Fans Setup Correct?

Casterina · 12 Sep 2012 at 20:06

The Corsair SP/AF120 arrived today and I've set them up inside the Zalman Z9 Plus case but not sure if I've set them up correctly as exhausts and intake which will help airflow,

Two top fans of the case,

Back fan,

Front fan,

Bottom fan,

Also on the other side of the CPU heatsink, do I setup the fan the same as this side?

j.col · 12 Sep 2012 at 20:12

first of all there should be an arrow to show the direction of air flow.
usually front, side and bottom as intakes
top and rear as exhausts
if using push/pull, then its
back of case<-fan <-fan<-cooler<-fan
<- = air direction

Tealc · 12 Sep 2012 at 20:22

I would say the bottom fan could probably be switched around so it's an intake. The CPU heatsink fan is correct and the other fan should be facing the same way.

Casterina · 12 Sep 2012 at 21:05

Tealc said:
I would say the bottom fan could probably be switched around so it's an intake

Will switch the bottom fan to intake

Tealc said:
The CPU heatsink fan is correct and the other fan should be facing the same way.

So on the other side of the CPU heatsink, I place the fan so I can see the Corsair logo?

Rest of my case fans are setup correctly for good airflow?

j.col · 12 Sep 2012 at 21:09

Casterina said:
So on the other side of the CPU heatsink, I place the fan so I can see the Corsair logo?

if u can see the logo on the front fan at the cooler, then at rear of cooler, u should not see the logo. as both logo's will be facing towards front of case, ie, same direction

foster grant · 12 Sep 2012 at 21:17

i usually check ( if im unsure) by putting my hand near ( not too near

) the fans themselves and feeling the way the air is being blown ...ie i have the front fan sucking air in through the front...and the top two fans blowing air out of the case and the same with the fan at the back ( blowing out

Tealc · 12 Sep 2012 at 21:52

Casterina said:
So on the other side of the CPU heatsink, I place the fan so I can see the Corsair logo?

You'll want the fan on the other side (not seen in any of the images) to be the opposite way around. So you'll see the blades nicely on one side and in the other you'll see the frame.

Rest of my case fans are setup correctly for good airflow?

The rule of thumb is that:

The front/bottom/side are intakes
The Rear/top are exhausts

It works with the natural tendency of heat rising.

Resident · 12 Sep 2012 at 22:09

Casterina said:
Will switch the bottom fan to intake

So on the other side of the CPU heatsink, I place the fan so I can see the Corsair logo?

Rest of my case fans are setup correctly for good airflow?

Both fans on the cooler should have their colour rings facing forward.

Like so:

doyll · 12 Sep 2012 at 22:35

Air enters fan from side with just blades on it.
Air exits fan from side with brackets holding fan motor.

You have your case setup with top, back and bottom as exhaust.
Image of cooler has fan as an intake into cooler.

As stated above air in front and bottom and out top and back is normally best.
Cooler normally has fan pushing air in from front and pulling out back, than out back of c case.

antipesto93 · 12 Sep 2012 at 22:52

looks all good!

Casterina · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:24

So my fans setup is correct except from the bottom fan which needs to be switched around?

doyll · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:49

The side of fan with nothing but fan is the fan intake. If you want your fan to intake air from below case put that side of fan down.

tonschk · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:58

The grills behind the fans reduce 7 or 8% the airflow speed and therefore decrease the cooling efficiency of the fan, I already cut out all the grills of my case, unfortunately the filters also reduce the speed of the airflow

Remaining airflow after installing the filter

Cotton Filter=20%

Plastic Filter=41%

Nylon Filter=65%

http://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?area=en&tid=wh12_008

How do different fan grills patterns affect fan and chassis airflow..... http://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?area=en&tid=wh_chessis

Casterina · 16 Sep 2012 at 16:15

doyll said:
The side of fan with nothing but fan is the fan intake. If you want your fan to intake air from below case put that side of fan down.

My bottom fan setup for now is set as exhausts? Which mean it pushes hot air out from the bottom? Is this a good option or switch it around as this is my computer table,

http://i.imgur.com/NEy47.jpg

doyll · 16 Sep 2012 at 16:23

tonschk said:
The grills behind the fans reduce 7 or 8% the airflow speed and therefore decrease the cooling efficiency of the fan, I already cut out all the grills of my case, unfortunately the filters also reduce the speed of the airflow

Remaining airflow after installing the filter

Cotton Filter=20%

Plastic Filter=41%

Nylon Filter=65%

http://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?area=&tid=wh12_008

How do different fan grills patterns affect fan and chassis airflow

http://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?area=en&tid=wh_chessis

God protect us for reporters and advertisers. They never let the truth get in the way of their babble. A good story and good sales trump the truth every time. All they care about is selling and not getting caught in a lie.. at least not one that will affect sales or put them behind bars.

2 full screens of pictures and babble and not a sinlge real specification of what the filter media really is... yeah it's cotton, plastic and nylon. :confused:

And of course there is no way they would publish anything that doesn't make their product look best... especially on their own product page.. They are not stupid. To them a lie is only a lie if someone goes to the trouble to prove they are lying... and even then they usually cover it up with so much more babble most of public never know about it.

And last time I checked nylon is Polyamide polymer and yes, that is a plastic.

::climbs off of soap box smiling::

doyll · 16 Sep 2012 at 16:33

Casterina said:
My bottom fan setup for now is set as exhausts? Which mean it pushes hot air out from the bottom? Is this a good option or switch it around as this is my computer table,

http://i.imgur.com/NEy47.jpg

Stand back! Do not disturb the art display!

*First thing I notice is how clean and organized everything is.

*Second thing is that you case sets so close to shelf there is very little space for airflow.

I would turn bottom fan over and use it as an intake... but I worry very little about exhaust fans. Good intake fans will easily create airflow as long as there are enough exhaust vents to let air out.

I also suggest setting some 40x40x18mm blocks under you case feet. I believe a 120-140mm fan needs at least 50mm clearance.

Resident · 16 Sep 2012 at 16:43

Casterina said:
My bottom fan setup for now is set as exhausts? Which mean it pushes hot air out from the bottom? Is this a good option or switch it around as this is my computer table,

http://i.imgur.com/NEy47.jpg

If you've got your bottom fan exhausting then it's wrong. Your bottom fan needs to be pull cool air in.

With it exhausting you're just pulling the cool air from the front intake away from what it's supposed to be cooling.

In my system I don't run top-side exhausts as I've no need to, I've actually used a sheet of vinyl to seal my upper vents to prevent dust ingress.

Even with the lack of top exhausts, according to the spare NZXT temp probe from my fan controller that I placed there, it rarely tops 30°c

Resident · 16 Sep 2012 at 16:46

doyll said:
Stand back! Do not disturb the art display!

*First thing I notice is how clean and organized everything is.
*Second thing is that you case sets so close to shelf there is very little space for airflow.

I would turn bottom fan over and use it as an intake... but I worry very little about exhaust fans. Good intake fans will easily create airflow as long as there are enough exhaust vents to let air out.

I also suggest setting some 40x40x18mm blocks under you case feet. I believe a 120-140mm fan needs at least 50mm clearance.

I thought the photo was a stock advertising photo rather than his actual desk. The lack of any cabling at all lead me to that thought.

Oh and the fact that that case seemingly has not front/top-side ventage and looks kinda old.

Casterina · 16 Sep 2012 at 16:54

doyll said:
Stand back! Do not disturb the art display!

*First thing I notice is how clean and organized everything is.
*Second thing is that you case sets so close to shelf there is very little space for airflow.

I've similar setup to the image I've shown you

doyll said:
I would turn bottom fan over and use it as an intake... but I worry very little about exhaust fans. Good intake fans will easily create airflow as long as there are enough exhaust vents to let air out.

I'll turn the bottom fan over as intake which brings air from the bottom to the case?

The computer desk I've shown you, mine has about 7cm on each side where the computer sits on and the computer desk doesn't have the wood blocking the back of the computer

Is my front fan setup correct or do I need to turn if around?

doyll · 16 Sep 2012 at 16:59

I'm talking about between the bottom of computer and shelf, not along side of computer. Your bottom fan is trying to pull air from under computer. Computer is setting on shelf. Shelf is very close to bottom of computer.