Question Mid tower case with exhaust fan in the front

[velocci]

Hi all, are there any mid atx tower cases where the exhaust fan is in the front instead of the back? The case will go in a cubby in my entertainment center in the basement. So the back will be covered and the basement is colder so i can use the warm are.

 

[COLGeek]

Sure. You can also just reverse the airflow direction of nearly all of your fans to work around this. The PSU is the exception to this. There are cases that mount the PSU in the front to get around this. For example.

PC - A05FN | LIAN LI is a Leading Provider of PC Cases | Computer Cases.

www.lian-li.com

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Where do you want the intake to be? Id look for a case with a front intake.
You could make the front intake fan reversed to exhaust air and the top or bottom to intake air.

Your psu will still have to exhaust out the back.

 

[velocci]

i'm looking at this case now by deepcool. hopefully I can reverse the direction of the intake fan and out fan. is it bad if the out fan of the PSU doesn't have a lot of space?

 

[COLGeek]

Flipping the fans around is trivial. Should take just a couple minutes.

The PSU will not have optimal airflow, but unless under a heavy, continuous load "should" be okay. Just be sure to use a quality make/model and don't cheap out on the PSU.

 

[velocci]

I have the Corsair RM650X. when the new PC is built, the fan may not even go on. I am probably getting the Asrock phantom Gamer 4 (i'm not a gamer), i7-9700k and already have the 1050Ti video card. I will also have one SSD and one HDD. I may connect the DVD drive to. so there is not much load there, I don't think. the fan may not even go on. but if it does, I can either pull out the case from the entertainment unit, or cut a hole in the back.

 

[COLGeek]

A hole in the back of the cubby would help a lot with overall airflow. If a contained space, the PSU exhaust will have little room to dissipate and will get sucked back into the case to eventually be exhausted out the front of the case (assuming you flip the fans as previously discussed).

Cooling is about airflow.

 

[JeffsS]

I think this a front mount and exhaust for PSU case.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1124744-REG/lian_li_pc_a05fnb_mid_towr_atx.html

Home page: to case. http://www.lian-li.com/a05fn/#/ms-9/2

 

[AllanGH]

The case will go in a cubby in my entertainment center in the basement.

Open-up the back of the entertainment center to allow full exhaust flow of both the PSU & the computer case, and keep the airflow with intake in front and exhaust in back.

I used to have a desk with a computer cubby in it, and that turned out to be the best way to deal with the situation. I originally ducted the PSU exhaust and Chassis exhaust through two 4" diameter holes sawed into the back of the cubby, and used aluminum dryer flex to keep the flow going where it needed to be; but finally just went with a cutout the same size as the back of the computer case, then pushed the chassis back so it protruded a few mm past the backing material. Cable management and airflow were then no issue at all.

 

[jsmithepa]

All I have to say is if u gonna reverse flow, reverse everything. Don't have case fan exhaust front then leave PSU exhaust back.

Exhaust front in a small case is tough 'cuz top-front where ideally u want exhaust is often occupied by removables cage.

But nothing should stop a motivated modder.

 

[velocci]

The psu fan blows the air inside the psu, not blowing air out. The way the case is, the psu fan side is facing down at the bottom of the case

 

[COLGeek]

The psu fan blows the air inside the psu, not blowing air out. The way the case is, the psu fan side is facing down at the bottom of the case

Most PSUs pull cool air in through the bottom on the PSU itself and then exhaust that hot air out its back (like where the power cable attaches). Just something to keep in mind with all of the previously stated concerns and recommendations.

 

[velocci]

Didn't think of that. The psu is at the bottom of the case and the intake fan is closer to the middle or the top. That could be a problem. It all depends if the fan goes on for the psu. Its facing down so i cant really tell.