[SOLVED] Laying my pc on its side and have all fans as intake

[Dr Panda]

Im thinking of having my pc lie on its side then have all fans take in air and removing the other side panel(which is now facing up) and changing it with dust filter and let all hot air exit there since hot air rises right? Which means my components gets to be exposed to cooler air all the time since they are now positioned at the bottom. And since its highly positive pressure inside, maybe i dont have to worry about dust entering from the top? Any thoughts on this?

 

[CountMike]

Im thinking of having my pc lie on its side then have all fans take in air and removing the other side panel(which is now facing up) and changing it with dust filter and let all hot air exit there since hot air rises right? Which means my components gets to be exposed to cooler air all the time since they are now positioned at the bottom. And since its highly positive pressure inside, maybe i dont have to worry about dust entering from the top? Any thoughts on this?

Not sure if it's a good idea, air stream in the case needs to be steered from one side to other and without exhaust fan it would go all over the place, As soon as you have fan(s) convection is overpowered and will not do much. If you are leaving side open you might as well leave case upright and fans wouldn't be doing much.

 

[Igor Poboril]

I also faced the same kind of issue. When my PC is running lots of dust go inside because of cooling fan. How to remove them from my PC?

 

[USAFRet]

Fans completely overpower the "hot air rises" concept.
Fans also are for moving air through the case, not just blowing it around inside. It needs both intake and exhaust.

 

[geofelt]

What is the problem you are trying to solve?
If it is keeping your parts clean, consider going to a positive pressure air filtration system.
That is where all of the cooling air enters from one source that is filtered.

What is the make/model of your case?
What is the make/model of your graphics card, cpu and cpu cooler?
You will usually do very well if you have two 120/140mm front intakes that are filtered as well as a single 120mm exhaust fan in the rear.

 

[Dr Panda]

Not sure if it's a good idea, air stream in the case needs to be steered from one side to other and without exhaust fan it would go all over the place, As soon as you have fan(s) convection is overpowered and will not do much. If you are leaving side open you might as well leave case upright and fans wouldn't be doing much.

Thank you very much! Basically the better option is the conventional option of having a closed case with fans? Instead of having a side open because if that is the case, the fans wouldn't be doing much?

 

[Dr Panda]

Fans completely overpower the "hot air rises" concept.
Fans also are for moving air through the case, not just blowing it around inside. It needs both intake and exhaust.

Niiice. Thank you. I thought so too. But there was an article i read about fan configuration which uses the concept of hot air goes up. That confused me a lot. I think it was from seasonic

 

[Dr Panda]

What is the problem you are trying to solve?
If it is keeping your parts clean, consider going to a positive pressure air filtration system.
That is where all of the cooling air enters from one source that is filtered.

What is the make/model of your case?
What is the make/model of your graphics card, cpu and cpu cooler?
You will usually do very well if you have two 120/140mm front intakes that are filtered as well as a single 120mm exhaust fan in the rear.

One of the reasons why i would like to get as much intake as i could is because my case has a front panel made with glass and only having side grills (Both sides). would i be better off modifying my side panel and turn it into a dust filter and make it in a way where i can mount fans on it and (which i think would be very doable) and put no fans on the front panel?

My case is very <Mod Edit>. Bosston cs 09
Ryzen 5 3600
Rx 5700
No cpu cooler yet. Ill buy one when i upgrade to rtx

 

[SkyNetRising]

would i be better off modifying my side panel and turn it into a dust filter and make it in a way where i can mount fans on it and (which i think would be very doable) and put no fans on the front panel?

No cpu cooler yet. Ill buy one when i upgrade to rtx

Dust filters are necessary on intakes only.
If you're into pc case modding, then replace front panel glass with mesh dust filter.

And cpu cooler is absolutely necessary. Without it you can not operate your pc.

 

[Dr Panda]

Im sorry.

Dust filters are necessary on intakes only.
If you're into pc case modding, then replace front panel glass with mesh dust filter.

And cpu cooler is absolutely necessary. Without it you can not operate your pc.

I use the stock cooler. Sorry about that

 

[Dr Panda]

Dust filters are necessary on intakes only.
If you're into pc case modding, then replace front panel glass with mesh dust filter.

And cpu cooler is absolutely necessary. Without it you can not operate your pc.

Makes much more sense. Thanks! Would pvc air filter work well enough as front panel filter instead of aluminum mesh?

 

[geofelt]

There is nothing wrong with side vents for intake.

A plus is that such vents tend to make your pc quieter.
Your 3600 comes with a stock cooler.
Use it, that is all you need.

If your case does not have provision for a front intake filter, then you need to make one up.
A air conditioning filter would work. But buy a very cheap one that is thin and does not restrict airflow.
Thin mesh screening can work,
Ladies nylon hose works too.
More likely, buy a filter already made up.
It all depends on how paranoid you are.
Really, you need do nothing.
Do not try to fix a problem you do not have.

 

[CountMike]

Makes much more sense. Thanks! Would pvc air filter work well enough as front panel filter instead of aluminum mesh?

They all restrict air flow somewhat but should be much better than glass with those small holes on sides. Do you have at least on fan as exhaust at back ?

 

[Dr Panda]

They all restrict air flow somewhat but should be much better than glass with those small holes on sides. Do you have at least on fan as exhaust at back ?

Yes i do. And one at the top. Or should i use the top as intake?

 

[Dr Panda]

There is nothing wrong with side vents for intake.

A plus is that such vents tend to make your pc quieter.
Your 3600 comes with a stock cooler.
Use it, that is all you need.

If your case does not have provision for a front intake filter, then you need to make one up.
A air conditioning filter would work. But buy a very cheap one that is thin and does not restrict airflow.
Thin mesh screening can work,
Ladies nylon hose works too.
More likely, buy a filter already made up.
It all depends on how paranoid you are.
Really, you need do nothing.
Do not try to fix a problem you do not have.

Yeah i think im just really paranoid. This is my first pc build. Ive mostly relied on youtube videos with the concepts that i have in mind. Thank you very much.

What i learned from youtube test is that with front panels like mine, adding front intake fans offers little to no improvements at all. If anything, it makes the whole build a bit worse since it consumes more power and produces more noise. One major problem that im very paranoid about is that im loving in a very warm place. I mean its hot in here. Room temp can reach 34 Celsius. Maybe 38 on a bad day.

 

[Dr Panda]

Yeah i think im just really paranoid. This is my first pc build. Ive mostly relied on youtube videos with the concepts that i have in mind. Thank you very much.

What i learned from youtube test is that with front panels like mine, adding front intake fans offers little to no improvements at all. If anything, it makes the whole build a bit worse since it consumes more power and produces more noise. One major problem that im very paranoid about is that im loving in a very warm place. I mean its hot in here. Room temp can reach 34 Celsius. Maybe 38 on a bad day.

What do you think is the best and most effecient thing to do in my situation? Btw the build is not finished yet. Im still waiting for my psu. Im speaking with zero experience here. Hehehe

 

[USAFRet]

Do NOT believe everything you see on utube.

Follow standard case airflow.
In the front, out the back and/or top.

 

[Dr Panda]

Do NOT believe everything you see on utube.

Follow standard case airflow.
In the front, out the back and/or top.

Yeah i tend to overthink a lot. i forgot to mention one more thing. The worse thing about the case is that not just airflow is severely restricted by the front panel, the fan mount is also very poorly designed. Its like the fans are sandwiched with air flow restrictions. The other side is the glass front panel and on the other side is the fan mount where its not open at all. The fans have to be screwed on another layer of metal plane(yup, another metal plane, not just frame) which only has some holes on it. I failed miserably on choosing this case(online). T.T this is turning out to be a very challenging building experience.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I failed miserably on choosing this case(online).

If you're so unhappy with your current pc case, why don't you get a new one?

 

[Dr Panda]

If you're so unhappy with your current pc case, why don't you get a new one?

Its way too expensive. I really thought the case is the area where you dont have to worry about. As long as it fits. I overlooked this one.

 

[Dr Panda]

Im thinking of buying this and put it on as the side panel. No intake fans just 1 or 2 exhaust fans at the top and back. Would that be good?

 

[Dr Panda]

Not sure if it's a good idea, air stream in the case needs to be steered from one side to other and without exhaust fan it would go all over the place, As soon as you have fan(s) convection is overpowered and will not do much. If you are leaving side open you might as well leave case upright and fans wouldn't be doing much.

Im thinking of buying this and put it on as the side panel. No intake fans just 1 or 2 exhaust fans at the top and back. Would that be good?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Im thinking of buying this and put it on as the side panel.

Replace front panel glass with it.

 

[Dr Panda]

Replace front panel glass with it.

I thought of that as well but its way harder to do. The glass is firmly attached to the frame where the buttons are. Whereas the side panel glass is just screwed onto the case. And as ive mentioned, the fan mounts are covering the fans as well. The fans are just mounted on a very weirdly shaped metal plane with randomly shaped holes on them.

 

[USAFRet]

I thought of that as well but its way harder to do. The glass is firmly attached to the frame where the buttons are. Whereas the side panel glass is just screwed onto the case. And as ive mentioned, the fan mounts are covering the fans as well. The fans are just mounted on a very weirdly shaped metal plane with randomly shaped holes on them.

"Btw the build is not finished yet. Im still waiting for my psu. Im speaking with zero experience here. Hehehe "

You're solving a problem that does not yet exist, and probably won't exist at all.

Build the thing. See what happens.