Antec 300 Airflow

[kamuran55]

Hi everyone,

I need to find the best way to get perfect airflow in my Antec 300 case.

It's about 73 degrees Fahrenheit in my room and my GPU is around 48c to 51c idle. Earlier today, my GPU went up to 97c when I was playing GTA IV. It wasn't even so hot in my room either, I find it weird that I have my fans on high and it still is really hot.

I have a 120mm fan on my side panel, 120mm on the rear, and 140mm on the top of my case/ All three of my fans are intakes right now, I don't know if that is such a good idea for good airflow.

Also, my cable management is pretty nice.

How should I arrange my fans? Also I plan to buy 2 more fans to add in the front of my case.

 

[zhongyan]

I'm pretty sure that the side panel, front bezel fans should be intake, and the psu, rear and top fans should be exhaust.

 

[shanky887614]

what gpu are you using becasue 97oC is normal for some intel cpu's

there was a vid a while ago where some people cooked an egg on a nvidia gpu

 

[4745454b]

The 140mm "blow hole" fan should be an exhaust. I'd ditch the side fan and move it to the front as an intake.

97c isn't anything to worry about for the GPU. I don't know which it is, but it has two 6 pin plugs so its going to be hot. You're also use the stock HSF on the CPU, so expect higher temps there.

 

[jsc]

I'm pretty sure that the side panel, front bezel fans should be intake, and the psu, rear and top fans should be exhaust.

Yes.

474545b is also right. You will get better cooling from two front fans than you will from one front and one side fan.

 

[hunter315]

Having the top and rear as intakes takes the heat from the CPU and blows it around the case where the GPU will draw it in, you definitely want those two as exhausts so the heat gets out of the case much sooner. I agree with JSC and 474545b, move the side fan to the front, side panel fans can sometimes mess with airflow more than they help, but the front panel fan will help to keep it a straighter in the front out the back flow.

 

[kamuran55]

What if I have the Top and Rear as exhaust, and side, and front 2 as intake?

Or Top, rear and side as exhaust and front 2 as intake?

 

[lilotimz]

top rear and back should always be exhaust.

In mine antec 300, i set it up so that i have that paper bag or whatever comes with the antec 300, taped over the side fan hole. I have the rear 2 as exhaust and the front with 2x 120mm fans as intake. My gpu idles in the mid 40s and cpu idles in the mid 40s. Max i get is low 70s on my cpu and mid 70s on my gpu...

 

[hunter315]

I would test with the side fan as intake, exhaust, and not there and see which gives you better temps, depending on the positioning of your GPU it may help, or it may hurt its easily checked experimentally though

 

[jsc]

I use Antec 900 cases. On two of my systems, I can use a side fan. But it doesn't help with cooling. THird system, the video card is in the way.

All fans are set to Low. Running them any faster does not help cooling.

 

[j2j663]

I will give you the same advice as I got, and it worked beautifully.

No one knows your system better than you do. Yes, the general consensus is that the top and the rear fans are used to remove the hot air from your case (heat rises). But every case and computer setup is different.

Your best bet is to start with the fans at the top and rear blowing out and the fans at the front and side blowing in. Then experiment! Find out what works best for your case and don't be afraid to go against the norm if you have a reason for it.

In my case I actually have the fan in the rear blowing into my case because it happens to be the best feed of cold air directly onto my CPU fan, and since my CPU fan blows up it is easy to remove all of that hot air through my 2 top fans. This lowered my CPU temp by about 3C idle and almost 10C under load! Before that I had one of my top fans blowing in and the other blowing out simply because the added pressure help the cooling in my case.

So like I said before, don't try and copy my case or anyone else's, simply start with something basic and experiment a little you will find something that works well for you.

 

[nukemaster]

Everyone gave the right answer

On any 300s i have used, I just left the back and top exhaust and no other fans needed. Sure the hard drive runs a bit warmer, but the case will pull air in.

On that note, my 900 was the same thing. Rear and back blow air out and all other fans removed.

I prefer quieter, but nothing overheats that way for me.

Looks like a 6870 or 6970, they look the same from the side. Either way, the card can take some heat(but 97 is getting up there in heat. Would expect high 80s under extreme loads), but for sure play with the fans to see how it works for you.

Do your self a favor, Ditch the AMD stock cooler for something like a coolermaster 212+, just so you have less heat in the case and much lower noise.

 

[kamuran55]

Best answer selected by kamuran55.