Should my Seasonic PSU fan be facing up or down?

[CxRizzle]

Just bought and installed a Seasonic 1050XP3 in a Cooler Master HAF 932 on the bottom part of the case. Normally, I would face the fan down through the vent, but, that would make the PSU physically appear to be upside down cause all the text is upside down. The instruction booklet even says to face the PSU fan "towards the main board." I do have carpet where my computer is located now so maybe having the fan facing up is okay in this situation? Should I change it and face it down? What do you guys think?

 

[13thmonkey]

I think the carpet is a bigger issue than the warm air inside the case, so i'd go fan pointing upwards.

 

[13thmonkey]

The Fan draws air air away from the board, blows it over the power supply components and vents it out the back of the power supply. If you face it towards the vent it will run fresh air through the power supply instead of warm air, which is more suitable for the supply but less so for the rest of the pc. If you have sufficient fans and vents for the pc generally it is going to help longevity of that big pricey power supply if you point the fan at the vent.

My thought on that is that as the PSU is facing carpet, it'll get furred up, which is worse that warm air from the case, or if it has a filter the filter will get furred up thus starving it of air (who would clean filters often enough), again worse than the 10C difference between ambient and case air. That's my thinking anyway.

 

[giantbucket]

place case on board
place PSU with fan down
problem solved
jesus.....

 

[13thmonkey]

place case on board
place PSU with fan down
problem solved
jesus.....

It'll still suck in fluff from the surrounding area, difficult to clean, difficult to spot, as the PSU is one of the few components with no reportable temp sensing.

 

[giantbucket]

it's a PSU fan, not a black hole. don't you people vacuum once a year to keep this mysterious fluff from accumulating? or do you all surround your computers with Persian cats?

and besides, most decent cases have a filter on the bottom. those that don't can have one added - a thin sheet of those dust wipes.

 

[13thmonkey]

the OP has got his options.

 

[CxRizzle]

Both seem viable. The carpet isn't very fluffy. My last Cooler Master PSU fan faced down. I have wheels which does raise my case an inch or so from the carpet. I feel like the hot air being blown from my 980 right into the PSU could be a problem at some point, though..

 

[giantbucket]

that's one of the reasons why i prefer a horizontal case instead of a tower - much better ventilation and no hot pockets. and no gpu sag. but how close is your 980 to your power supply anyways? it should be plenty far away. and that side fan should suck away a bunch of heat too if you have it as an exhaust.

 

[CxRizzle]

My 980 is in the first PCIe slot. So there is maybe 8 or so inches separating the GPU and PSU. I have a 240mm fan on the side but I have it as intake since hot air rises and it is one of the lower fans..

 

[giantbucket]

ya, hot air rises, but not like a space shuttle at liftoff. how in-line is that fan with the gpu? are the temps any better if you flip it around and make it as an exhaust? mind you, if the gpu is near the top of the fan, it's probably not worth trying.

but as far as power supplies, all of mine are fan-down and mounted at the bottom of the case. I think I clean the filter every 4-5 months.