How bad is an all exhaust case fan set up and how can I reconfigure my case fan system?

[mgerber24]

This is my first time using this forum, so I hope I'm in the right place. Thanks in advance for any answers.

 

In my case (NZXT H500), I'm having trouble with a good fan setup. I currently have my watercooler toward the front of the case, and two exhaust fans out the back. I'm concerned because I don't have any dedicated intake fans, so I have lots of negative pressure. I'm not that concerned about dust, but I'm not sure how optimal this setup is. 

 

The case only has two mounting areas for fans, apart from the front which is taken up by my water cooler. Is my current setup okay, or is there a better configuration? Is having no intake fans acceptable? See attached picture below. 

 

[Levent]

I would rather have all exhaust fan layout than all intake. If you were to just swap the orientation of the fans on the AIO, those would be intake fans.

[PDifolco]

Just swap the front fans on intake (either reverse them in place behind the rad or put them on front)

[Jorgemeister]

If you were to reverse the radiator fans, where would the air come in? that case looks completely closed, so weird that they didnt even make the top large enough for a 240 radiator

 

[OddOod]

Welcome to the forums!
In this config it looks like fresh air would come up through the basement and the PCIe slots which, assuming you have zero hairy pets and are somewhat diligent about cleaning could be pretty ideal.

But as always, the best way to find out is fucking around. Benchmark, change fans, bench again. 

[PDifolco]

1 hour ago, Jorgemeister said:

If you were to reverse the radiator fans, where would the air come in? that case looks completely closed, so weird that they didnt even make the top large enough for a 240 radiator

 

Urgg that's a baaaad case !

Well indeed there's no air for an intake but neither for an exhaust

At least having the front fans push air towards the rear will help the top and rear fans ...

Or maybe the less bad solution would be to put some fans at the bottom on intake

 

 

[Jorgemeister]

1 hour ago, PDifolco said:

Urgg that's a baaaad case !

Well indeed there's no air for an intake but neither for an exhaust

At least having the front fans push air towards the rear will help the top and rear fans ...

Or maybe the less bad solution would be to put some fans at the bottom on intake

 

 

But the PSU is there and it doesnt seem like it has grill for the bottom of the case besides the one for the PSU

 

 

I guess that small grill on the front - bottom is all the air intake for the front. weird case though.

[NorKris]

2 hours ago, Levent said:

I would rather have all exhaust fan layout than all intake. If you were to just swap the orientation of the fans on the AIO, those would be intake fans.

i like to recommend the hottest option too. makes hw die but  hey

[Levent]

4 minutes ago, NorKris said:

i like to recommend the hottest option too. makes hw die but  hey

Yeah right. Having hot air exhausted out mean fresh air will seep in through PCIE slot and though PSU shroud at the bottom. Having all of those as intake means hot air is constantly inside the case. Hot air is low pressure, meaning it will always be replaced by cold air as long as it able to be extracted and considering this case has no way of extracting hot air other than fans, this option is the best option.

[NorKris]

1 minute ago, Levent said:

Having all of those as intake means hot air is constantly inside the case. 

wooot? how??

 

your option 

 

 

vs all inn: 

vs the best:

 

 

[Jorgemeister]

2 minutes ago, NorKris said:

wooot? how??

 

your option 

 

 

 

vs all inn: 

 

vs the best:

 

 

 

# 6 and 1 would be assuming a good front intake though, which I dont think it exists here

[NorKris]

1 minute ago, Jorgemeister said:

# 6 and 1 would be assuming a good front intake though, which I dont think it exists here

you might say that. but cant get much worse than 87 lol

[Jorgemeister]

2 hours ago, NorKris said:

you might say that. but cant get much worse than 87 lol

I was hitting similar temps with demanding games and over 60C on idle on a 5800X with a case that has the front panel mostly closed, Be Quiet pure base 500, with radiator as exhaust on the top, 2 fans on the front as intake and had to swap my back fan to intake as well to make it up for the poor fresh airflow. these types of close cases are problematic for hot CPUs.

 

edit: got solved when I changed to a new case.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Jorgemeister

[NorKris]

2 minutes ago, Jorgemeister said:

I was hitting similar temps with demanding games and over 60C on idle on a 5800X with a case that has the front panel mostly closed, Be Quiet pure base 500, with radiator as exhaust on the top, 2 fans on the front as intake and had to swap my back fan to intake as well to make it up for the poor fresh airflow. these types of close cases are problematic for hot CPUs.

 

edit: got solved when I changed to a new case.

ye these hotboxes are not good for the Watts race we are in now

[Ralfi]

5 hours ago, mgerber24 said:

NZXT H500

Save up for a new case. Components will struggle in that awfully designed oven. & the money you’ve spent on that AIO is wasted as it has no fresh air to make use of…

 

You can’t even mount an intake on top-front, & the bottom’s blocked off too.

 

NZXT…  

[freeagent]

7 hours ago, Levent said:

I would rather have all exhaust fan layout than all intake

How come? 

 

Sometimes exhaust fans just get in the way..

[IkeaGnome]

27 minutes ago, freeagent said:

How come? 

 

Sometimes exhaust fans just get in the way..

Sometimes they just suck

pun intended

[mgerber24]

Thank you so much for all the solutions! I honestly did not expect to get this many replies this quickly and I really do appreciate it. 

[OddOod]

On 7/6/2022 at 9:45 PM, mgerber24 said:

Thank you so much for all the solutions! I honestly did not expect to get this many replies this quickly and I really do appreciate it. 

Mostly we were just dabbing on eachother. Thanks for the fodder