[SOLVED] How should I place my 120mm and 140mm fans?

[hopharrigan14]

I recently decided to upgrade my prebuilt Trace 930 PC. I purchased an RTX 2060 Super and RmX 850w PSU, along with two 140mm fans and three 120mm fans. My case apparently only supports 140mm fans on the top so that would be the only place I could place those, and I figured I could place three 120mm as intake in the front of the case (my case came with one 120mm as exhaust at the back of the computer). In short, I was wondering what placement of my fans would promote neutral airflow as well as help cool my new GPU and possibly my CPU if it has to work harder due to the installation of my new GPU (I am very new to computers lol). BTW my CPU is i7 7700.

 

[geofelt]

Opinions vary.
My suggestion would be to use 3 120mm intakes in front and only one 120mm in the rear.

Whatever air comes in the front will exit SOMEWHERE, taking component heat with it.
If all the cooling air comes in at one source and is filtered, your parts will stay cleaner.
The rear fan is there mainly to direct the airflow past the cpu and gpu.
If you install more exhaust fans, just because you have them, they will tend to draw in unfiltered air from adjacent openings.

If you think about it, the area of the gpu cooling fans and the cpu cooling fans are about the same so 3 120mm fans should be well matched.
If you ever have an airflow problem, the front intakes can be replaced with higher capacity intakes.
(at the expense of noise)

 

[Phaaze88]

Is this what the Trace 930 you have looks like?

Spoiler

Where's the actual gaps for front intake? I can't see any.

I wouldn't put any fans in the front at all - it would likely do more harm than good, just like Bitfenix's Enso chassis. I'd suggest doing rear and top exhaust only.

 

[hopharrigan14]

Is this what the Trace 930 you have looks like?

Spoiler

Where's the actual gaps for front intake? I can't see any.

I wouldn't put any fans in the front at all - it would likely do more harm than good, just like Bitfenix's Enso chassis. I'd suggest doing rear and top exhaust only.

Is this what the Trace 930 you have looks like?

Spoiler

Where's the actual gaps for front intake? I can't see any.

I wouldn't put any fans in the front at all - it would likely do more harm than good, just like Bitfenix's Enso chassis. I'd suggest doing rear and top exhaust only.

Right side of Trace 930
if this link works, it shows the right side of the case which has multiple openings near the front as well as grates near the middle of the case, im not sure if these gaps are optimal for placing 120mm in the front, perhaps you could tell me if they are. I've also seen people putting two 120mm fans in the front of this case as well as two 120mm on the top, but I was wondering if three 120mm in the front along with two 140mm on the top would work as well. (sorry for my ignorance I am very new to pc building and fan airflow etc.)

 

[Phaaze88]

Same front panel, same chassis.
I still don't see where the front fans are pulling air in from, so I'd suggest avoiding front fan placement entirely.

I've also seen people putting two 120mm fans in the front of this case...

But did they tell you if they actually help temps though? Just because there's a place to put a fan, doesn't mean it should be placed there.