and love it
and from all i have read it is a very reliable case
also the NZXT tempest is really good everything expect my gpu is a 25 c or lower the gpu is at 49 c because of the fan only running at 30% on it
my cpu idles at 15 c

Gudziel · Mar 18, 2009

My gpu runs in the 50's. If I remember correctly, Nvidia's monitoring software was showing me that my gfx card fan was running at 30%. I'm probably just being dumb, but I think that is what I remember. Can anything bad come of me pushing that fan up to 80% or so other than it being louder? I can deal with the possible noise, I just want to cool my vid card down. It gets pretty toasty in there.

Edit: I was using HWMonitor when I was overclocking and running my stability test. How do I know what my temperature is when I'm idle? What constitutes a system being idle?

thepizzaman · Mar 18, 2009

that was what i used and idt anything other than noise..... but i don't have that option with mine

so o well but for $100 a nzxt tempest is well worth it but a 932 haf is better

and the answer to the last question..... when it not running any programs started by the user just background services

smarteyeball · Mar 18, 2009

Gudziel said:
I like the Cooler Master 932 case too! That's not a bad price either. Hmmm... decisions... decisions...

How does that case treat ya?

It treats me very nicely

The only 'downside' to running your vid card fan high all the time is that it will wear out quicker. Realistically though, by the time that happens you'll have probably upgraded it anyway. Having a side fan/fans blowing straight onto it helps a lot. I just replaced my side 230mm with x4 120mm and have lowered various temps by another 3-6 degrees.

And as pizzaman pointed out, idle is usually when the system idle process cpu usage is at 99% in task manager.

thepizzaman said:
but xgunthercx,smartyeyeball, and many others have that case and love it

Yes, we do

(sorry mate, I'm not trying to rub it in

)

stew2 · Mar 18, 2009

Hi Gudziel no one can choose a pc case for you as your needs will vary from others. This is why i pointed you to the Lian-li site and not one of their cases as all their cases are top quality. You need to consider things like what size you want, how many drive bays are needed, what size of motherboard it can take, how many fans youll need, if its suitable for watercooling if you eventually want to do that, if you want a low noise case etc etc etc etc etc.

I wouldnt get a Cooler Master 932 HAF as its too big for my needs, doesnt have dust filters so youl always have dust in your case, has a plastic construction when i want it to be all aluminium, no "thermal zones" etc. but as you can see its a subjective topic as other people love it.

To get idle temps once youv achieved the overclock you want and have tested its stable switch off your pc. This will let it cool down then after about an hour switch it on again and leave it alone for about 20 minutes then launch HWmonitor this will show you the temps of your pc when its not in use which is called "idle" time.

thepizzaman · Mar 19, 2009

stew2 said:
Hi Gudziel no one can choose a pc case for you as your needs will vary from others. This is why i pointed you to the Lian-li site and not one of their cases as all their cases are top quality. You need to consider things like what size you want, how many drive bays are needed, what size of motherboard it can take, how many fans youll need, if its suitable for watercooling if you eventually want to do that, if you want a low noise case etc etc etc etc etc.

I wouldnt get a Cooler Master 932 HAF as its too big for my needs, doesnt have dust filters so youl always have dust in your case, has a plastic construction when i want it to be all aluminium, no "thermal zones" etc. but as you can see its a subjective topic as other people love it.

To get idle temps once youv achieved the overclock you want and have tested its stable switch off your pc. This will let it cool down then after about an hour switch it on again and leave it alone for about 20 minutes then launch HWmonitor this will show you the temps of your pc when its not in use which is called "idle" time.

hm..... true.... its up to you

but if i had a second chance i would get the haf case

Gudziel · Mar 19, 2009

I took your guys advice last night and switched my rear fan around to blow the air out. While installing a new, more powerful rear fan (which I'll describe below), I actually noticed that there was a location for an additional fan in the front by the power buttons. So I installed another 80mm fan in the front lower part of the case. I managed to find a fan that fit right above my CPU fan to blow inwards. The only issue I have, currently, with placing the new fans into my system, is the rear fan. That is my fault actually, because this fan is a bertha. It is a 90mm fan, and I forget the cfm's it pumps out. But let's just put it this way.... You can lay the fan down on its face and it will actually hover about 1/2" off of the table. When you power it up, it begins quiet and slow and slowly gets faster (and the problematic part, louder). Think of a jet engine. But while I was playing CoD5 at full settings, HWMonitor showed everything at about 47C max. So all in all, I installed two new fans and replaced one with with a jet engine. The jet engine will be utilized until I get a new case. I'm deciding between four of the cases that you all have suggested. I'm a huge gamer and plan on getting another video card (either the same one I just got or better) and want try to overclock again.

I just want to say thanks to you guys for your suggestions on cases and fans. And thanks for letting me know when to look for temps at "idle" stage. I appreciate your help everyone and I'll pump up your rep for helping out a dummy

Everlong · Mar 19, 2009

smarteyeball said:
Gudziel said:

I like the Cooler Master 932 case too! That's not a bad price either. Hmmm... decisions... decisions...

How does that case treat ya?

Click to expand...

It treats me very nicely

The only 'downside' to running your vid card fan high all the time is that it will wear out quicker. Realistically though, by the time that happens you'll have probably upgraded it anyway. Having a side fan/fans blowing straight onto it helps a lot. I just replaced my side 230mm with x4 120mm and have lowered various temps by another 3-6 degrees.

And as pizzaman pointed out, idle is usually when the system idle process cpu usage is at 99% in task manager.

thepizzaman said:

but xgunthercx,smartyeyeball, and many others have that case and love it

Click to expand...

Yes, we do (sorry mate, I'm not trying to rub it in )

The Coolermaster 690 is a good case too. It's basically a lesser version of the HAF, as the HAF has the desginated bay for a watercooling radiator, wheras the 690 doesn't, but you can still get a watercooling kit like a Thermaltake 760 where it has the radiator and pump in an enclosure that just slots in to the front drive bay.

But yea, I'd generally go for a Coolermaster or Thermaltake case.

thepizzaman · Mar 19, 2009

Gudziel said:
I took your guys advice last night and switched my rear fan around to blow the air out. While installing a new, more powerful rear fan (which I'll describe below), I actually noticed that there was a location for an additional fan in the front by the power buttons. So I installed another 80mm fan in the front lower part of the case. I managed to find a fan that fit right above my CPU fan to blow inwards. The only issue I have, currently, with placing the new fans into my system, is the rear fan. That is my fault actually, because this fan is a bertha. It is a 90mm fan, and I forget the cfm's it pumps out. But let's just put it this way.... You can lay the fan down on its face and it will actually hover about 1/2" off of the table. When you power it up, it begins quiet and slow and slowly gets faster (and the problematic part, louder). Think of a jet engine. But while I was playing CoD5 at full settings, HWMonitor showed everything at about 47C max. So all in all, I installed two new fans and replaced one with with a jet engine. The jet engine will be utilized until I get a new case. I'm deciding between four of the cases that you all have suggested. I'm a huge gamer and plan on getting another video card (either the same one I just got or better) and want try to overclock again.

I just want to say thanks to you guys for your suggestions on cases and fans. And thanks for letting me know when to look for temps at "idle" stage. I appreciate your help everyone and I'll pump up your rep for helping out a dummy

which four are you debating on?

Gudziel · Mar 19, 2009

thepizzaman said:
Gudziel said:

I took your guys advice last night and switched my rear fan around to blow the air out. While installing a new, more powerful rear fan (which I'll describe below), I actually noticed that there was a location for an additional fan in the front by the power buttons. So I installed another 80mm fan in the front lower part of the case. I managed to find a fan that fit right above my CPU fan to blow inwards. The only issue I have, currently, with placing the new fans into my system, is the rear fan. That is my fault actually, because this fan is a bertha. It is a 90mm fan, and I forget the cfm's it pumps out. But let's just put it this way.... You can lay the fan down on its face and it will actually hover about 1/2" off of the table. When you power it up, it begins quiet and slow and slowly gets faster (and the problematic part, louder). Think of a jet engine. But while I was playing CoD5 at full settings, HWMonitor showed everything at about 47C max. So all in all, I installed two new fans and replaced one with with a jet engine. The jet engine will be utilized until I get a new case. I'm deciding between four of the cases that you all have suggested. I'm a huge gamer and plan on getting another video card (either the same one I just got or better) and want try to overclock again.

I just want to say thanks to you guys for your suggestions on cases and fans. And thanks for letting me know when to look for temps at "idle" stage. I appreciate your help everyone and I'll pump up your rep for helping out a dummy

Click to expand...

which four are you debating on?

Newegg.com - NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - LIAN LI PC-7FW Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - LIAN LI PC-7BYCF Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

I'm a gamer. Honestly, $175 is as high as I'll go, but what is most important is that I'll need to do some research to ensure my CPU fan will fit. But I appreciate the tower's appearance and amount of cooling opportunities.

thepizzaman · Mar 19, 2009

hm....... i'm almost sure it will fit in the haf case and.... and as far as the tempest goes you should have about seven inches off of the motherboard what are the dimensions of your cpu cooler?

Gudziel · Mar 19, 2009

thepizzaman said:
hm....... i'm almost sure it will fit in the haf case and.... and as far as the tempest goes you should have about seven inches off of the motherboard what are the dimensions of your cpu cooler?

Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

<TABLE class=specification cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=name>Fan Dimensions: </TD><TD class=desc><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>document.write(neg_specification_newline('107.0 x 43.5 x 96.0mm'));</SCRIPT>107.0 x 43.5 x 96.0mm</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE class=specification cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=name>Heatsink Dimensions: </TD><TD class=desc><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>document.write(neg_specification_newline('104.0 x 58.0 x 126.5mm'));</SCRIPT>104.0 x 58.0 x 126.5mm</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

I am positive it will fit in any case, obviously. I am just worried about any side-panel fans that are adjacent to it. My current case, it is 1.25" away from the side, which made it hard to put in a fan practically touching it on the panel.

Fan Setup for Best Airflow???

New Member

My Computer

stew2

My Computer

im coming for cake

My Computer

New Member

My Computer

stew2

My Computer

New Member

My Computer

Banned

My Computer

New Member

My Computer

Banned

My Computer

New Member

My Computer

Banned

My Computer

Eye know, eye know

My Computer

stew2

My Computer

Banned

My Computer

New Member

My Computer

To xor or not to xor

My Computer

Banned

My Computer

New Member

My Computer

Banned

My Computer

New Member

My Computer