Goal of Side + Rear Case Fans?

[MrCow]

Hi, I'm thinkin about putting a fan on the side of my case, but I'm wondering where I should aim it at

Here is what my setup might be:
- Bottom Front of Case : Blow cold air in
- Top of case : Exhaust hot air out
- Top Rear Side : Exhaust Hot Air Out
- Bottom Rear Side : Suck or blow??????
- Side part of the case: Suck or blow? and where? (Video card?, Processor?)?????

Now i'm pretty sure my cpu fan blows onto the heatsink, and my PSU blows hot air out. So where to put that side fan?

 

[techweenie]

Generally, you want the exhaust in the rear, and the intake in the front. For the blowhole, I would try it both ways, and see what gives the best temps.

 

[Scrounger]

Having a blowhole on the side providing cool air directly to the CPU heat sink intake seems like a good idea to me. You might also be able to get your AGP card also with some of the air. Most cases already come with two exhaust fans on the back (one in the case, one in the power supply) and only one intake fan near the bottom front. Adding one more intake will balance things out for air flow. Having more exhaust fans than intake fans (or vice versa) will give you only a marginal increase in air flow if any.

 

[Blain]

From what I've seen, fan placement is the most important thing! An 80mm fan mounted in the side panel, blowing directly at the CPU/AGP area would keep temps cooler than a 120mm fan mounted in the front.

DUMP that fresh air in there!