Help me setup intake/exhaust fans

[2mg]

Hi,

I have this case: http://www.lc-power.com/en/product/gehaeuse/atx-pro-line/pro-928b-mechadroid/

It has 2x120mm side fans, 1x120 front and only 1x80mm rear. No top or bottom (PSU draws from the bottom and vents it rear).

My question is - should I intake all the air from side fans and exhaust thru rear and front, or leave the front as intake?

My reasoning is that side two (I got strong ones) side fans just vent air inside all over the case, so only one in front as intake can't push it into the back, and 80mm rear is pretty weak as solo exhaust. CPU fan is a typical horizontal one, not the vertical type, and GPU is also "normal-blow-on-it" fan.

 

[Bearmann]

So which heatsink and GPU just so we understand each other.

That case is unusual with only an 80mm rear fan. The two side fans must be intake fans to be the most effective. I would make the rear 80mm an exhaust. That leaves the front fan. I'm guessing it will work better as an exhaust, but you could try it both ways and measure your temps with CPUID HWMonitor.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Side-Panel-Fans-Are-They-Worth-It-102/

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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/02/10/the-big-cooling-investigation/1[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

 

[2mg]

So which heatsink and GPU just so we understand each other.

Zotac 560TI AMP! (removed "case") and Arctic Freezer 11 LP.

That leaves the front fan. I'm guessing it will work better as an exhaust, but you could try it both ways and measure your temps with CPUID HWMonitor.

Will probably test like in the links you provided, but your bet is exhaust front?

 

[Bearmann]

So the Zotac appears to be an overclocked reference design, i.e. it blows the hot air out the back of the card. The Arctic cooler is a low profile design that blows down on the MB.

Yes, my guess is that you will have better air flow with the front exhausting. I just don't think you will get much air flow through the case with 2 side intake fans, one front intake fan, and one small 80mm exhaust fan.

 

[lehtv]

So the Zotac appears to be an overclocked reference design, i.e. it blows the hot air out the back of the card.

It's not a reference design, it's Zotac's own design (although the PCB is reference). And neither the Zotac nor the NVIDIA 560 Ti reference use a blower style cooler, they use a standard fan that blows heat onto the heatsink below, exhausting hot air from both ends. Blower style means the fan blows air horizontally from front to back through the heatsink, which is not the case in this reference design.

Zotac 560 Ti AMP!:

Reference 560 Ti:

 

[lehtv]

Hi,

I have this case: http://www.lc-power.com/en/product/gehaeuse/atx-pro-line/pro-928b-mechadroid/

It has 2x120mm side fans, 1x120 front and only 1x80mm rear. No top or bottom (PSU draws from the bottom and vents it rear).

My question is - should I intake all the air from side fans and exhaust thru rear and front, or leave the front as intake?

My reasoning is that side two (I got strong ones) side fans just vent air inside all over the case, so only one in front as intake can't push it into the back, and 80mm rear is pretty weak as solo exhaust. CPU fan is a typical horizontal one, not the vertical type, and GPU is also "normal-blow-on-it" fan.

First off, what temperatures do you have if you just use one front 120mm and one rear 92mm fan? If those temperatures are fine and noise levels are fine, I would avoid using the side fans altogether.

I would keep the front fan as intake and rear fan as exhaust. If you want to use the side fans, either both exhausts or both intakes. It makes more sense to me to use the side fans as intakes because your graphics card doesn't blow much hot air into the case. With additional dust filters installed on all intake areas, this would ensure the case doesn't gather dust. However, IME, a side fan makes more noise as an intake due to the blades spinning closer to the grille, so technically having them as exhausts would make the setup a little quieter and cooler, but the negative pressure would draw dust into the case.

 

[Bearmann]

lehtv,

Thanks for the clarification on that Zotac.

 

[2mg]

First off, what temperatures do you have if you just use one front 120mm and one rear 92mm fan? If those temperatures are fine and noise levels are fine, I would avoid using the side fans altogether.

I would keep the front fan as intake and rear fan as exhaust. If you want to use the side fans, either both exhausts or both intakes. It makes more sense to me to use the side fans as intakes because your graphics card doesn't blow much hot air into the case. With additional dust filters installed on all intake areas, this would ensure the case doesn't gather dust. However, IME, a side fan makes more noise as an intake due to the blades spinning closer to the grille, so technically having them as exhausts would make the setup a little quieter and cooler, but the negative pressure would draw dust into the case.

1.) That GPU runs at ~90c under full load, plus it's fan alone is like a jet engine, so side fans for it sound like a good idea to get cool it more.

2.) CPU works above Tcase under full load, so there's another reason for a side fan to blow on it.

3.) Yes, I cleaned them and applied new paste.

4.) I will probably cut the case side grilles, and just screw those cheap circular metal ones (aka finger protection) to get the noise down.

I guess I'll just have to try front as intake/exhaust, and measure with HWINFO. Sounds good?

 

[Bearmann]

1.) That GPU runs at ~90c under full load, plus it's fan alone is like a jet engine, so side fans for it sound like a good idea to get cool it more.

2.) CPU works above Tcase under full load, so there's another reason for a side fan to blow on it.

3.) Yes, I cleaned them and applied new paste.

4.) I will probably cut the case side grilles, and just screw those cheap circular metal ones (aka finger protection) to get the noise down.

I guess I'll just have to try front as intake/exhaust, and measure with HWINFO. Sounds good?

It sounds like a plan. With the GPU blowing some air directly toward the front, that's another reason the front exhaust might be superior to intake.