Question on airflow

DiscoDave · 2 Jan 2010 at 02:19

Hi Chaps,

I have this case:

and this hsf:

As you can see the case has a large extractor fan at the top, and a standard fan horizontal to where the CPU will sit.

My question:

Should i have the HSF directing air vertically to the larger extractor fan, or should I have it directing air horizontally to the smaller fan to the side?

Thanks,

Devrij · 2 Jan 2010 at 03:55

Personally I'd rock the upwards flow to make use of the natural tendency for heat to rise, unless of course you're worried your RAM won't have any air drawn over it depending on your fan/cabling setup. Would draw heat up from your gfx card though.

Muel · 2 Jan 2010 at 11:09

I would too, Ram is supposed to work passive anyway isn't it? At stock settings anyway.

I have done it that way actually.

DiscoDave · 2 Jan 2010 at 19:33

Thanks for the info chaps.

At the moment my current setup is as follows:

I'm having a rethink and thinking about possibly implementing this setup:

Even though the HSF setup will be pointing to a smaller fan, I'm thinking that an additional fan blowing air into it would be more efficient. What do you guys think? Would this be a substantial improvement in terms of airflow?

Thanks,

sambot · 2 Jan 2010 at 20:22

i have a 900 for 2 more days until my 800d arrives

i found that in the front out the back, like what your thinking of changing to works best.

G-Dubs · 2 Jan 2010 at 20:24

I would go for the second option for the following reasons.

More linear airflow.
airflows over RAM which aids cooling of RAM
The CPU is not taking hot air from the rear of the GPU

In the first option if PSU fan is blowing air into the case then it is blowing warm air onto your GPU, which in turn is then heating it up some more before its sucked in by your CPU heatsink fan. I know the fan on the GPU blows down or out the back, but there will be a considerable degree of heat from the rear of the card and it is this hot air that the CPU fan will be sucking in.
I'm also aware that some PSUs suck air from inside the case, but either way there will still be a lot of hot air coming of that GPU, and the best way for air cooling to work is in a linear fashion.

What you have here is the ability to answer the question once and for all,

do a before and after and let us know which works best...