Is there a difference between intake and exhaust fans?

[warbean]

Hello,

I am trying to get a standard wind tunnel airslow design into my case, but it is hard because the front doesnt really have any ventilation holes! I do have an 80mm fan at the front blowing into the hard drives, as well as a 120mm case fan in the back and a PSU with bottom intake and rear vents.

I just noticed though that the case fan I have is blowing air INTO the case! I had the computer built by ABS (before I learned anything about hardware) and have no diea why they would orient the fan like that. DOesn't it make sense for the rear case fan to act as an exhaust fan, pushing air out of the case? My question then, is if the solution for me is as simple as me turning the fan around. Does that turn a fan into an exhaust fan, or do I have to buy a special fan for this purpose? I am worried that if I just turn it around, all it will do is push a minimal amount of air outside the case without really "sucking" the hot air near the cpu.

What are your thoughts on this, as well as the PSU bottom intake system? Any recommendations on what make good exhaust fans? Should I cutsome holes on the front of the case for ventilation?

 

[Ping to the Pong]

a fan is a fan, just flip the 120mm fan to turn it into a exhaust fan. its pretty common nowadays for psus to have a bottom intake fan.

 

[Howard]

Most axial fans can be used as both intake and exhaust. Some axial fans, like the frameless Arctic Cooling models, do better in a certain orientation (not sure which).