Case cooling fan setup?

MNO · 31 Aug 2013 at 19:35

Recently bought a new case (aswell as few other bits, SSD, new HD etc)

Coolermaster Elite 731 Pre-Noise Dampened. Aware it's possible it may affect cooling but I want it to be relatively quiet, and wasn't that much more than standard so I can rip it out if needed. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-280-CM

i5 2500k OC'd idles between 29-35 depending on ambient. Though my 7850 2gb gets quite hot at 81c (on the odd unoptimized game I've seen it jump to 87 though!)

Long story short

Could someone suggest a good cooling setup, how many and where I should put intake/outtake fans to make sure I'm doing it right?

The way I figure it'll go currently is intake at the front, intake at the left side blowing directly on the GPU, outtake back, intake ontop feeding the CPU. Possibly another intake on the bottom next to the PSU?

Cheers

swiftmetal · 31 Aug 2013 at 20:39

In my humble opinion I would personally change the top to an exhaust fan and I would be happy at that. I always prefer to have more exhaust fans that intakes just so the hot air does not settle in the case and it does not have any hot spots.

But again just personal opinion

MNO · 31 Aug 2013 at 20:51

swiftmetal said:
In my humble opinion I would personally change the top to an exhaust fan and I would be happy at that. I always prefer to have more exhaust fans that intakes just so the hot air does not settle in the case and it does not have any hot spots.

But again just personal opinion

Sort of makes sense I suppose, having intakes on the bottom right, and exhausts on the top left, as it'll have sort of a natural flow and the exhausts would pull the cool air from the intakes over the components?

Considering getting a h100 refurb watercooler, would this change how I'd have to set up the fans or would it still be optimal to have them as exhausts?

doyll · 31 Aug 2013 at 21:30

There's much to case cooling.
This might help:

The only way to know what works best in your case (no pun) is test different combinations and see.

There is much more to cooling than good cases, good fans and good CPU / GPU coolers. Modern GPU's make more heat than CPU... and getting that heat out of the case can be a challenge.

Setting up the case to cool properly is the hardest and most time consuming part of a build... And the most neglected by most builders.

Cases, especially those with filters, usually benefit from fans with higher static pressure ratings than stock fans... "cooler" fans instead of "case" fans.

Intakes are typically more restricted than exhaust; air filter, more restrictive grill, HDD cage, etc. I prefer a little more intake than exhaust.

And don't confuse number of fans with amount of airflow... or cofuse airflow with airblow

Airflow is flowing cool air from intake to component and flowing hot air from component out of case without the hot air mixing with the cool air.

Airblow is lots of fans blowing air with some of hot air from components mixing with cool air making it warmer resulting in warm air not cooling components as well as the cool air will.

Putting fans in case as intake and/or exhaust is only the first step. These fans only move air in and out of case.

This does not mean heated air is not mixing with cool air.

Nor does it mean cool air is going to where it is needed.

Getting the air to flow inside of case properly is even more important. We still need to manage where the air flows inside the case. We can do this several ways; deflectors, cooler intake fans, exhaust fans, removing vent grills, using fans with higher pressure/airflow, building ducts to or from CPU/GPU cooler, etc.

Using a remote temperature sensor to monitor what air temps are is the key to finding out where the cool air is flowing and knowing heated air is not mixing into it. By monitoring this we can than make changes to get airflow the way we want it.

I monitor the temps with a cheap indoor/outdoor wired remote or terrarium digital thermometer. Twist a piece of stiff insulated wire into the last 8" of sensor lead so you can bend it to position sensor where you want it... like 40mm in front of your GPU cooler/radiator intake.. to see what the air temp going into CPU / GPU cooler is compared to room temp. The closer it is to room temp the better.. Shouldn't be more 5c maximum, 2-3c is what I usually end up with after 30 minutes full load on both CPU and GPU.