Need Air flow suggestions

The Antec 920 operates in push/pull as standard, so I'm not sure how that misunderstanding came about.

According to the in depth Vortez review it works best as an exhaust. When using it as an intake it drops the CPU temp by about 2C but raises the ambient temperature in the case too much. So the answer to that one is leave it as exhaust.

The general consensus for best airflow is lower front to upper rear and with just the Antec 920 and two front R4 fans that would work ok. Improving this particular setup gets confusing though because it doesn't conform to the usual air cooling convention because the 920 is connected directly to the outside, so doesn't exhaust hot air into the case. In The Big Air Cooling Investigation they come up with two interesting points, don't have an exhaust fan above the inlet to your CPU cooler fan and the single most effective fan in the whole case is the one you can fit in the side panel.

So going a bit off the usual beaten path, I would be very tempted to try this:
1) Antec 920 as exhaust
2) Have both vents in the top of the R4 open but just as vents, with no fans attached.
3) Fit the 140mm you were going to put in the top into the side panel instead.
4) Leave the two front fans sucking cool air into the case
 
rids57 said:
The Antec 920 operates in push/pull as standard, so I'm not sure how that misunderstanding came about.

According to the in depth Vortez review it works best as an exhaust. When using it as an intake it drops the CPU temp by about 2C but raises the ambient temperature in the case too much. So the answer to that one is leave it as exhaust.

The general consensus for best airflow is lower front to upper rear and with just the Antec 920 and two front R4 fans that would work ok. Improving this particular setup gets confusing though because it doesn't conform to the usual air cooling convention because the 920 is connected directly to the outside, so doesn't exhaust hot air into the case. In The Big Air Cooling Investigation they come up with two interesting points, don't have an exhaust fan above the inlet to your CPU cooler fan and the single most effective fan in the whole case is the one you can fit in the side panel.

So going a bit off the usual beaten path, I would be very tempted to try this:
1) Antec 920 as exhaust
2) Have both vents in the top of the R4 open but just as vents, with no fans attached.
3) Fit the 140mm you were going to put in the top into the side panel instead.
4) Leave the two front fans sucking cool air into the case
Click to expand...

wow thanks for the explanation and analysis of the case!
Really appreciate it :)!!

For the side panel one that you were thinking of, would it be an intake then?
The top two vents, is certainly an interesting idea.
As instead of conflicting with the antec's operation, it would just be air venting through, due to hot air being lighter - which in all honesty - why I didn't think of what you suggested is beyond me.

I think I'll try what you suggested, as it really does make concrete sense to leave the vents open at the top, but still have an air flow from the front and side, pushing the air up towards these vents & the antec (if you mean putting the side panel as an intake, but from my understanding that's what you meant?)
 
Yep, side panel as an intake, which helps keep the pressure positive and helps push the hot air from the graphics card around the case. You might want to add a dust filter for the side fan to keep things nice and clean inside.
 
rids57 said:
Yep, side panel as an intake, which helps keep the pressure positive and helps push the hot air from the graphics card around the case. You might want to add a dust filter for the side fan to keep things nice and clean inside.
Click to expand...

billysielu said:
side panel should have an intake on a gaming rig.

front should be intake
back/top should vent out

fans can be on the lowest setting to reduce noise
Click to expand...

Brilliant - thanks lads!

As for dust filter - could you point me in the right way?
The case does have the metal grills.

I will do this right now - although I don't have the 140mm fan, only the 120mm fan, but that's no problem.
 
If you go with the fanless top idea it would certainly be a good idea because the 920 may be pulling air through from outside through the closest one when running at full power. They don't look particularly restrictive anyway so I don't think they are going to harm the flow. Don't bother with the rear exhaust however, the two fans on the 920 will probably blow it off at full power :D
 
andybird123 said:
My questions are:
-Do I need to suck air OUT or IN from the top - what would you suggest? I feel OUT is better as heat rises and it wouldn't then conflict with the Antec 920
-Should I add ANOTHER fan by the GFX - this is where the side panel is, and where there is no fan there currently (closed)
I was thinking of another AF140 to IN TAKE air into the case, so that the GFX gets a little bit of help.

1. out of the top
2. yes, an additional intake by the GPU should help

you want positive pressure (that is more fans blowing in than out) as this will help prevent dust build up (more fans blowing out will suck in air from any orrifice that it can which will suck in dust - fans sucking in through filters will then push air out of any orrifice they can pushing dust away from the case)
out at the top is generally a good idea as heat rises when it can

another tip that many people have pointed out already is that your CPU temps will drop if you reverse the 2 fans on the CPU cooler to suck in cold air
(I won't refer to push pull again as you don't seem to understand what that means)

ivybridge CPU's are more difficult to overclock than sandy, anything up to and over 4.5ghz is a bonus and above this you will need more voltage and heat will rise rapidly
Click to expand...

I say top is best as out / exhaust. Funny thing is that I was playing around with the very top fan today as my oc had a lot of hot air building up. Just by switching the top fan from low to medium made my gpu temps in game go from 78c to 69 c . So yes out on top as heat rises
 
I got a problem...the fans fit, but the dust cover is small. It even covers the 140mm screw holes..I'm going to have to return it.
Are there other solutions for the dust cover? As i would have thought a 140mm dust cover would be big enough to accommodate 140mm fans...
 
Totally Dubbed said:
I got a problem...the fans fit, but the dust cover is small. It even covers the 140mm screw holes..I'm going to have to return it.
Are there other solutions for the dust cover? As i would have thought a 140mm dust cover would be big enough to accommodate 140mm fans...
Click to expand...

What are the measurements of cover?
 
For all those saying side intakes are the way to go on a gpu, I'd beg to differ :)
I thought the same thing until I tried it.

Now my setup may be a little different to most, but I have to say that VRM/case temps are better with fans sucking hot air directly from the side rather than blowing across the card. The fans are directly next to the card though, and not on the side panel.
Gpu core temps are about the same iirc.

It surprised the hell out of me I must say... Further testing will be done.

More info with something approaching a decent write-up will be posted in a couple of days and bear in mind that I'm using an aftermarket cooler and semi-custom fan setup.

rids57 said:
You could just put one of these on the outside, it's magnetic so no fitting required.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CM-086-OK
Click to expand...

Lol, I cut a hole and stuck the 230mm version of that on my side panel. Looks pretty smart.
 
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doyll said:
What are the measurements of cover?
Click to expand...

I think I'm being an idiot actually lol.

With the magnet - how does it apply?

You stick the part that has the adhesive to the outside of the case, and then magnet-on the actual filter on it right?
As the filter sticks to the case, without the extra adhesive layer.

EDIT:
Yup I'm an idiot as usual lol.
Filter fits fine and stick to the case, without the extra-magnet piece.
You'de think by the age of 21, I would be able to figure out the most simplistic things in life. Unfortunately not haha.

Thanks a lot everyone for your help.
I got the fans in - and they are much better than the 120mm fans as they cover the whole fan space.
I got:
-2x fractal fans as intake at the front
-1x AF140 as intake on the side (by the GPU) + a 140mm DEMCiflex Dust Filter
-1x AF140 as out on the top of the case
-2x antec 920 fans as out on the rear of the case (liquid cooler) and from what I understood (thanks to all that explained here) setup as a push/pull basis aiming OUTWARDS.

I'll monitor temps, I've now also got a stable OC at 4.4ghz too.
 
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