Question Fan airflow question

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visslik

visslik

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Jul 7, 2021
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I have a build I'm working on for my son. It's a Mini-ITX build in a Razer Tomahawk Mini case.

I have a Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE that I want to use, however I'm curious how the airflow will work here and what the best option would be from a fan placement standpoint.

mini-itx-fan-placement-question-v0-t5xpnvs5i1fe1.png


As you can see I currently have an exhaust fan on the case. From an airflow perspective, I'm wondering what fan placement I should use.

Option 1: Keep exhaust fan, fan in center, fan on right.

Option 2: Discard exhaust fan, fan in center, fan on right.

Option 3: Discard exhaust fan, fan on left, fan in center.

Option 4: Other ideas?

It essentially comes down to not knowing how efficient the exhaust fan/center fan synergy is, and not knowing if the center fan would be enough to exhaust on its own if the case fan is removed.

Or maybe I'm just overthinking it and option 1 is totally fine and I wouldn't have any problems.
 
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It's a Mini-ITX build in a Razer Tomahawk Mini case.
That case was designed with AIO's in mind and with classic Razer design philosophy, they make something that should be simple, complicated. I meant the venting design on the case which is restrictive while the PSU's exhaust is towards the glass panel.

View: https://youtu.be/Pn8sR5DxUuc


I'd try with one fan in the middle and see how your temps are. Do you have an intake fan in the case? Speaking of cooler's and temps, you didn't mention what you're cooling.

Or maybe I'm just overthinking it and option 1 is totally fine and I wouldn't have any problems.
If your case is starved of fresh, cooler, ambient air, then no matter how many fans you add to the tower style cooler, your temps won't improve. The same holds true for watercooling, as in, if the case performs better without a side panel and a fan aimed at your hardware, then the problem can't be solved with watercooling, it's solved by changing the case/adding fans.

Moved thread from Systems section to Cooling section.
 
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I agree on the case design. I'd just built a similar one for my nephew (he's the one who picked out the case) and did use AIO for that. I hated building in it and was initially thinking that an air cooler would be easier (it isn't). My son really liked the case design, and didn't have a lot of room to work with regarding where he'd be putting the PC.

I'm cooling a Ryzen 5 9600X. I do have an intake fan in the front of the case (for all the good it will do), as well as two exhaust fans at the top right now as well.

My main reason for asking the question is to make sure there isn't some obvious knowledge I'm lacking, as it's a pain working in this case, and I'd hoped I could avoid a couple of hours of setting it up, testing, tearing it down, setting it up differently, etc by just asking people who know more than I do, heh.

Right now with both cooler fans and the exhaust fan, running idle with all panels on it's sitting at 30 C. I haven't installed the OS or anything yet.
 
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dwd999 said:
Are you using the bottom of the case for drives or can you install 2 more fans there? (This is from a guy who has 9 fans in his Lian Li O11 Air Mini and believes in maximum fans that the case will hold).
Click to expand...

I don't have anything on the bottom for airflow (that's the exhaust for the video card). While the idea of having slim fans down there to assist is appealing, trying to route more fan power cables is decidely not, heh.
 
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