3 fans, 2 intake or 2 outtake?

[ItsAllNew]

I have 1 fan at the front taking in air and I have one at the back pushing out air, should I have my 3rd fan at the top in taking or outake get air?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

this has been debated a lot, many seem to have different opinions. For me, more exhaust than intake has worked better. If you have an extreme amount of fans and have serious airflow then it doesnt seem to matter too much. But with lower airflow cases with only 2-3 fans the heat is going to rise and build up at the top, and your cpu is usually near the top, so better to get that heat at the top out than to push cool air in down the bottom. Where is your H60 radiator/fan mounted, and is it blowing air in or out of your case? Also, what particular case do you have?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

 

[ItsAllNew]

I have my h60 cooler mounted to the back with a 120m fan outtake, and my case is the corsair 200r but after looking at both your comments it seems an outtake fan at the top would be much better than an intake

 

[ronintexas]

I have always found that the closer a fan is to a heat source (i.e. GPU/CPU), it is generally better to be an exhaust fan. The logic behind that is while you are bringing in cool air, you are pushing hot air around the case - better to "suck it out" like a snake bite......

If you need intake fans - better to bring the cooler air in where there is no big heat sources.

The opposition states to bring cool air to the heat sources help keep them cool....

Maybe we need an HVAC expert to "show us the light" LOLOLOLOL.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

I have always found that the closer a fan is to a heat source (i.e. GPU/CPU), it is generally better to be an exhaust fan. The logic behind that is while you are bringing in cool air, you are pushing hot air around the case - better to "suck it out" like a snake bite......

If you need intake fans - better to bring the cooler air in where there is no big heat sources.

The opposition states to bring cool air to the heat sources help keep them cool....

Maybe we need an HVAC expert to "show us the light" LOLOLOLOL.

every case and rig setup is probably going to be differend also. It also depends what component you want to cool most weather it gpu, cpu, motherboard. but that image posted above is the general rule i go by. Cold air in lower front, hot air out upper rear. To prevent dust, which can be a bigger cause of heat build up, you want a slight positive pressure from the intake with dust filters to catch the dust, but still plenty of exhaust to guide the hot air out and create directional airflow.

 

[ronintexas]

The best part of these forums is the amount of learning even the "experts" can do. I never discount a persons thoughts here - I have learned a lot....and hope to continue to learn.

 

[Amencerment]

I always look at it on how often you are willing to clean your computer...

If you run 2 intake you must clean more often as the amount of dust and other nice stuff entering the system is greater. The flip side is the more cool air entering gives a positive reaction for cooling...

In my systems I do a 2/1 method, because I know people do not clean their systems as often as they should. 1 in 2 out, in the case of my personal computer I have 2 in the front, and 1 in the base are all intake, with 2 in the center (interior flow fans), then I have 2 rear, 3 top. Now the 2 center fans I do not count in the equation as they just move air from 1 point to the other.

You just have to ask yourself how much are you willing to break down your comp and clean it. With my setup I do a thorough cleaning once a month. That is a complete tear-down.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

I always look at it on how often you are willing to clean your computer...

If you run 2 intake you must clean more often as the amount of dust and other nice stuff entering the system is greater. The flip side is the more cool air entering gives a positive reaction for cooling...

In my systems I do a 2/1 method, because I know people do not clean their systems as often as they should. 1 in 2 out, in the case of my personal computer I have 2 in the front, and 1 in the base are all intake, with 2 in the center (interior flow fans), then I have 2 rear, 3 top. Now the 2 center fans I do not count in the equation as they just move air from 1 point to the other.

You just have to ask yourself how much are you willing to break down your comp and clean it. With my setup I do a thorough cleaning once a month. That is a complete tear-down.

should get yourself a blower/air compressor, then you just take the side panel off, blow all the dust out without having to take everything out of the case. Make sure you disconnect fan cables when you do this though as spinning fans generates electricity back into the motherboard and potentially cause damage.

 

[Amencerment]

I always look at it on how often you are willing to clean your computer...

If you run 2 intake you must clean more often as the amount of dust and other nice stuff entering the system is greater. The flip side is the more cool air entering gives a positive reaction for cooling...

In my systems I do a 2/1 method, because I know people do not clean their systems as often as they should. 1 in 2 out, in the case of my personal computer I have 2 in the front, and 1 in the base are all intake, with 2 in the center (interior flow fans), then I have 2 rear, 3 top. Now the 2 center fans I do not count in the equation as they just move air from 1 point to the other.

You just have to ask yourself how much are you willing to break down your comp and clean it. With my setup I do a thorough cleaning once a month. That is a complete tear-down.

should get yourself a blower/air compressor, then you just take the side panel off, blow all the dust out without having to take everything out of the case. Make sure you disconnect fan cables when you do this though as spinning fans generates electricity back into the motherboard and potentially cause damage.

I have thought of creating an adapter for my Dyson that will cover the exhaust fans and use a 2'd Vac as a blower and try that. I live in Los Angeles and we get allot of dust, so for higher-end systems, we have to clean a bit more. As I have seen due to the amount of fans I have it is once a month to keep everything nice and clean. I also have 2 dogs so that could equate to the issue of cleaning as well.