What will a front fan do for me?

Nessism

Golden Member
Dec 2, 1999
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I'm getting ready to transfer my system over to a new case, Compucase 6919 Shown here.


Planning on running a medium-low speed 120 in the back along with a similar fan on an XP-120. Power supply is an Antec 480. Cpu is stock running A64 3200+.

Current case is a tried and true Antec 800 series running two 80mm Panaflows in the back and a Zalman 7000 AL-Cu.

My hope is to maintain similar temps to the current setup while lowering noise levels.

So the question is, should I bother installing a fan in the front or not? The 6919 has space for two 80's in the front but otherwise the front intake area is less than the Antec 800. My worry is that with the reduced intake area, along with the bezel filter on the case, that the airflow will be reduced.

Been even thinking about moding the case to take a 120 in front. There's plenty of room but it will require relocating the lower hard drive cage which will be a pain.

Thoughts?

Ed
 

LED

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
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2- 80's would be better than 1-120 so go with that and if you want more air movement plus a Mod then consider putting another Fan on the side blowing in on the cards...
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Intake fan's don't have much of an effect on case temps, they are good for promoting good air flow and help maintaining neutral/positive air pressure (less dust).

PS. Side fans aren?t much use either.
 

Nessism

Golden Member
Dec 2, 1999
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Originally posted by: Operandi
Intake fan's don't have much of an effect on case temps, they are good for promoting good air flow and help maintaining neutral/positive air pressure (less dust).

PS. Side fans aren?t much use either.


From what I've read, running a neutral pressure, or positive pressure, system increases the risk of "dead air space" inside the case. Negative pressure systems are less of a concern but they increase dust in the case. I'm not overly concern about dead air pockets, but the reduced intake area of the new case vs. the old Antec makes me wonder if I should run at least one fan up front.

Right now I'm leaning toward installing one 80 in the front blowing on the hard drives and a 120 in the backboard. There's no reason to over cool the case in my mind.

Regarding side fans, a ducted arrangement seems like a much better idea compared to just a fan on the side panel. Intel's new cooling standard for Prescotts pretty much require some sort of duct. The only problem is that the duct should be directly over the cpu and I'm not sure all motherboards put the socket in the exact same spot. Maybe it's close enough, not sure. At any rate, the duct should let cpu heat out, and noise out as well.

Ed
 

LED

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
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Originally posted by: Operandi
Intake fan's don't have much of an effect on case temps, they are good for promoting good air flow and help maintaining neutral/positive air pressure (less dust).

PS. Side fans aren?t much use either.

Simply put this is not true...yes it is important to have an equal amount of push and pull of air within the Case which Temps are most always lower than the CPU (unless Extreme Cooling). The fact remains that the inside components determine the air temp that the HS/Fan will use to cool the CPU. By placing a fan directed to other hot cards (ie. Vid esp OCing) the cooler air will decrease the Case Temps where the hot air will rise toward the CPU Fan that is above it. My dual side Fans on one Case with a blowout up top reduced Temps almost as well as having the Cases side off.

Duct Pinpointing is for specifc cooling such as the CPU...


 
Aug 27, 2002
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Originally posted by: LED
2- 80's would be better than 1-120 so go with that and if you want more air movement plus a Mod then consider putting another Fan on the side blowing in on the cards...
wtf? 1 120mm fan will push more air, and be quieter than 2 80mm fans. (this is a proven fact, check any site that does reviews of case fans performance)
 

AsiLuc

Member
Apr 11, 2004
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I would go with one silent 120 outtake, one silent 80 mm intake. Good thing you have that filter. You PSU is also great: power and silence (you got Antec TP480 right?). Combined with zalman it should be good.
I wouldn't go with 2x80mm because slight under pressure is not bad.
Btw, I think lobadobadingdong is right 120 > 2x80 + more silent...
 

LED

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
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Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong
Originally posted by: LED
2- 80's would be better than 1-120 so go with that and if you want more air movement plus a Mod then consider putting another Fan on the side blowing in on the cards...
wtf? 1 120mm fan will push more air, and be quieter than 2 80mm fans. (this is a proven fact, check any site that does reviews of case fans performance)

Yes very true and I'll try n make my reasoning or explain a little clearer... With 1 -120mm Fan in the front then modding will be necessary + the factr that devices inhibit some of the airflow so I would opt to Mod the side of the Case with 1-80mm Fan and use another 80mm Fan for the front
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
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Originally posted by: Operandi
Intake fan's don't have much of an effect on case temps, they are good for promoting good air flow and help maintaining neutral/positive air pressure (less dust).

PS. Side fans aren?t much use either.


Agreed. What I have found is that with a 120mm exhaust, this is enough for most of the case's requirements. The front fan is only for spot cooling the HDD. It actually adds to the turbulence within your case, decreasing overall efficiency of your rear fan. When your rear fan is free to get air from any part of the front of your case as it can, this will lead to better overall cooling as there is almost no turbulence. A front fan, especially one of decent power (30cfm+) will make the airflow turbulent.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
16,054
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Keeping the pressure "up" only means keeping it either equal to or just a tad higher than exterior air. With increased airflow in CFM, there shouldn't be any "dead" space. There may be pockets where circulation is more sluggish than elsewhere, but increased airflow will still keep temperatures lower in those spots.

With the 120mm exhaust, there is no reason not to supplement air-flow with a 120mm intake. The problem -- from your description -- is that you will have to mod the front of the case, and you seem to be saying the case is new. This is why I try to recycle old cases before buying new ones.

If you use smaller fans -- 92's or (worse . . ) 80's, you'll want them spinning at a speed that doesn't generate the usual noise you find for fans of such a size, but you also want them to add to case airflow.

If you choose only to have an exhaust fan -- with or without an intake blow-hole for the CPU fan -- the worst drawback I can think of is increased temperature to the hard disks which should otherwise sit behind the intake fans that you would use otherwise.

There are some variations to a 120mm fan mod for that case which may negate removing potential hard-disk storage. You might see if you could fit a 120mm fan on the outside of the chassis but behind the plastic bezel or facie. It MAY be a little noisier that way, and you would still have to filter it, but also not an insurmountable problem. Some my discount this idea, but I've done it successfully twice on full-tower cases. ONe of those two cases required cutting a rectangle out of the facie so that the fans would "fit", and then adding a matching rectangular extrusion made from "modders' mesh" to cover the fans while admitting airflow. You won't be inclined to do that with a new case, however.