Advice needed on case fans

[Freddy1765]

Hi.
I'm using an NZXT Lexa S case, which has the following fans:
Intake: Front (floor of the case)
Intake: Side (blowing air onto the GPU)
Exhaust: Top (above CPU)
Exhaust: Rear (behind CPU)

I've disabled the front intake because its clogged with dust, but I can't get to it and clean it - and the fact that my temps are perfectly fine as is anyway.

The thing is, I just put in an order for a Hyper 212 Evo and will buy a 7850 within a week's time (most likely an MSI, but in any case it'll have an open-air cooler).

What I'm wondering is whether it's good to have an intake blowing air onto an open-air GPU, and whether I should reverse one of the exhausts to blow air onto the 212 Evo instead of having both blowing air out?

Thanks in advance!

 

[lsv]

You really need to clean your case more often if you're disabling fans due to dust.

Some cases I've had in the past gave me problems while cleaning the fan, the 650D when using a ton of hard drives and my older Antec Titan with lots of hard drives.

I seriously recommend opening it up and de-dusting once a month as well as once every 6 months to a year open the whole thing up, remove devices and de-dust the shit out of the box.

Others will, I'm sure, post cooling input for your case and fan setup.

 

[Don Karnage]

Take all the fans out and clean them. I do mine once a week. Takes 15 minutes

 

[Freddy1765]

Yeah, I've tried cleaning it, but it's difficult to get to. It's not really a concern since it doesn't appear i need it so much.
My question is really in relation to the three remaining fans and how best to use them along with the 212 Evo and open-air GPU.

 

[lsv]

I'd probably do something like the below if I had no front intake;

 

[cantholdanymore]

Yeah, I've tried cleaning it, but it's difficult to get to. It's not really a concern since it doesn't appear i need it so much.
My question is really in relation to the three remaining fans and how best to use them along with the 212 Evo and open-air GPU.

"I don't care about my flat tire only about how the remaining 3 are wearing":\

 

[lsv]

"I don't care about my flat tire only about how the remaining 3 are wearing":\

Spot on, OP clean your case

 

[Zardnok]

I would buy a new case that has easily removable fan filters or barring that, attack your current case with a shop-vac. If you reverse the hose so it is on "blow-mode", it will clear most any fan clogs.

 

[Freddy1765]

"I don't care about my flat tire only about how the remaining 3 are wearing":\

Unlike a car, my case is functioning perfectly with 3 'tires'

I'll repeat though: the issue is not the 4th fan, it's how best to utilize the remaining 3 fans.

I'm obviously not going to buy a new case simply for convenience.

lsv: Thank you! That's basically how it is now. I'll leave it for the time being, just needed confirmation is was a viable setup.

 

[lsv]

Unlike a car, my case is functioning perfectly with 3 'tires'

I'll repeat though: the issue is not the 4th fan, it's how best to utilize the remaining 3 fans.

I'm obviously not going to buy a new case simply for convenience.

lsv: Thank you! That's basically how it is now. I'll leave it for the time being, just needed confirmation is was a viable setup.

You're welcome, just remember, you should be cleaning your case out fairly frequently.

A better analogy is; one of my AC vents is clogged so I just won't care about my passengers being comfortable. Eventually you'll get an angry passenger on a really hot day and you'll have to do something about it.

 

[Topweasel]

I thought specially for dust you wanted a positive pressure case so the air doesn't settle and drop a bunch of dust off into the case. In theory shouldn't the back fan or top fan used as an inlet fan. That way you have two fans bringing air in, one leaving, so the rest of the air is pushed through all the vents and crevices?

 

[lsv]

I thought specially for dust you wanted a positive pressure case so the air doesn't settle and drop a bunch of dust off into the case. In theory shouldn't the back fan or top fan used as an inlet fan. That way you have two fans bringing air in, one leaving, so the rest of the air is pushed through all the vents and crevices?

Yes, the ideal solution for dust is positive air pressure. OP doesn't care to clean his case so we've essentially offered the best advice for his circumstance.