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Fan Placement

Hello! As a newb to the pc building world, I can get a bit confused when building my first high end gaming pc. For example, when the order of my Corsair H100i gets in, I have to actually install it! 0_0  

Some of these questions i've figured out already and some I haven't, due to the impossible explanations of Linus and Luke! (JK) 

Where does a radiator fan go and which way does it push? What fans push out and which pull in? How many should I have in my case? Did Bush really do 9/11? How do I connect different fans in  the case? These are just some simple questions for other newbs and I. Thanks!

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Lets begin at the start, what's your case @Izaibo?

Basic guide to CPU's!

If I said I were 14, you would call me a kid. If I say 70, you’ll entitle me too old. If I say 20 you say I’m inexperienced and if I say 40 than I'm too boring.

龴 ͡ↀ ◡ ͡ↀ龴#locked( ͡͡ ° ͜ ʖ ͡ °)

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Lets begin at the start, what's your case @Izaibo?

NZXT H440

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NZXT H440

Type @[Membername] or quote my post to give me a notification. I was just randomly checking on this post, otherwise I would not have known :P

The NZXT H440 has the possibility for 2 140mm's / 3 120mm's meant for intake, and 1 140/120mm's meant for exhaust. These should be used for normal airflow (in most cases, I'm going to assume this one is included).

Most of the time, AIO (All In One) coolers like Corsairs H100i, will use top fan mounts. The H440 can use 3 120mm's or 2 140mm's.

 

The H100i used 2 120 mm's (Also called 240mm). You can easily mount this in 2 of the top slots of the case, and than mount the rest to the CPU/Motherboard/socketthingy :P

Basic guide to CPU's!

If I said I were 14, you would call me a kid. If I say 70, you’ll entitle me too old. If I say 20 you say I’m inexperienced and if I say 40 than I'm too boring.

龴 ͡ↀ ◡ ͡ↀ龴#locked( ͡͡ ° ͜ ʖ ͡ °)

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@Izaibo How to tell which way a case fan blows:

  1. Look on the outside of the fan chassis, in general there will be an arrow on it somewhere (or two arrows in the case of, at least, Noctua fans) indicating the direction of rotation and/or airflow. If your fan does not have those arrows:
  2. The fan has a front and back. Which side is which!? Well, the 'back' of the fan is the side in which you can see a gap and look down into the motor's armature winding. The 'front' does not let you see the armature winding. For clarity, the picture below points out which windings are field and which ones are armature. In case fans, there are normally no field windings, only armature windings.
     construction-of-dc-motor.jpg
  3. I've never seen a case fan that 'pulls' air from the back to the front, and for a good reason, that would suck all kinds of dust into the armature winding and burn out the fan. Fans will always pull from the front and push to the back.

That's how you can figure out which way air goes. Or, ya know, get a MOLEX connector out of your PSU, get a MOLEX to 3-pin converter and plug the fan into that, turn the PC on for a second and ensure the air is flowing the way I've described above.

 

As for the radiator, you can move air through it in either direction and it will work just fine. In general you want your fans to pull air through the radiator, rather than push, because it will lessen dust buildups. Pull means the back of the fan (as described above) is against the radiator, and the front of the fan is away from the radiator.

 

Fans for the entire case:

-Front fans: Intake (this is their default)

-Rear fan: exhaust

-Top fans: Intake.

 

Reason: The H440 has vented PCI slots, so the extra air pressure of having 4 fans on input and only 1 on exhaust is easily vented via the plethora of holes in the rear of the case.

 

How many fans: As many as it has now is fine, since you aren't complaining about heat.

 

Bush / 9/11: No, he was not expecting what it. He did, however, take full advantage of the situation for his own, and Dick's gain.

 

Connect fans: Your motherboard will have some headers. Generally one header, at least, will be labeled CPU. You'll want to plug your AIO into that. Other fans can use the other headers on the motherboard. Depending on which AIO you get the fans may plug into the pump or may plug into the motherboard. If you run out of motherboard/pump plugs, there are adapters for modular power supplies which convert SATA power connectors to MOLEX and then another adapter is needed to split a MOLEX connector into 2-3 3-pin fan headers. PSUs used to include these cables, i don't know if they still do, I somehow doubt it.

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