Adding aftermarket case coolers:

[Tacitus]

Hey everyone:

 

This topic isn't a perfect fit in any of the cases, water cooling or air cooling sections, but to me it makes most sense to be here, apologies if I am wrong.

 

When considering swapping case fans or adding extra ones what do I need to be aware of in terms of air flow? I am concerned that if I start swapping the case fans I'll have bad air flow, or too little or too much air pressure within the case. How can I be sure to avoid this? If I didn't change the stock fans, but added additional ones to it what do I need to be aware of?

 

Sorry for the multitude of newbie questions, but some clarification would be appreciated

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Chris

[WoodenMarker]

This belongs in the air cooling section. Pretty much any cooling that isn't water cooling would belong here since everything in general does use air to cool--including water cooling. I'm moving the thread.

Just be aware of everything that the air would have to move through. You want to move heat in and out of the case as quickly as possible. That's pretty much it. This is generally best done with an equal amount of intake and exhaust with the airflow all going in the same direction.

[WhatTheQuack]

More fans = more better.

 

Basically as long as you don't remove any fans, your airflow will be fine. Swapping out fans for different (better) ones usually makes temps slightly lower. Having more intakes than exhausts can help with reducing dust build up inside the case. However, more fans generally make your computer louder. You generally want to intake from the front at the bottom, and exhaust from the back at at the top, as per this image:  (Blue is intake, red is exhaust)

 

Hope this helps   

[WoodenMarker]

More fans = more better.

Not necessarily. Airflow has more to do with placement of fans more than the number of fans. If the fans you add disrupt the airflow, your temps may get worse.

[Tacitus]

This belongs in the air cooling section. Pretty much any cooling that isn't water cooling would belong here since everything in general does use air to cool--including water cooling. I'm moving the thread.

Just be aware of everything that the air would have to move through. You want to move heat in and out of the case as quickly as possible. That's pretty much it. This is generally best done with an equal amount of intake and exhaust with the airflow all going in the same direction.

 

Sorry for posting in the wrong place, and thank you for your reply.

 

More fans = more better.

 

Basically as long as you don't remove any fans, your airflow will be fine. Swapping out fans for different (better) ones usually makes temps slightly lower. Having more intakes than exhausts can help with reducing dust build up inside the case. However, more fans generally make your computer louder. You generally want to intake from the front at the bottom, and exhaust from the back at at the top, as per this image:  (Blue is intake, red is exhaust)

 

Hope this helps   

 

Thank you for your diagram, that is handy. Is there any risk to components of having more or less intakes than exhausts? Also, what about exhausts/intakes on the side/top of your case in conjunction with the front-back setup as per your diagram?

[WoodenMarker]

Thank you for your diagram, that is handy. Is there any risk to components of having more or less intakes than exhausts? Also, what about exhausts/intakes on the side/top of your case in conjunction with the front-back setup as per your diagram?

It's about an overall airflow direction and getting heat out of the case. There aren't any risks with wonky fan placement besides bad temps.