Is this case airflow the best?

[zijin_cheng]

Hi guys, I want to increase my airflow in my case (see picture) and I currently only have a fan at the back (number 4)

The inside of my case pretty much looks like the one in the picture, I have the Asus 7850 with the oversize cooler, so I was wondering if the picture which shows 3 intakes at their respective locations and 2 outlets will provide maximum airflow?

Or do you suggest a different configuration?

 

[Nizzzlle]

This setup makes sense. As long as the air is flowing bottom to top, front to back you should be fine.

Slot one instead of four might be a better choice. The only way to to test and check the temps. Good luck.

 

[dma0991]

That should be the optimal airflow but it will suck in dust unless your intakes are filtered. I did a full positive airflow filtered with a single exhaust at the back and it is dust free.

 

[Zardnok]

What CPU cooler are you using and what is the orientation of it? Do you have one or two fan mounts on top of your case? If you have two, you do not want the front one blowing in across the front of your CPU cooler or it will hinder airflow through the cooler. You would want to use the farthest back fan as an exhaust and leave the front hole empty.

I would run the front and side as intake and either the back or top as exhaust. I would not put an intake on the bottom unless it was filtered.

 

[zijin_cheng]

Sorry for the late reply again, and I have the stock CPU fan for the i5-3570k, and the orientation is exactly the same as in the picture

 

[Don Karnage]

Only thing i would change is the direction of the rear fan by the heatsink. Hot air rises so have it blow in and have all the air go out the top

 

[zijin_cheng]

Only thing i would change is the direction of the rear fan by the heatsink. Hot air rises so have it blow in and have all the air go out the top

Karnage, thanks for the reply, I also want to do the same thing for the graphics card below. Would it be better to place intake at the bottom of the case and exhaust on the side panel to cool the graphics card?

Also noob question, how do I reverse fan direction?

 

[lehtv]

Only thing i would change is the direction of the rear fan by the heatsink. Hot air rises so have it blow in and have all the air go out the top

I don't think that's a good idea, a single exhaust fan won't provide enough airflow to avoid circulating hot air inside the case. The OP can of course test which scenario is better, but I'm nearly certain it'll be better with the rear fan as an exhaust.

Also noob question, how do I reverse fan direction?

Install the fan the other way around. Fan blades are curved so air will flow to the direction of the concave side of the blade

 

[zijin_cheng]

I don't think that's a good idea, a single exhaust fan won't provide enough airflow to avoid circulating hot air inside the case. The OP can of course test which scenario is better, but I'm nearly certain it'll be better with the rear fan as an exhaust.

Thanks for the tip, but I'm going to follow Karnage's idea, but I'm going to install 1 exhaust fan on top and 1 somewhere along the bottom half of the case, so there would be 2 exhaust fans

 

[lehtv]

Installing a bottom exhaust isn't a good idea either, it'll pull a significant amount of cool intake air out of the case before that air can pass over hot components. Generally you'll want intake air on one side of the components and exhaust on the other side, i.e. bottom-front to rear-top. I recommend you test different setups yourself, that's really the only foolproof way to determine the best setup in your particular case and with your particular components and fans.

 

[zijin_cheng]

Installing a bottom exhaust isn't a good idea either, it'll pull a significant amount of cool intake air out of the case before that air can pass over hot components. Generally you'll want intake air on one side of the components and exhaust on the other side, i.e. bottom-front to rear-top. I recommend you test different setups yourself, that's really the only foolproof way to determine the best setup in your particular case and with your particular components and fans.

What about intake at the bottom of the case and exhaust at the front of the case for graphcis card airflow and intake at 4 and exhaust at the top of the case to create airflow for the CPU?

So is creating two separate airflows for GPU and CPU a good idea?

 

[dma0991]

What about intake at the bottom of the case and exhaust at the front of the case for graphcis card airflow and intake at 4 and exhaust at the top of the case to create airflow for the CPU?

So is creating two separate airflows for GPU and CPU a good idea?

You can't create a separate airflow path just by aligning fans according to how you would like the air to flow. To actually create a separate flow, you'll need a physical partition between the CPU portion and the GPU and they have to be little to no holes for air the air to pass through from respective compartments. That being said, the effort is not worth the gain if there are any.

 

[SpeedTester]

What about intake at the bottom of the case and exhaust at the front of the case for graphcis card airflow and intake at 4 and exhaust at the top of the case to create airflow for the CPU?

So is creating two separate airflows for GPU and CPU a good idea?

It's not recommended to have any front exahust fans, Top and back should be for exhaust. Front and bottom for intake. The goal is to move the air in and out as efficiently as possible.

 

[zijin_cheng]

But if you look at the picture, I have 2 inches of clearance between the card cooler and the drive/DVD bays, do you think there would even be enough clearance for air to effectively circulate from the lower to the upper half?