Work PC

David_Kwan · January 14, 2019

Hi guys,

So this is my first time here and I have never built a PC before.

But I have been gaining interest the last couple of weeks. Even more so after CES 2019 (I may wait until Ryzen 3rd gen cpus to release before I start on my first build.)

So before I set out to buy parts for my first PC build I'm experimenting with my work PC.

It's a pre-built pc bought from China(Yes from China...).

Case:On the case it says "aigo", never heard of it before.

Mobo:Asus B150M-K

CPU:i7-6700 non K

GPU:AMD RX 460

PSU:A chinese Thermaltake 450w power supply.

SSD:Sandisk Z140 120GB

HDD:WD Blue 2TB

That's around what I could find out about my work PC after opening it up. Most of this info I got from userbenchmark.

I recently bought 3 case fans. The reason being, when I opened the PC to have a look around, there was no case fans at all!

And it was collecting so much dust after only a year and a half of use.

I currently use 2 of the case fans:

1 front intake.

1 rear exhaust.

The problem I have is I want to add the third fan on the side as intake. (There is only space for 3 fans in the case. Front, Rear and Side)

But the problem is that the fan has a bulge in the middle(if I were to have it as intake) and there is no way I can mount it on the side with that bulge.

Will it be a problem if I mount it as an exhaust?

So I read briefly online that there is positive, negative and neutral airflow. Where positive is when you have more intake than exhaust. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

Is Negative airflow bad for the PC overall?

If so, is it better to just leave it as is with 1 intake and 1 exhaust?

Sorry if this seems long...

January 14, 2019

I would replace the psu

WoodenMarker · January 14, 2019

The only benefit of positive airflow is to reduce dust accumulation from air seeping in from unfiltered gaps. If dust is of no concern or the system has no dust filters, there's no need to worry about positive or negative pressure.

The system isn't very power hungry so a single front intake and a rear exhaust should be plenty already. It's probably also why there were no preinstalled case fans.

An additional side exhaust should still help cooling.

What bulge are you referring to? Are you using a fan that doesn't have mounting holes at both the front and back like an Arctic F12 Pro? https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/arctic-f12-pro-std.html

David_Kwan · January 14, 2019

1 hour ago, ears_ears said:

I would replace the psu

I don't mind leaving the psu as is. Since this is my work pc and I'm not even using the AMD GPU.

55 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The only benefit of positive airflow is to reduce dust accumulation from air seeping in from unfiltered gaps. If dust is of no concern or the system has no dust filters, there's no need to worry about positive or negative pressure.

The system isn't very power hungry so a single front intake and a rear exhaust should be plenty already. It's probably also why there were no preinstalled case fans.

An additional side exhaust should still help cooling.

What bulge are you referring to? Are you using a fan that doesn't have mounting holes at both the front and back like an Arctic F12 Pro? https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/arctic-f12-pro-std.html

Well if there's not much difference I guess I'll leave it as is, with 1 intake and 1 exhaust. I added a pic so you can have a look at the bulge I'm referring to. I thought all case fans were flat on both sides but this one isn't...

51 minutes ago, campy said:

Aigo is kinda like chinese corsair. Ive got a couple of their parts, an AIO liquid cooler and a bunch of ring fans.

Side intakes are a pretty old bit of PC tech history because they were meant to cool large quantities of expansion cards, which you dont see much anymore, not many people running an ATX board with 7 single slot cards of various types.

They didnt stick around even up til pre tempered glass time.

It would be a better idea to have it as an intake, if possible use some washers or even just some cardboard cutouts with holes in them to use as standoffs from the side panel for the fan to attach.

Or just get a fan that has standard dimensions.

It may not be that easy. You can have a look at the pic I added for reference. The bulge is pretty high. I think around 1 or 1.3cm. I may leave it as is or add the 3rd fan as exhaust depending on how much of a difference it makes.

But thanks so much for the advice guys! I will test out the temps with the side exhaust sometime later.