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| Thread ID: 54351 | 2005-02-10 02:51:00 | Intake and Exhaust fans | Mike (15) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 323439 | 2005-02-10 02:51:00 | I'm looking at buying some fans for my system. Was thinking about some intake (cooling) fans to blow cool air into the machine, but also some exhaust fans to stick at the top of the case to suck some of the hot air out (and hopefully create an efficient cycle of cool air in and warm air out)... Anyway, do I need to specifically buy exhaust fans, or can I just face one fan inwards and the other out to achieve what I'm wanting? On top of that, will my idea work? It's quite a tall case (stands 670mm from the floor) so I should hopefully be able to get the fans a decent distance apart... Mike. |
Mike (15) | ||
| 323440 | 2005-02-10 03:20:00 | to start with stick with the standard cold air at bottom front and exhaust top rear. once you get that sorted then mayby look at doing the top vents. the reaon being is that its easy to do the top vent incorrectly and at worse it may increase the case temps. what case to you have? got a pic? |
tweak'e (69) | ||
| 323441 | 2005-02-10 03:35:00 | definately do the top rear fans first, so they suck out the hot air, then front intake fan. There is no difference in the fans - it just depends on which way round you mount them. It is worth paying a little extra to get quiet ones tho. Try the Vantec Stealth series... you can fine them at Ascent www.ascent.co.nz. Look for the low rate also... you want it as high as possible, measured in cubic feet per minute (cfm) usually. | anek dotal (7108) | ||
| 323442 | 2005-02-10 03:37:00 | to start with stick with the standard cold air at bottom front and exhaust top rear. once you get that sorted then mayby look at doing the top vents. the reaon being is that its easy to do the top vent incorrectly and at worse it may increase the case temps.Increase case temps? I hope not - what would I have to do wrong to do that? what case to you have? got a pic?Sorry, no pic, but its tall and narrow (just wider than a CDROM drive etc.), but its quite deep (about 440mm), and has got a fair bit of space inside for some air movement. The PSU is half way down (above the motherboard and below most of the 5 1/4" drive bays) which is the main obstacle for good airflow. There is currently one case fan just below the PSU which appears to be blowing air out of the case, probably off the CPU (so could also be dragging warm air across the CPU). The CPU has a stock fan, no fan on the graphics card, and one small 40mm fan on the HDD. I think the PSU might have 2 fans. I figure a cool fan near the bottom blowing into the case, and an exhaust fan near the top removing the warm air should create a decent cycle, but not sure how the other fans would interfere. Its quite hot in the case - Temp sensors say HDD running at 42.4°, and different areas inside the case range from 33° to 39°. Mike. |
Mike (15) | ||
| 323443 | 2005-02-10 03:42:00 | Before you go spending too much money on fans, check out other cases.... some come with one or two fans (and power supply)... it may work out more cost-effective just to get another case. The Ascent site has good pics and info. | anek dotal (7108) | ||
| 323444 | 2005-02-10 03:50:00 | Before you go spending too much money on fans, check out other cases.... some come with one or two fans (and power supply)... it may work out more cost-effective just to get another case. The Ascent site has good pics and info.$7 a fan from DSE or $150 for a new case - I don't know how that would be more cost-effective? :) Mike. |
Mike (15) | ||
| 323445 | 2005-02-10 04:04:00 | $7 a fan from DSE or $150 for a new case - I don't know how that would be more cost-effective? :) Mike. Actually, you can pay over $45 each for a quiet, high cpacity, ball bearing fan - get three of those and a case starts to looks tempting! |
anek dotal (7108) | ||
| 323446 | 2005-02-10 04:08:00 | The PSU is half way down (above the motherboard and below most of the 5 1/4" drive bays) which is the main obstacle for good airflow. sounds like you have a tower case. above the PSU are the hardrives located there? is there any vent/fan lactions there? the best place for the exhaust fans is top rear. some cases have the hardrives mounted there. you need to think about how the airflow moves through the case and also how much and from where. theres no point installing large amounts of fans if the only air inlet (eg front) can't flow the amount of air required. eg if you have 3 80mm exhasust fans you really need 3 80mm inlet vents. two comman stuff ups are....having an intake sucking in hot exhast air thats just come out of the pc and pulling the air to fast past the componants (eg big top fan which sucks all the cooll air straight out before its had a chance to cool the pc). |
tweak'e (69) | ||
| 323447 | 2005-02-10 04:16:00 | You're obviously not an economist, Mike. ;) The important thing is to have a good flow of air through the box, with no "stagnant" regions where things can quietly cook themselves. I don't think there's any great improvement to be gained by having both inlet and exhaust fans. ;) "Blow" will raise the pressure in the box, and air will escape through any outlets. "Suck" will lower the pressure in the box, and air will come in through any inlets to replace it.. |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 323448 | 2005-02-10 04:30:00 | sounds like you have a tower case. above the PSU are the hardrives located there? is there any vent/fan lactions there? the best place for the exhaust fans is top rear. some cases have the hardrives mounted there.There are no HDDs above the PSU... infact there is nothing but empty space above the PSU (filling up with hot air ;)) There are 2x 80mm vents right at the top above the PSU, but no fans attached to them. The HDDs are below the 5 1/4" bays, in front of the motherboard (actually, one of the HDDs is in a 5 1/4" bay, with a fan attached). I am not sure if there's a vent at the bottom front, but I think there is (I'll pull it out and have a look exactly what I've got later). you need to think about how the airflow moves through the case and also how much and from where. theres no point installing large amounts of fans if the only air inlet (eg front) can't flow the amount of air required. eg if you have 3 80mm exhasust fans you really need 3 80mm inlet vents.Yeah - I think my PSU might be the biggest obstacle in there at the moment, although there is a big hole between the PSU at the back and the drives at the front where a lot of air could get through, but it might require a bit of modification to some of the cables, which won't be hard. Do DSE fans like being turned on and off often, or are they happier always on? I have a temp sensor and fan controller in the PC which can turn specific fans on at certain temperatures etc., or I can leave them always on... For the price I'm not too fussed if they die after a couple of years of being turned on and off when needed, but if they're gonna go after only a couple of months then I might reconsider ;) Most of the time though my case isn't too bad for heat - just over the past month (summer :D) has it been getting up there. Mike. |
Mike (15) | ||
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