Case fan question

[randir14]

I got a case from my friend's old computer, it has a side intake fan. If I reverse the fan to make it blow air outwards would this help to cool the PC or should I leave it as an intake?

[Tintivilo]

do you have an out other than the PSU exhaust fan? any idea what brand/model? take a picture

[randir14]

Yes there's an exhaust fan below the PSU fan but it doesn't have any kind of label on it. The intake fan is made by Thermaltake, and there's a PCI slot fan that says "Cooler Starter". Pics:

Side of case with intake fan
http://www.cubeupload.com/files/thumbs/th.5104001.jpg (http://www.cubeupload.com/img/5104001.jpg)

Close up of intake fan
http://www.cubeupload.com/files/thumbs/th.9bde002.jpg (http://www.cubeupload.com/img/9bde002.jpg)

PCI slot fan facing video card
http://www.cubeupload.com/files/thumbs/th.7466003.jpg (http://www.cubeupload.com/img/7466003.jpg)

Back of case
http://www.cubeupload.com/files/thumbs/th.50b4004.jpg (http://www.cubeupload.com/img/50b4004.jpg)

[lockwoodx]

Heat rises. Get some slot fans to suck up air from your video card and blow it up into the central duct where the proc also exhausts heat, then blow it all out the sides and back.

[randir14]

Alright I've repositioned the slot fan and the temperature has dropped 3 degrees which is probably as good as it'll get. In the future I might just buy a better case with more fans in it.

[Syl]

It's not about "more fans", it's about location of fans and airflow.

I keep extremely up to date with computer cases, i could help out whenever you need a new one. Or any other computer cooling situation. (Air based, i don't mess with water)

[spdiscus]

Are you saying you now have/want two exhaust and no intake?

If there's an intake fan in the front of the case you should be OK with the side blowing out. If not then the side should stay as an intake.

[randir14]

It's not about "more fans", it's about location of fans and airflow.

I keep extremely up to date with computer cases, i could help out whenever you need a new one. Or any other computer cooling situation. (Air based, i don't mess with water)

I cant spend a lot so I was looking at the Antec 900, what do you think of it? On newegg it's $100, is there a better case around that price?

[senorduck]

Listen to Syl. He is right. You are trying to replace the air surrounding your hot parts with new air. It has to come in. I would replace both your output fan out the back and you input fan, but I would absolutely make sure that your side fan is an input. Get that nice cool air blowing on your CPU and GPU. If you are only blowing out, your case needs to take air in from somewhere, usually little cracks around the case. Eventually you will wear out your fan motors, but in the meantime the interior of your PC will be an oven. Don't intake from the back, btw...you will recycle hot air coming out of your power supply.

[brandonjclark]

If you've got $100 dollars and you can wait until August, get THIS CASE (http://hothardware.com/News/Thermaltake-MidTower-Chassis-Has-Integrated-SATA-HDD-Dock/) and thank me later.

http://hothardware.com/newsimages/Item13466/thermalcase.jpg


http://hothardware.com/newsimages/Item13466/thcase.jpg



This thing is almost 100% exactly like an Antec 900. Hell, I wouldn't be suprised to learn that they used the exact chassis design, TBH. I own an Antec 1200, 900 and have built three Antec 300's. Although they are great cases, I'll always prefer a Thermaltake plus this thing has two intergrated HDD docking stations. ...fucking cool.


If you can't wait until August, consider getting the non-docking station version (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133074&cm_re=V9_BlacX_Edition-_-11-133-074-_-Product) which is available now for $74.99 with rebate!

[Syl]

I cant spend a lot so I was looking at the Antec 900, what do you think of it? On newegg it's $100, is there a better case around that price?

I actually use the 900, i love it, but i know that most computers don't need that amount of airflow. (I have 5 Harddrives, part of why i went with the 900) I highly suggest you go for the 902 if you're going to be using one of the Antec gamer series, it's much nicer.

I'd also have to recommend the Cooler Master CM690 or HAF. The 690 and 692 should be cheaper than the 900 (which i can't believe is still $100, 4+ years later). The Antec 300 was recently on sale on newegg for cheap + free shipping, check it out.

Cases that have the power supply in the BOTTOM are typically the cases you want to go for, these are becoming much more common now so you probably won't have too much trouble finding them. I know that aesthetics are a very personal thing and I tend to prefer the more subdued cases myself. How I ended up with a 900 is kind of a mystery.

[oasis789]

To go back to OP's question, whether your side fan will cool your system or not depends on the locations of fans and the current airflow. Intakes bring in cool air from outside and can cool your system as a whole, exhausts push hot air out. You need to balance the two to keep air moving through the system, over the component HS and out.

I would experiment by leaving the side fan in the current config and checking the temperature readings (using SpeedFan or hmonitor etc) at startup, after 1 hr idle, and at 1h load, and then compare temps with the reverse fan direction. Optimizing might take a few tries as you switch things around... you don't want to get stuck in local minima.

[Syl]

If you did want to get the 900.

It's currently $80 with free shipping for the next 12 hours or so.
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/June-0-2010/RushHourSale/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL062510&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL062510-_-EMC-062510-Index-_-Header-_-ClickHere

[claycc]

at $80 the Antec 900 is a pretty good deal. I would also consider the Cooler Master HAF 922, Cooler Master 690 or 690 II, or the Cooler Master Storm Scout. All have really good cooling and the option to add more fans if needed. Provantage has the Scout for $67 which is a really good value.


http://www.provantage.com/cooler-master-sgc-2000-kkn1-gp~7COOL06H.htm

[Syl]

Yeah, i tend to stick to Antec or Cooler Master cases. I've always wanted to try a Lian Li but I don't know if the cost premium is worth it.