2 front intakes and 3 top exhausts?

[Jerombolo]

Is it clever to have to airflow optimized fans to have as intake even with a drivecage there and 3 pressure optimized on a radiator as exhausts?

[Laputacake]

I'd say all intakes and exhaust out the back

[SirSquid]

You want at least one more intake than exhaust to keep dust out. 

[Jerombolo]

I want to watercoold so I'd use a 360mm radiator in the top, should I get another intake at the back so I'd make 2 front intakes, one AF and one SP optimized, 3 SP optimized outtakes at the top and an additional rear AF optimized fan?

[ThomasD]

In my experience it is really hard to predict what will happen ,especially when you mix different fan sizes, brand, or types; or have anything that will resist airflow (like radiators or even filters.)

 

The reason being is that the reported metrics like static pressure and airflow volume are actually related functions.  As an example the flow through a high volume/low pressure fan drops dramatically when it encounters any resistance.  And even if you use SP type fans the actual flow through a radiator might be much less than the product specifications state.

 

Although I haven't actually tested it I suspect that when dealing with radiator and filter heavy set-ups it might be best to go with all SP type fans.

 

Also, there is no excuse for testing.  Get the rig put together, get it running in a setup that seems reasonable, then use a little bit of cornstarch in an eyedropper to disperse some easily "dust" near any non-filtered openings - that will quickly let you know if your setup is actually positive or negative pressure. 

[blackadder]

I love me some good partial differential equations.

[-CLASSIFIED-]

You want at least one more intake than exhaust to keep dust out. 

that only works if all your intakes are filtered