Question on case fans, where to put, blow in or out?

[billyb_07]

I have a Thermaltake M9 case with a 120mm fan on the front sucking in and a 120mm fan on the back blowing out. I have a CPU cooler (Xigmatek) blowing out the back (into that fan). I want to add a 3rd fan to the clear door, it will be on the bottom half over the video card as the cooler is in the way at the top - now for my question: should this fan be sucking into the case or blowing out?

 

I am leaning towards blowing out, as the entire front of the case is an intake and should move sufficient air.

 

In case your wondering, the case stays very cool (chip at 52 deg, 100% load in ambient 64), but with summer coming I want the extra protection.

 

Any suggestions on a fan - I like the Noctua but its kinda ugly for mounting on a clear door.

 

Thanks

[OwinC]

Only you could answer that. Try with the extra fan blowing into the side of the case. Then try it blowing out the side of the case.

To see what would work better for your setup.

[sdy284]

i'd be willing to bet that having your sidepanel fan as an intake will benefit your temps more than having it as an exhaust

[PruritusAni]

My old case had a similar setup 120 sucking in at the front, 120 blowing out in the back. I added 2 more 120mm fans and it greatly reduced the temps. One was in the side of the case, sucking in, it was half on top of the graphics card, just below the CPU cooler, to feed fresh air into it both. The other was at the top to get rid of the heat that built up behind the PSU blowing out at a slightly lower rate. Add some sort of filtration to it (I used stocking, but an AC filter would work great as well) and you'll be golden.

 

By the way, if you don't like the appearance of Noctua fans you can always opt for one of the Noiseblocker NB Multiframe fans. They are very quiet, put through a lot of air, cost about the same and are a lot more stylish looking.

[Drdeath]

i'd be willing to bet that having your sidepanel fan as an intake will benefit your temps more than having it as an exhaust

 

 

This is correct.....Side panel blowing in blows on NB heatsink cooling it better. The back fan blowing out sucks all the air blowing in from all the rest of fans. This is gennerally the best.

Edited May 1, 2010 by Drdeath

[davidst]

side panel fans blow in the cooler room temp air on motherboard and video card(S)

[hierovision]

Your goal should be to have slightly more intake than exhaust. This creates positive air pressure which GREATLY assists in keeping dust out of your case while also keeping the intake/exhaust fairly balanced.

 

If you have two 120mm fans (same CFM) balanced right now, but with a 120mm CPU cooler also blowing directly onto the exhaust, then your next fan should be an intake.

 

Like sdy284 said, an intake blowing on your GPU would probably be the best orientation if you already have one on the front.

[joel.monteiro]

it totally depends on ur video card if ur card cooler is blowing air in the case then an exhaust would be very effective,if the card has a cooler in which its blowing all the air out from the back of the case from the vents of the card then an intake would be good.

[dling]

Just remember try to add air filter if you have it blowing in (which I would recommend) because of the dust. :thumbs-up: