Air circulation question

[ColdFusion718]

I have 3 60mm case fans installed in my system. My strategy is to create a cyclone-like air flow where cool air comes in, picks up the heat then leaves. I hypothesize that using a cyclone-like path would encourage a better flow since the different regions of air inside the case will be at different temperatures (I'm using the concept of warm and cool air --> wind, storms, etc.) I have very little experience with this new project so please help me out. Here's what I have so far:

All fans right now are in the "intake" configuration (I am aware that there must be a outflow configuration somewhere *here's where your opinions, expertise come in*

1 fan in the front of the system (intake)
1 fan parallel to the left side (intake)
1 fan in the back (intake)

Thank you in advance for the help

 

[CHHASmatroxuser]

As warm air will rise, you should really put a fan in the top of the case blowing out

 

[helloedchen]

so with all the fans acting as intake, you probably would need a good exhaust. 92 or 120 would be my idea...

edit:wait a minute, i just saw that you had 3 60mms...nevermind...one 80 would be enough unless of course they're the strong delta fans..

 

[herdmaster]

maybe you've been watching too many vacuum cleaner comercials.
you got to have some outlet for all that hot air. top rear of case comes to mind.

 

[ColdFusion718]

sorry double post

 

[ColdFusion718]

I said that I knew that there must be a fan that sucks air out of the case, I just didn't know for sure which one of those 3 fans' positions would be the most efficient. Thanks for the suggestion though, I will implement it ASAP. Hahaha vacuum cleaner commercials.

 

[damien6]

I personally haven't had the need to chop up any of my case as of yet. I don't use the built in front intake fans in any of my cases, I prefer HD baycoolers for intake and a exhaust fan in the rear just below the P/S where there is a place already punched out. The baycoolers cools the HDs + also brings in the fresh air.

If I was to hack a case to install "blowholes" I would do it in two places. A one on left side just above the area where the CPU/AGP card would be to bring fresh air into the case (also assists cooling CPU/AGP)and one on the top to exhaust. I would prefer 120mm fans for both due to less noise and the ability to move lots of air. Installing lots of small fans aren't worth the noise they create or the amount of power they consume compare to the amount of air they'll move.

 

[pen^2]

hehe i went crazy on my last case, which belongs to a friend of mine now... check it out:
1 120mm intake
1 120mm intake from the side directly over the vid card
1 80mm panaflo high cfm from behind
1 120mm right above the cpu which leads to the duct
the duct has 2 80mm exhausts and is connected to the PS. the walls are cut out of pizzahut carton box
and then there is a blowhole on top of the case. this thing is a real monster... can recall exactly how many cfms but it could make 3 cds float above it altogether(imagine all that noise and thats exactly why i sold it)

 

[Ulysses]

60 mm. case fans are pretty dinky. You might want to think of getting some 80, 90 or 120 mm. fans. 80 is usually taken as a minimum size.

All the theories are fine but it is best to experiment a bit and monitor the case temps with software to evaluate your changes.

Normally you dram air in at the front bottom and exhaust it near the top back.