Best Fan setup for maximum airflow?

[edweennguyen]

Hey guys I have a X-Titan 100 full tower PC case and I need to buy fans for it. It can support up to 6 fans, two front fans, two top fans, and two rear fans. I have a watercooler on my cpu. Do you guys know how I should set up my fans? I'm planning on buying five. Thanks!

 

[MarkW]

No need to try and create a cyclone inside your case. 2 Fans at the front to bring cool air in, one at the back. Between heat rising on its own and the fans pushing and pulling air from front to back, plus the fans on the CPU and each video card, things should stay cool enough.

 

[edweennguyen]

No need to try and create a cyclone inside your case. 2 Fans at the front to bring cool air in, one at the back. Between heat rising on its own and the fans pushing and pulling air from front to back, plus the fans on the CPU and each video card, things should stay cool enough.

I heard that negative pressure is better for cooling the case, so I was thinking of 2 intake 3 exhaust. I want to do this dude, I live in a hot area and my PC was getting dangerously hot yesterday with 3 fans and a water cooler. That's what made me want to improve airflow.

 

[JoeMomma]

No need to try and create a cyclone inside your case. 2 Fans at the front to bring cool air in, one at the back. Between heat rising on its own and the fans pushing and pulling air from front to back, plus the fans on the CPU and each video card, things should stay cool enough.

I heard that negative pressure is better for cooling the case, so I was thinking of 2 intake 3 exhaust. I want to do this dude, I live in a hot area and my PC was getting dangerously hot yesterday with 3 fans and a water cooler. That's what made me want to improve airflow.

Positive pressure is better. More intake than exhaust. It will help keep dust out of your case. I like to have air filters over the fans, but you need to clean them often to keep good airflow. The inside of my case almost never needs cleaning. The advantage of many fans is you can slow them down and still have good flow. Also, don't cheap out on the fans. When I put in 2 Corsair fans and a Noctua my temps dropped a lot. I prefer static pressure fans.
I have a be quiet! Silent Base 800 with 2-140 be quiet! (came w/ case) front intake and a 140 Noctua bottom intake.
Exhaust is a 120 be quiet! in back and 2-120 Corsairs on top. Overkill but I had the fans anyway. I have them running at about 40% and very quiet.

 

[Saberus]

I agree with Mark that it's a bit overkill to take your case to the limit on fans. It's more about placement.

Arguments can be made for positive, negative, and neutral pressure setups. All have their merits and have workable designs.

I lean to the middle with neutral pressure, with the GPU fans taken into account, I would agree on the same setup as Mark, two in front, one in back. Try to have at least one of the intakes blowing on the GPUs with as clean a path as possible, and let their fans act as the exhaust for that fan.

The other fan will feed air into the rest of the case, and exhaust through the back.

Your radiator should be on the intake, perhaps with a push-pull config, as the passively cooled parts will tolerate a slightly higher air temp, and your CPU block will be as cool as possible. If the passives start getting too hot, consider moving the radiator to the back so the air isn't being pre-heated, but do expect a slightly warmer CPU. (While the rad is part of the main case flow, you are stuck with this either/or scenario, there's no right answer, just which one works better for you.)

The easy way to check your flow is with a fog machine, if you can get your hands on one. You'll be able to look and see where the dead spots are, and adjust cables/obstructions and fan speeds to reduce them. Don't use smoke, though, and limit the fog used.

 

[MarkW]

2 fans on the front, 1 on the back *IS* positive pressure, and is what I like to see.

But I guess that went right over peoples heads.

 

[edweennguyen]

No need to try and create a cyclone inside your case. 2 Fans at the front to bring cool air in, one at the back. Between heat rising on its own and the fans pushing and pulling air from front to back, plus the fans on the CPU and each video card, things should stay cool enough.

I agree with Mark that it's a bit overkill to take your case to the limit on fans. It's more about placement.

Arguments can be made for positive, negative, and neutral pressure setups. All have their merits and have workable designs.

I lean to the middle with neutral pressure, with the GPU fans taken into account, I would agree on the same setup as Mark, two in front, one in back. Try to have at least one of the intakes blowing on the GPUs with as clean a path as possible, and let their fans act as the exhaust for that fan.

The other fan will feed air into the rest of the case, and exhaust through the back.

Your radiator should be on the intake, perhaps with a push-pull config, as the passively cooled parts will tolerate a slightly higher air temp, and your CPU block will be as cool as possible. If the passives start getting too hot, consider moving the radiator to the back so the air isn't being pre-heated, but do expect a slightly warmer CPU. (While the rad is part of the main case flow, you are stuck with this either/or scenario, there's no right answer, just which one works better for you.)

The easy way to check your flow is with a fog machine, if you can get your hands on one. You'll be able to look and see where the dead spots are, and adjust cables/obstructions and fan speeds to reduce them. Don't use smoke, though, and limit the fog used.

2 fans on the front, 1 on the back *IS* positive pressure, and is what I like to see.

But I guess that went right over peoples heads.

What do you mean it went over our heads, literally everyone agreed with you.