Intake and exhaust?

[OMGthatsCraZY]

hi i bought the enermax 305b as some of you guys have, and i was wondering, whats the difference between intake and exhaust? do i need to buy special fans for each?

 

[minendo]

Intake simply brings cool air into the system from the environment and the exhaust removes the heated air from the system. I use the same types of fans as intake and exhaust.

 

[OMGthatsCraZY]

oh...so they're just the same fans, cept turned around? i have 3 pci slot coolers which are all exhaust, so what should i do with the fan slots on the enermax 305?

 

[techfuzz]

The preferred method is to put an exhaust fan in back of the case just below the power supply and above the PCI slots. Then put an intake fan in the front of the case usually at the very bottom or in front of the hard drives. I don't know anything about your case but most cases are pretty standard as to where fans can be placed. Those PCI slot coolers don't do much, you'd probably be better off taking them out unless you really think you need them.

 

[DanFungus]

Originally posted by: techfuzz
The preferred method is to put an exhaust fan in back of the case just below the power supply and above the PCI slots. Then put an intake fan in the front of the case usually at the very bottom or in front of the hard drives. I don't know anything about your case but most cases are pretty standard as to where fans can be placed. Those PCI slot coolers don't do much, you'd probably be better off taking them out unless you really think you need them.

As far as the placement, he pretty much said it. You want intakes low and in the front, and exhaust's high and in the back, but also, if you can, an exhaust medium-low in the back. You just want the cold air pulled in the front, hot air blown out the back, so it's a constant circulation of cold air-->hot air and hot air that leaves. If you set them all to intake, it'd just be a lot of hot air in there, all exhausts would be no airflow as well--hot case. About 1/2 and 1/2 is good

 

[EKAtBzboyz]

these guys pretty much have said it
the "s curve" is the most preferred way of cooling

(low front, high rear)

generally you want to dump all hot air out, so many having an extra exhaust would be better (some cases have room for 2 at mid rear, some dont so you would have to do some modding)