How to position fans for optimal performance.

[AssassiNBG]

So I noticed my case has been getting pretty warm, my Seagate 120GB ATA133 HDD has been going up to 54C.

My case is a cheap ATX one and has only 3 places where a fan can be mounted. There are two on the back and one on top, but that one's virtually useless as there's not a single hole on the top of the case. The side panels have many small venting holes.

Right now I have only one 80mm fan on the back blowing air in, just over the cpu fan.

How many fans and where should I position them for best air flow and lowest temperatures for this case? I know it's best to have a fan on the lower front panel to suck air in, but I can't put a fan there on my case.

 

[decripple]

Change the rear one so it is blowing air out of the case and another there doing the same. If there are enough vent holes on the side/enough space for an 80mm fan put on there as an intake or one in the front of the case if possible. If it's possible to put one on the side get it as close to possible to being above the cpu. Also, you may want to invest in a pci slot fan/exhaust blower, the are cheap and effective. BUT if your hard drive is the only thing getting hot which may be the case try to zip tie a 80mm fan so it is blowing air over it. If you don;t want to do that, hard drive coolers are also available for pretty cheap like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200032
or this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835888105

 

[Kohlhagen]

Buy a 120mm fan and some zip ties for in the front of your case whether its at the bottom standing alone or in CD drive bay it should move some air through any ventilation in the fron of your case.

And 2 low DB 80mm fans for the back of the case considering you might want air flow to be somewhat similar for intake and exhaust..
(although it doesn't need to be..)

 

[AssassiNBG]

Hey, that's a good idea, I did some research on zip ties and they seem to be very useful.

I ordered one 120mm and one 80mm fan and I'm going to pick some zip ties up tomorrow and see what I will come up with. Thanks for the suggestions guys! Let me know if you'd like to see some pics of after I mount the fans.

 

[RetiredChief]

My case came with rear/front 120 mm fan mounts ( Rear as pointed out should be exhaust, Front = Intake). My side also had vent holes. I cut out 2 120 mm holes- one at back/top, mounted exhaust fan, one bottom front for intake. Lowered internal case temp about 6 degrees.