Case Airflow Question

About7NarwhalAbout7Narwhal Member Posts: 761
in Off-Topic
I have just moved from Air to Liquid cooling and have a quick question about how I should configure my other fans to accomodate the changes. Here is the layout:

1 X 240mm Rad mounted to the inside top of my case
2 X 120mm intake fans mounted to the bottom of the rad (pulling cool air from outside, over the rad, into the case)
1 X 200mm intake fan at the front of the case
1 X 120mm intake fan at the bottom of the case
1 X 120mm (possibly an 80mm) exhaust at the back of the case

I would like to add:

2 X 200mm intakes to the outside top of the case to increase air flow over the rad
1 X 200mm fan on the side panel above the motherboard.

My concern is that I have too much air flow for the exhaust to handle, causing hot air to build up in the case. My thought was to make the 200mm side panel fan an exhaust and switch the 120mm(80mm) exhaust to an intake. I have concerns on how that would affect my video card though. Anyone have any suggestions for me?

Thanks
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Comments

  • srabieesrabiee Member Posts: 1,231 ■■■■■■■■□□
    I agree you have too much intake and not enough exhaust. Typically you want air flow to travel in a particluar direction, usually from front to back. Top, bottom, and side-mounted fans sort of complicate things when designing a case for unidirectional air flow, but I'm sure you will come up with something that works. Just try to have an even amount of intake and exhaust, and have an idea of how the air flow will be affected with your design.
    WGU Progress: Master of Science - Information Technology Management (Start Date: February 1, 2015)
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  • About7NarwhalAbout7Narwhal Member Posts: 761
    What if I change the back 120mm to an intake and the front 200mm to an exhaust. A little bit backwards, but it would provide moderate air flow. The 200 is slower but should be able to move more air. It wouldn't be as clean of an escape as the back would though.
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  • srabieesrabiee Member Posts: 1,231 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Could work. Try it and monitor the ambient, CPU, and GPU temperatures at idle and under load. You can actually try a few different configurations and then compare temperature readings to see what works best.
    WGU Progress: Master of Science - Information Technology Management (Start Date: February 1, 2015)
    Completed: LYT2, TFT2, JIT2, MCT2, LZT2, SJT2 (17 CU's)
    Required: FXT2, MAT2, MBT2, C391, C392 (13 CU's)

    Bachelor of Science - Information Technology Network Design & Management (WGU - Completed August 2014)
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  • SteveLordSteveLord Member Posts: 1,717
    Your exhaust should always be the back and top of the case. Intake should always be the front and side. Pretty simple.
    WGU B.S.IT - 9/1/2015 >>> ???
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  • About7NarwhalAbout7Narwhal Member Posts: 761
    Next you will tell me that thermodynamics says heat rises. (It doesn't BTW icon_wink.gif) The force of hot air moving upwards is easily overcome by a case fan. The bottom in, top out logic can easily be reversed and provide equal or better cooling depending on the layout of the case. Gotta keep an open mind, man.
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