question about fan placement.

[skidilydidily]

just curious about air flow really and whats the best configuration of case fans for optimum cooling/air flow.

I have a zalman z9 plus case, the be quiet dark rock pro in there an a dual fan 6850, Have the option of adding spare fan i got with the motherboard (Black-ops) if needed?
URL="http://www.zalman.com/eng/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=423"]http://www.zalman.com/eng/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=423[/URL]
Added the link so you could see the options i have for fan placement...
any rules to follow?

Thanks.

 

[ozzymundo]

Have a look at this: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/02/10/the-big-cooling-investigation/1

It goes through various fan placements measuring temperatures at different points in the case.

As for rules, generally intake at the front/bottom, exhaust at the rear/top. From what I understand, you have 5 120mm fans, as well as the cooler, so I would say:
Exhaust: 1x120mm rear, 1x120mm Top rear, leave top front slot empty
Intake: 1x120mm front, 1x120mm bottom then either one on the side or you could try attaching one to the HDD bay if you went.

That's a pretty standard setup, you don't have to use all the fans (more fans=more noise usually) and it's a law of diminishing returns, as you add more fans the temperature decrease each time decreases. Really, just try out a few setups until you find one that's cool and quiet enough for you.

Best of luck, and happy cooling