What fan orientation for best air flow?

well i got a new case , and it is running at 43 C idle. when gaming its like 49 C.

what i had been using was an old case, with no side no front... and only using a fan and swiftech v (flower like heatsink) and it was at 37/38C idle, 42C under load.

currently, i have a new case with 5 total fans: 2 fans in rear, one on side, one on top, one in front.

which is the best way to achieve optimal air flow in this case through fan intake/exhaust orientation? ([i.e.] im not sure if top fan should be intake or exhaust, same with side fan... etc)

btw i am going to get some rounded ide cables too.. that should help some.
thx

heat rises, so i would guess top = exhaust. other than that, you should probably try to balance the number of fans blowing in and pulling out (err on the side of pulling out, if you have an odd number).

in general, you want your air flow to be from bottom to top, AND from front to back, so orient your fans that way.

so would that be:
front intake, back exhaust
side intake, top exhaust
??

if so i will do some changes in the morning

roughly yep

thanks

also i agree with the heat rising.. i didnt even think about that when installing the top fan.

also i was wondering out of curiosity, would having all fans being intake and just the rear fans (2) being exhaust? that would definitely cause a lot of airflow right?

There would be a lot of air coming in but that doesn't necessarily equate to good airflow. It just might push some of the hot air back on your mobo.
As Invar said, top fans should be used as exhaust and bottom ones as intake. The best is to experiment with fan speed and their orientation while monitoring your case temperature.

AMD had a guide to this, they said that it was most important to have a secondary exhaust fan on the rear, somewhere near the CPU. Also, power supplies with an intake fan and an outtake fan are desirable. Also, many front-of-case fans are not properly ducted and are just recirculating case air.

i've never thought a side fan did any good... seems like it would just disturb airflow from front to back. :shrug:

edit: blowing in, that is.

i've never thought a side fan did any good... seems like it would just disturb airflow from front to back. :shrug:

edit: blowing in, that is.
well it's a matter of creating a little turbulence but having nice fresh outside air, or having no air flow at all for your video card.

well made the side intake, top exhaust... and the case is much cooler now...
37C cpu, 28C case... thanks for the help

well it's a matter of creating a little turbulence but having nice fresh outside air, or having no air flow at all for your video card.
This is a good point. AGP video cards face "down" in the case. A low side fan would be useful for video cooling.

I just bought a sweet case with a closeable top fan. They call it a "blowhole" :lol:

I'll pop a review up when it gets here.

i got this case:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?descr iption=11-156-133&catalog=7&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

its pretty damn sweet and keeps my shit cool. comes with 5 fans. 2 are LEDs. i got 2 thermaltake blue-eye fans too... so its pretty lit up.

current temp as of now according to my irc script:
Temperature: [Case: 26°C, CPU Diode: 0°C, CPU Socket: 36°C, Fan 1: 2556RPM]

just bought this :D
I'm sure the psu needs to be replaced but it'll get me off the ground (this is my first system build)

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?descr iption=11-150-058&catalog=7&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-150-058-01.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-150-058-06.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-150-058-05.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-150-058-04.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-150-058-03.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-150-058-02.JPG

taht case looks decent for a first timer... but , the top fan is located under a snapping door?? that doesnt make sense

you can shut the top fan if you dont want it running, it has top usb and audio ports, and a handle (all reviews I read, and they were many) say it's VERY strong. I did my homework :)

but u should want it running :P

that looks cool, only thing I don't like is the harddrive cage's aren't removable, so you have to take off both sides when working on stuff, other than that looks good :)