PC Venting?

[Premsanity]

I know mainly the back of the PC is made for venting and vise verses for the front, but since my case is small I have a 280mm radiator on the front acting as an intake and cooling my CPU and my back panel hosts my 120mm GPU Cooler, is it safe to use the top as the only exhaust?

[zeusthemoose]

It should be. I currently have two intake fans on the front and 1 outtake on a 120 radiator in the back. My top slot is empty and I have great thermals.

[Premsanity]

1 minute ago, zeusthemoose said:

It should be. I currently have two intake fans on the front and 1 outtake on a 120 radiator in the back. My top slot is empty and I have great thermals.

Alright cool. I have another question as I just realized something. I put my radiator in my case already but I think the fans may be backwards. This is the front of my case, do these fans need to be turned around? 

[Statik]

1 hour ago, Premsanity said:

Alright cool. I have another question as I just realized something. I put my radiator in my case already but I think the fans may be backwards. This is the front of my case, do these fans need to be turned around? 

Corsair fans should have a Arrow marking on the chassis pointing in flow direction

[Premsanity]

1 minute ago, Statik said:

Corsair fans should have a Arrow marking on the chassis pointing in flow direction

Okay, sorry this is my first build and this is the first part I installed I got more things on the way. All of this is new to me. 

[Statik]

1 hour ago, Premsanity said:

Okay, sorry this is my first build and this is the first part I installed I got more things on the way. All of this is new to me. 

Don't apologize. You had a question and I answered it.

[Premsanity]

1 minute ago, Statik said:

Don't apologize. You had a question and I answered it.

So let’s say I switch those around bc they are obviously facing the wrong direction. In the upper back off my case I will have a 120mm radiator acting as a exhaust. This is proper airflow correct? Also the standard fans that the cake with the case will act as exhaust are the top. So besides the fan directions, does this look and sound right? 

[Statik]

1 hour ago, Premsanity said:

So let’s say I switch those around bc they are obviously facing the wrong direction. In the upper back off my case I will have a 120mm radiator acting as a exhaust. This is proper airflow correct? Also the standard fans that the cake with the case will act as exhaust are the top. So besides the fan directions, does this look and sound right? 

A general rule of thumb is is you want as many exhausts as you have intake, for best temps.

 

If you have more exhaust than intake, you have negative pressure and it sucks in air though every crack and hold in your case, making it much dustier inside

 

if you have more intakes than exhaust (I have 6 intake, 2 exhaust right now), you have positive pressure, which blows air out of every crack and hole, keeping it cleaner.

 

I'd recommend even or slightly positive if you can.

[Premsanity]

4 minutes ago, Statik said:

A general rule of thumb is is you want as many exhausts as you have intake, for best temps.

 

If you have more exhaust than intake, you have negative pressure and it sucks in air though every crack and hold in your case, making it much dustier inside

 

if you have more intakes than exhaust (I have 6 intake, 2 exhaust right now), you have positive pressure, which blows air out of every crack and hole, keeping it cleaner.

 

I'd recommend even or slightly positive if you can.

The front has to be an intake meaning the back or the top has to be exhaust but by your standards I should only use one.... so should it be the top or the back? (Try to imagine a 120mm radiator where that black fan is) 

[zeusthemoose]

1 minute ago, Premsanity said:

The front has to be an intake meaning the back or the top has to be exhaust but by your standards I should only use one.... so should it be the top or the back? (Try to imagine a 120mm radiator where that black fan is) 

I don’t believe it will make too much of a difference. However heat rises so on the top might have slightly better temps. I would base it on looks and cable management because the difference would be slight if anything.

[Premsanity]

1 minute ago, zeusthemoose said:

I don’t believe it will make too much of a difference. However heat rises so on the top might have slightly better temps. I would base it on looks and cable management because the difference would be slight if anything.

I’m still kind of confused with the radiator though. If I switch the fans around do I have to put the fans on the other side of the radiator? 

[Nine Tailed Fox]

Fan underside = exhaust

Fan front = intake

[Premsanity]

21 minutes ago, Nine Tailed Fox said:

Fan underside = exhaust

Fan front = intake

Alright, thanks. I kinda figured but I wanted to ask to make sure. What I am going to do is make both front and back intakes and the top exhaust. Should work fine. 

[NineEyeRon]

Also check to see which fans have the best static pressure. I wonder if the current radiator fans are airflow as the fins look further apart than those on the intake.

[LogicalDrm]

8 hours ago, Premsanity said:

Alright cool. I have another question as I just realized something. I put my radiator in my case already but I think the fans may be backwards. This is the front of my case, do these fans need to be turned around? 

In this pic front fans are exhausting and top fans are intaking.

8 hours ago, Premsanity said:

So let’s say I switch those around bc they are obviously facing the wrong direction. In the upper back off my case I will have a 120mm radiator acting as a exhaust. This is proper airflow correct? Also the standard fans that the cake with the case will act as exhaust are the top. So besides the fan directions, does this look and sound right? 

The rear fan is correctly exhausting, top fans are set to intake. General way air moves through fan:

 

Also, moved to Air Cooling.

[Premsanity]

5 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

In this pic front fans are exhausting and top fans are intaking.

The rear fan is correctly exhausting, top fans are set to intake. General way air moves through fan:

 

Also, moved to Air Cooling.

So you believe I should use the rear as an exhaust and the top as intake? The way I was thinking about it is when I get my GPU I put both radiators as Intake and then the top as the only exhaust. That gives me a 3 fan intake and a 2 fan exhaust positioned at the top of the case because heat rises.

[LogicalDrm]

8 minutes ago, Premsanity said:

So you believe I should use the rear as an exhaust and the top as intake? The way I was thinking about it is when I get my GPU I put both radiators as Intake and then the top as the only exhaust. That gives me a 3 fan intake and a 2 fan exhaust positioned at the top of the case because heat rises.

No. Front and bottom intake, rear and top exhaust. I'm just pointing out that your fans are wrong way and how you can tell which way they point without any arrows.

 

Only if there are some special custom water cooling loops or inverted cases does the airflow need to change from basics.

[Premsanity]

2 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

No. Front and bottom intake, rear and top exhaust. I'm just pointing out that your fans are wrong way and how you can tell which way they point without any arrows.

 

Only if there are some special custom water cooling loops or inverted cases does the airflow need to change from basics.

I knew they were the wrong way I just haven’t gotten to change them yet is all. But wdym bottom? There’s little to no gaps on the bottom? So how can that be considered as a intake? 

[Demonic Donut]

3 minutes ago, Premsanity said:

I knew they were the wrong way I just haven’t gotten to change them yet is all. But wdym bottom? There’s little to no gaps on the bottom? So how can that be considered as a intake? 

Some cases have bottom intakes.

 

Also, pulling through rads means static pressure increases. You should be fine to do rear and front rads as intake and top only as exhaust. Either way will work, but you might get 1 or 2 degrees colder temps by only pulling fresh air through the rads. Especially if your fans are struggling.

[Premsanity]

2 minutes ago, Demonic Donut said:

Some cases have bottom intakes.

 

Also, pulling through rads means static pressure increases. You should be fine to do rear and front rads as intake and top only as exhaust. Either way will work, but you might get 1 or 2 degrees colder temps by only pulling fresh air through the rads. Especially if your fans are struggling.

Yeah that’s what I was thinking