Case Fan Tutorial For A Newbie PC Builder

[XBeater]

Hello. I am new to PC building. I just finished building my first gaming rig. I was just wondering how case fan works? My case has 2 120mm fans in it (front and back) then i decided to add 2 more 120mm fans i bought 2 cheap fans (DeepCool 120L/R) then i noticed that the cheap ones are blowing air inside my case at a more powerful rate compared to the stock one in my case. My question is how do case fan work? are they suppose to blow in are or out? Also from what i've learned the front fans should be the one blowing air inside then the top and the rear should exhaust them. How will i know if the fan is blowing air or exhausting air ?
 

Below is my current setup:

CPU
    Intel Processor @ 3.50GHz
RAM
    16.0GB
Motherboard
    MSI B250M GAMING PRO (MS-7A65) (U3E1)    41 °C
Graphics
    ASUS VC239 (1920x1080@60Hz)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Gigabyte)    45 °C
Storage
    232GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO M.2 250GB (SSD)    43 °C
    931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-75WN4A0 (SATA)    38 °C

 

Thanks!

[Daniel Z.]

7 minutes ago, XBeater said:

Hello. I am new to PC building. I just finished building my first gaming rig. I was just wondering how case fan works? My case has 2 120mm fans in it (front and back) then i decided to add 2 more 120mm fans i bought 2 cheap fans (DeepCool 120L/R) then i noticed that the cheap ones are blowing air inside my case at a more powerful rate compared to the stock one in my case. My question is how do case fan work? are they suppose to blow in are or out? Also from what i've learned the front fans should be the one blowing air inside then the top and the rear should exhaust them. How will i know if the fan is blowing air or exhausting air ?
 

Below is my current setup:

CPU
    Intel Processor @ 3.50GHz
RAM
    16.0GB
Motherboard
    MSI B250M GAMING PRO (MS-7A65) (U3E1)    41 °C
Graphics
    ASUS VC239 (1920x1080@60Hz)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Gigabyte)    45 °C
Storage
    232GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO M.2 250GB (SSD)    43 °C
    931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-75WN4A0 (SATA)    38 °C

 

Thanks!

There should be an arrow showing which way air is going. Or just feel it with your hand cause that works too.

[Petoovee]

Can put your hand in front of and behind the fan to see in which direction it's blowing.

I've also noticed that the side with the four structural linkages holding the motor usually is the exhaust side.

 

Which direction to blow depends on who you ask. Some swear on all exhaust, to keep dust out(?), others say to keep a fine airflow. Personally I believe in the airflow part.

[XBeater]

13 hours ago, Daniel Z. said:

There should be an arrow showing which way air is going. Or just feel it with your hand cause that works too.

yes i did feel it in my hands how ever i cant tell. Particularly the stocks ones. The Deepcool fans seem to blow air inside they is quite powerful. However the 2 stock ones i really cant tell

13 hours ago, Petoovee said:

Can put your hand in front of and behind the fan to see in which direction it's blowing.

I've also noticed that the side with the four structural linkages holding the motor usually is the exhaust side.

 

Which direction to blow depends on who you ask. Some swear on all exhaust, to keep dust out(?), others say to keep a fine airflow. Personally I believe in the airflow part.

Yes i've seen the linkages. All of them are  currently positioned at the back of each fan facing outward.

[Petoovee]

Are they all connected to your mobo?

[XBeater]

13 hours ago, XBeater said:

Yes i've seen the linkages. All of them are  currently positioned at the back of each fan facing outward.

sorry, the linkeges of the 2 fans in the front are faing inward.

 

only the 2 fans are currently connected to the mother board. The stock ones from the case.

[WoodenMarker]

The side with the plastic struts is the exhaust.

Here are good places to start.

 

 

[LogicalDrm]

@WoodenMarker, you forgot

 

One from JayzTwoCents is also good:

 

@XBeater, could you specify which CPU and if you are using stock or aftermarket cooler? Since case fans operating was already covered, I'll answer the parts not covered. You should use some balanced setup for fans. Like shown in above video, 2 front in, 1 rear out is good general setup. Case fans can be used as intake or exhaust, and it matter only a bit if you use more powerful as intakes or exhausts. Like you suspected, having more powerful ones as intake is better.