Radiator airflow conundrum.

[Statecat]

Deciding on using 240m radiator AIO mounted on top. Only problem is the fan configuration.

2x 120mm front intakes.

1x 140mm bottom intake.

1x 120mm back exhaust.

With the radiator on top as what? An exhaust? Intake? The problem I see here is that if I use it as an exhaust, hot air will be flowing through the rad.. That's no good. But if I use it as an intake I wil only have one exhaust which is worse. What should I do? I have no option to mount a side fan.

[Nico123473]

I would recommend having positive air pressure, this means more intakes than exhausts because this will prevent dust from getting in 

[Statecat]

I would recommend having positive air pressure, this means more intakes than exhausts because this will prevent dust from getting in

That also means more heat lingering on the inside doesn't it? I'd only have one exhaust. A small 120mm fan exhaust at that.

[airdeano]

That also means more heat lingering on the inside doesn't it? I'd only have one exhaust. A small 120mm fan exhaust at that.

 

you could think of it like that, but remember any fan with a filter has reduced

airflow. generally 45-60% depending on how fine the filter is. so if you have

4 fans (same CFM) and two are intake and the other two are exhaust, you'll

be in a negative pressure scenario. the two intake fans will equal just one

exhaust fan in airflow. because the exhaust is unfiltered more air is drawn out

of the chassis than what the front two can pass into the chassis.

 

also, same could be said for radiators, as they too can reduce airflow overall.

not as much as a coarse air filter, but enough to consider. it will all be trail

and error in finding the right combination.

[Statecat]

you could think of it like that, but remember any fan with a filter has reduced

airflow. generally 45-60% depending on how fine the filter is. so if you have

4 fans (same CFM) and two are intake and the other two are exhaust, you'll

be in a negative pressure scenario. the two intake fans will equal just one

exhaust fan in airflow. because the exhaust is unfiltered more air is drawn out

of the chassis than what the front two can pass into the chassis.

also, same could be said for radiators, as they too can reduce airflow overall.

not as much as a coarse air filter, but enough to consider. it will all be trail

and error in finding the right combination.

Hmmm interesting... I do not want to have to change my fan configuration constantly till I have the perfect one though.. I kind of want to do it once and be done with it. This is going to drive me mad. Hahaha. I can't change the front because well, they NEED to be intakes. Same goes with the bottom fan. It needs to be an intake as well...

[airdeano]

the trick is front intake, AIO exhaust and then trial of the rear i/o fan.

if dust build up happens quickly, reverse the rear i/o from exhaust to intake and

retry.

[Statecat]

the trick is front intake, AIO exhaust and then trial of the rear i/o fan.

if dust build up happens quickly, reverse the rear i/o from exhaust to intake and

retry.

What about a push/pull configuration? How would that work in this instance?

[airdeano]

p/p exhaust will increase the issue, p/p intake again, because of the filter will

degrade the amount of air coming into the case.

[Statecat]

p/p exhaust will increase the issue, p/p intake again, because of the filter will

degrade the amount of air coming into the case.

I guess I'll just have the fans mounted on the bottom exhausting air. Hopefully the 140mm fan I have mounted on the bottom will provide enough cool air for the radiator.

[YajirobeFromDC]

Push is beter for tempz

[Statecat]

Push is beter for tempz

[Statecat]

Push is beter for tempz

Bleh. Having the fans mounted on the top above the radiator and between the cases filter holes should be fine. Plus, it's the optimal way for my case to have balanced airflow anyway. With those two fans pulling air out; I get three intakes in the form of my 140mm on the bottom, my 120mms in the front, and three outtakes with one 120mm outtake on the back, and two on the radiator. Since the top front 120mm fan will be unobstructed because of a removal of a drive cage, that fan will be cooling my GPU in conjunction with my 140mm fan cooling the bottom of my GPU. Air is consistently flowing through the case. I like consistent things. Plus, with a pull, I get less dust, and the slight performance drop is not really going to matter in the end anyway. From what I've researched, putting my radiator in a push configuration will only slightly increase performance anyway with a high con of dust buildup. I'd rather clean less dust and get good temps as opposed to getting slightly better temps and having to clean a ton of dust out.