Where To Mount Fans & Radiator In Fractal Design S Case

[jj_hennessy]

I am currently building a new water cooled system (my first one!) and am trying to come up with the optimal setup for my fans and radiator. I have the Fractal Design S Windowed case, which has space for the following fan placements:
TOP: 3x 120mm fans
FRONT: 3x 120mm fans
BOTTOM: 1x 120mm fan
REAR: 1x 120mm fan

I am thinking about doing it so that my radiator is placed at the front with 3 intake fans, 1 intake fan on the bottom, 3 exhaust fans on top, and 1 exhaust fan on the rear.

Is this a good idea? It is the best option from what I have seen in my research so far since I am pushing cold air on the water in the radiator and am also getting cold air from the bottom intake. Please let me know, thanks!

 

[ksham]

That is overkill on fans. You don't have to fill every available fan slot with a fan. The bottom mounted fan is definitely not needed because it doesn't help airflow.

3 in front with your radiator, 1 top, and 1 rear is sufficient enough. If not, then I suggest adding an additional radiator on top.

 

[jj_hennessy]

That is overkill on fans. You don't have to fill every available fan slot with a fan. The bottom mounted fan is definitely not needed because it doesn't help airflow.

3 in front with your radiator, 1 top, and 1 rear is sufficient enough. If not, then I suggest adding an additional radiator on top.

Is it better to have positive or negative pressure in this case? I am thinking of not using the bottom fan, but keeping the fan in the rear and the 3 exhaust fans on top so that there is negative pressure.

 

[ksham]

I prefer positive air pressure over negative air pressure because my case is cleaner that way. If you have good air flow, then I recommend positive air pressure. Otherwise, go with negative air pressure.

It's important to know that positive air pressure does not necessarily imply good air flow. Like I said earlier, you do not want to go overkill on fans. A fan may affect air flow in one way or another. To put it in perspective, think of how the air will flow if you add those fans. Ideally, you want fresh (cool) air blown in from the front, goes through your case/components, and goes out the top. So an example: a bottom fan would not help because it acts as a blockade for your front fans. It pushes air up and acts as a wall against your front fans trying to push air into the case for the GPU. A similar concept goes for adding a bunch of top fans. (If your GPU is long enough to cover most of length of the case, then it's a different story and you can use bottom fans to blow directly into the GPU.)