Where to add case fan- front or back?

[prodigall]

My case temp is steady 10 deg C above room temp and i would like to lower it by getting a case fan in addition to the one in the p/s.
Is it better to put it in front drawing air in near the hard drives, or put it at the back below the power supply drawing air out from near the cpu?
I would think the cpu radiates more heat, so the back would be better?
Anyone compare the two?
Also, is it a good idea to just open up the slot under the AGP card, as this is another warm spot that could use the extra circulation?

 

[Smoke]

You will find it usually easier to add a case fan in the front. Whether you are pushing or pulling does not make not much difference. IMHO You should try to get a balance between air coming into the case and air exhausting.

 

[Dan]

prodigall: Why install just one fan? If there is room in your case, install two: an intake fan in the lower front and an exhaust fan in the upper rear. (Smokeball is correct about the need for a balance between incoming and outgoing air.)

The PCI slot immediately adjacent to the AGP slot is typically vacant because with an AGP card in place, it's essentially useless. Some people use a slot blower there to help cool the video card. I attached a 486 CPU fan to my video card's stock heatsink. Works like a charm.

 

[The_Lurker]

I have heard some people say if u have to have negative or positive airpressure in ur case, it's better to have positive air pressure, not sure why, but i think that's what i heard.

 

[whalen]

If you just have the exhaust of the p/s going, add an intake. Otherwise, you wont have enough cool air coming in to cool your components.

 

[GundamF91]

people like positive because the higher pressure air in the case tend to push out the warm air out back. if you have negative howerver, then your exhaust will have to work harder getting the warm air out...

u might as well get 2 fans going to balance it if you can. I have 3 intake, 2 exhaust, plus the powersupply fan....I think 3 vs 3 would be good. 😉

 

[Salvador]

I'm sorry.. What's the best way to create a positive air pressure situation? Do you put more fans in as intake or exhaust?

Or.. Is it just best to keep everything pretty balanced?

TIA,

Sal

 

[ace31216]

Always try to keep it balanced but if you have an odd number of fans, put the extra one in the front.

 

[Def]

Try to shy towards more intake air than exhaust. But you do want them somewhat balanced. A good example would be say 50CFM intake and 35-40CFM exhaust + PSU fan. That should be pretty well balanced.

You can put aluminum mesh filters on your intake fans and get a good bit of the dust before it enters your case, and by having positive pressure in the case, all intake case comes in through those filters.

With negative pressure, you will be pulling in air through alot of cracks between drives, bezel, panels etc. I definitely noticed an increase in dust when my setup was creating slightly negative pressure.