Need to know how many and where to place fans

[bpatters69]

Hello All,

I have a Cougar Solutions Mid-Tower case. The case is equipped with a single fan which is located at the back and top of the case. I have an Antec 620W Power Supply that also has a fan and the PSU is located at the back and bottom of the case with the fan pointing down. I was thinking I should install one more fan and I have two locations in mind. The first location is towards the back and at the top of the case. The second location is in the front of the case about mid way up. Between the two, I think the better placement is at the front of the case as a fan towards the back and top may interfere with the fan that is already installed.

There is a 3rd location which would be at the top of the case about half way between the front and back of the case.

Here is a link to the case
And here is link to the PSU



Thoughts?

Thanks, Bill

 

[aigomorla]

well... if u dont care about quiet...
2 top, 2 front, 1 rear. = total of 5 fans.

If you care about quiet...
1 front on the bottom so it pushes fresh air to GPU.
1 Top next on top of your vregs
1 rear
So a total of 3.

If you want to look and eat candy... (my pun meaning both quiet and good)
5 fans, but 5 quality quiet fans, which may cost more then what you paid for your case.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Ultimately, the best strategy address both the choice of a case and the cooling solution: How are you cooling the CPU first of all, and then the graphics card(s)?

Otherwise, I won't argue with AigoMorla's suggestions to address "general airflow, general noise" and so on.

 

[Essence_of_War]

In these style of cases, you usually get the best returns from good front-to-back airflow. I'd put in two 120mm front intakes and see how that performs for you.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Need to know what will be inside the case first. Looks like that case accepts either one 140mm or two 120mm fans in front. If your cooling needs are minimal, I'd put a 140mm fan up front and call it done. If you have more critical needs, install two 120mm fans.

 

[bpatters69]

Thanks for the replies. I have an i7 CPU and a single dedicated graphics card. I will have two mechanical hard drives and a single SSD drive.

For the CPU, I plan to use the stock cooling fan...ok or buy after market?

 

[bpatters69]

Silly question but how do you control if a fan blows air out or takes air in? Does it depend on how the fan connects to the case? In other words a fan blows air out if installed in one direction and blows air in if the fan is installed in the reverse way.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Silly question but how do you control if a fan blows air out or takes air in? Does it depend on how the fan connects to the case? In other words a fan blows air out if installed in one direction and blows air in if the fan is installed in the reverse way.

Yes. The cages of most fans are the same front and back, so can be mounted facing either way. Most are clearly marked with an arrow on the side showing the direction of airflow.

For your situation, I think I'd just get a couple of 120mm fans in the 1200 to 1500 RPM range and mount them in front, pulling in air. Then make sure your rear fan is mounted so that it's exhausting air from inside to outside. This should give good cooling over your hard drives, as well as give good front to rear airflow through the case. If you run into any additional cooling issues, such as your graphics card running too hot, you can add a side fan drawing in cool air directly over the card.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Silly question but how do you control if a fan blows air out or takes air in? Does it depend on how the fan connects to the case? In other words a fan blows air out if installed in one direction and blows air in if the fan is installed in the reverse way.

Carson's answer is equally valid.

But if there isn't an arrow stamped on the outside of a fan-frame or shroud, I think this rule applies equally as well.

On the intake side of every PC fan I've ever seen, the hub or center of the fan is the moving part. The frame that holds this moving motor assembly is on the exhaust side, with a fixed hub-retainer or center.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Silly question but how do you control if a fan blows air out or takes air in? Does it depend on how the fan connects to the case? In other words a fan blows air out if installed in one direction and blows air in if the fan is installed in the reverse way.

There is an arrow printed on the fan that indicates the direction of airflow.

If you can't find that, looking at the pretty side of the fan is looking in the direction of the airflow, is a reasonable heuristic.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

There is an arrow printed on the fan that indicates the direction of airflow.

If you can't find that, looking at the pretty side of the fan is looking in the direction of the airflow, is a reasonable heuristic.

And the "less pretty" side has the little round manufacturer label with the fan V(olt) and A(mp) spec on it.