New rosewill case, no idea how to setup fan flow

[crspyjohn]

I bought this case because it seemed pretty good for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811147011

Nice design and simple layout. Anyways the problem is the case features two intake fans in the front and one outtake fan in the back. (all 80mm) plus a side duct plastic thing on the side. I was thinking of adding a fan to the side and taking out the side duct plastic thing. Would i put this fan as intake or outtake? I'm stuck.

Also what are good 80mm fans? I am looking to get four fans that are give good air flow but are also quite.

 

[VinDSL]

That side blow hole is for intake... blows air on your HSF! Generally speaking, intakes go on the front and side, exhausts in the back.

*edit*

BTW, everyone has their favorite fans. Personally, for 80's, I like Antec TriCool LED fans. They aren't particularily cheap, but I've had good luck with them, they're quiet, and they look nice!

 

[zodiak]

I prefer to have negative air pressure in case, causing better airflow. Having 3 intake fans against 2 exhaust (counting PSU) will do the exact opposite since the hot air will just continue to circulate because it only has one exhaust fan other than the PSU to escape to. If you have a hot video card, personally I'd have the bottom front fan blowing out, as it'll take some of the heat from the GPU out of the case. Then again, that'll make the top front fan blowing in some of its hot air back in, but I still think thats better than having all that air turbulence.

How I'd set it up, without modding:

Front Top: intake (medium power fan)
Front Bottom: exhaust (medium power fan)
Side Panel: intake (high power fan)
Back Panel exhaust (high power fan, most preferably modded case to allow 120mm)

If you feel like modding it at all, the best bet would to mod the back exhaust to use a 120mm fan, would actually cut down on noise as well, and use a fan controller to throttle the front intakes. The noiser solution would to be to mod a blow hole at the top of the case to exhaust a lot of that hot air out as well. As a personal rule of thumb, I like to have more air being taken out of the case than brought in, it means more air flow.

 

[rs1089]

I would suggest that you mod the case so that the rear can accomodate a 120mm fan - that way, you could install a very quiet fan (for exhaust) that still pushes a lot of air. For the side vent, it is unnecessary to add a fan: the vent should just direct air over the cpu cooler. I would suggest putting just one quiet 80mm fan in the front, or 2, if you get very quiet ones (such as those from nexus). You should have relatively negative pressure: that way, all the hot air is evacuated quicker, and cool air is sucked into the case. Of course, this is only my opinion. Hope it helps though .

 

[Zepper]

All you need from a front fan is to push some air over the HDDs unless you want a positive pressure system (which I prefer as it helps keep the dust out). Temps may be a couple of degrees C over a neg pressure system, but it's worth it, IMO. You will definitely need to cut the restrictive fan grills out. The rear grill is terrible - if the front is anything like it, cut it out too. You definitely want the biggest fan possible in the rear. Looks like it will take a 92mm as is if you're not willing to graunch it out to 120. Check this out for a way to have a larger rear fan w/o cutting. But you do have to cut some as that grill has got to go!

Don't use any other fans than f/r unless absolutely necessary. Use the side duct (if it reasonably lines up with your CPU HSF) as intended. If it doesn't line up well consider buying a duct that attaches right to your CPU HSF. They are from about $5. or 6. all over.

If it was mine (don't worry guys - NEVER!), that bottom-feeding L&C PSU would be next to go - as soon after those nasty grills as possible. I'd be ashamed to try to sell it to someone else, so closet that L&C for an emergency backup.

So you should see now that a few more $$s spent up front on say the Rosewill R6Axx or the R560x and a decent PSU would have saved you money in accys and hassle down the road and you wouldn't have an L&C in your closet either - ugh!

.bh.