cooler master case airflow

[kfinch]

Would it be completely stupid to put intake fans down the top of my td500 mesh case? Unfortunately the shelf under my desk only allows about 2in of clearance between the bottom of the desk and the top of the case,  and there's a 2in lip around the desk making it hold heat even more.

 

I would rather use the 6 case fans as intake and force all heat out of the rear but I'm afraid this might not work too well? Would I be better off using the top as intake or exhaust considering the small amount of room I have to deal with.

 

 

 

 

[Stahlmann]

A full positive pressure setup can work really well. The best way to try is to do it and look how the temps have changed. The Phanteks P400A Digital for example is a case that only uses intake fans by default and it's a great airflow case.

 

Also: You can fit a third intake fan at the front.

 

But for the best possible cooling setup i'd probably buy 3 additional fans, place them at the front and move the radiator to the top as exhaust.

[kfinch]

11 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

A full positive pressure setup can work really well. The best way to try is to do it and look how the temps have changed. The Phanteks P400A Digital for example is a case that only uses intake fans by default and it's a great airflow case.

 

Also: You can fit a third intake fan at the front.

 

But for the best possible cooling setup i'd probably buy 3 additional fans, place them at the front and move the radiator to the top as exhaust.

There's actually 5 fans on the front already. 3 case fans and another two pulling through the rad. Mainly wanted to avoid exhaust on the top because the heat buildup, even without fans there and the case running a little warmer it's burning me up

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

I wouldn't have the top fans as intake. The only way this this can work is if you have a high cfm fan like one of those high rpm delta fans at the back. 

By putting the top fans as exhaust you'll trap all the heat that naturally rises to the top. 

[kfinch]

6 minutes ago, Kinda Bottlenecked said:

I wouldn't have the top fans as intake. The only way this this can work is if you have a high cfm fan like one of those high rpm delta fans at the back. 

By putting the top fans as exhaust you'll trap all the heat that naturally rises to the top. 

I was worried you would say that... Unfortunately the top already blows the heat directly on my legs.

[Stahlmann]

3 minutes ago, Kinda Bottlenecked said:

I wouldn't have the top fans as intake. The only way this this can work is if you have a high cfm fan like one of those high rpm delta fans at the back. 

By putting the top fans as exhaust you'll trap all the heat that naturally rises to the top. 

Any fan is much stronger than the natural convection of heat. As soon as you have a few fans in your PC, the natural convection of heat is pretty much "overridden".

 

But the main issue i see with a top intake is that they will work directly against your GPU cooler, maybe rising GPU temps.

[jaslion]

10 minutes ago, kfinch said:

There's actually 5 fans on the front already. 3 case fans and another two pulling through the rad. Mainly wanted to avoid exhaust on the top because the heat buildup, even without fans there and the case running a little warmer it's burning me up

If you have a couple fans as exhaust at the top what will happen is the air under the desk will start moving and thus be replaced with overall colder air thus no longer burning you up.

[kfinch]

15 minutes ago, jaslion said:

If you have a couple fans as exhaust at the top what will happen is the air under the desk will start moving and thus be replaced with overall colder air thus no longer burning you up.

Alright, I'll try exhaust on the top and see how it goes. Never understood the air filter on the top if it's usually exhaust either lol.

 

 

[kfinch]

44 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

 

But for the best possible cooling setup i'd probably buy 3 additional fans, place them at the front and move the radiator to the top as exhaust.

I thought the rad was better on an intake?

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, kfinch said:

I thought the rad was better on an intake?

It is but you are having discomfort so I think this was more of a suggestion is in best cooling setup for your comfort.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

6 minutes ago, kfinch said:

I was worried you would say that... Unfortunately the top already blows the heat directly on my legs.

 

Unfortunately you can't avoid that if you have the pc under the desk. The PC would radiate heat by itself normally. 

 

To completely remove that I'll suggest swaping the back fan out with a stronger fan and attaching a duct to the back of the case. Something like this. 

 

 

I've done it myself and it works. Its easier now since you can buy 120mm fan ducts and flexible tubes.

[Stahlmann]

39 minutes ago, kfinch said:

I thought the rad was better on an intake?

A liquid cooler has so much thermal headroom that it doesn't really change anything for your system if you move it to a technically "worse" place.