Push Pull: Which fans to push and which fans to pull?

Frank Jeagar · 10 Dec 2015 at 18:38

My question is what is the benefit of putting fans with different characteristics (i.e. air flow and static pressure) on either the push or the pull side of the rad?

As I understand it, static pressure helps most when there is an obstruction on the side the fan is pulling air from, so static pressure optimised fans would surely be best at pulling through the rad, right?

If I put fans that have high air flow as push fans, would this be beneficial or not or just negligible compared to static pressure fans?

I also heard people saying that having fans that don't move enough air on the push side of the rad could choke the pull fans, but I would have thought that if the air is being pulled through a rad that a fan on the other side wouldn't really increase resistance much even if it is off, let alone if it is spinning and pushing air...

Thought this debate might be somewhat interesting

Frank Jeagar · 11 Dec 2015 at 09:31

Uncle Petey said:
Considering that the benefits of push pull are negligible to begin with, I'd say not to worry about it

Haha, good point, a lot of debate over nothing!

I'll be honest, the only reason I am using push pull is because I want some nice led fans to show through my front filter and then some strong fans on the inside to actually provide cooling haha

Frank Jeagar · 11 Dec 2015 at 14:39

Okay, fresh question:

If I have 2 fans pushing air through a rad at low rpm to keep noise down will it at all hinder the fans pulling through the rad on the other side?

Surely the resistance added by the fans is negligible October,pared to the resistance of the radiator and any air they push in will provide a benefit however small it may be?

Frank Jeagar · 11 Dec 2015 at 15:39

Uncle Petey said:
Seriously mate, it's not worth over analysing this stuff.
If your temps are good and you're fine with the noise level, leave it alone and be happy

I feel like this sentence should be said more in forums

I like the look, I can't feel any air flow drop with my hand, therefore it they are staying!

Thanks, the discussion was interesting everyone