Project Reality Forums

After learning how to build my first computer not so long ago, I never been a 100% sure on airflow in the case itself and would like some advice please.
I have done a good job of hiding as much wire as I could to help the air flow move around better but what I want to know is what fans should be doing what?

Here's my fans ....

2x Top Case Fans ...
(A) 140mm fan
(B) 140mm fan


1x Front Case Fan ...
(C) 120mm fan


1x H70 CPU Cooler at the Rear of the case ...
(D) H70 CPU Cooler with 2x 120mm fans H70 info.


Dont think these 2 will matter but oh well...

(E) Gigabyte GTX 580 fan


(F) Corsair 1000w PSU fan


So.... At the minute my Air Flow is like this....

Need to change/add anything?

Thanks!

I believe that E & F should be inverted in that diagram. The PSU should vacuum air in and exhaust it out the back, same with the GPU. (feel behind the case to confirm). Everything else looks ok to me

At least turn D to draw heat away from the interior.

As noted, E and F is the other way around(no way to change that). And D should be flipped to give it the best flow.

Afaik even corsair recommends to install the CPU cooler the same way as on OP's picture, not sure why but I say dont worry about it as the two 140 mil fans can suck all that heat away and that might be the reason for it, so that heat goes away faster.
( I'd just set them to be barely audible as their outake should be really ever sufficient )

F - I'd turn over the supply ( fan up ) so that the PSU fan helps to deliver some of the air to the GFX fan.
Wouldn't worry about heat from PSU as i have the ''same'' - Corsair HX, only 750W.
It depence how you stress your PSU but I doubt you ever do with 1000W supply, OC'ed CPU and one GTX580...
My point is that (over)sufficient PSU doesnt need to try too hard and thus stays cool at all times becouse its not stressed too much.

I'm however not saying that overkill PSU is always the best choice


At this stage though I recon swaping the airflow of C, as in my exp. (at least on my PC) most of the dust is getting into the PC trough the front.
Main point is to draw the hotter air outside the case, away from PSU and GFX.
The GFX getting cooled OFC by its fan but the hot air would get stocked inside of the card and thats why it has additional breathing room on each side of the card, left and right, to get rid of all that unwanted hot air.


That is why i recon moving the C fan little more up, so it can suck air from GFX on the inner side and OFC reverse the flow to get out, not in.
Also make sure your HDD is not in the middle of the C fan but perhaps at the bottom edge of it.
(looks like you'e done it that way, cannot see it properly )

I actually think it looks perfect the way it is.

The H70 fans should pull in from the back so that the CPU can get fresh cool air. As long as you don't put the computer in a dusty corner, then it should be fine.

The two top exhaust fans pull air out the top of the case and use negative pressure to pull more air from the upper half of the case. This should provide enough airflow to sufficiently cool the NB and RAM as well as quickly exhaust the hot air coming from the rad.

The PSU sucks air from under the case and exhausts it out the rear, effectively separating it's cooling from the rest of the case. This is just the way it should be as if it's fan was facing up, it would pull air from under the GPU which counteracts the purpose of the GPU's fan, this would reduce the efficiency of the GPU fan.

The biggest thing to remember here is that the GPU is completely covered in a shroud from end to end. These GPU's are built to pull air in from their fan, this then forces it through the shroud, which is covering the heatsink, and out the back of the case. It's similar to the PSU in that it works well on it's own. The only thing that could really help it is a fan blowing air towards the GPU's fan to make sure it has a constant supply of fresh air, which is why I think the front fan should remain as it is.

The front fan pulls air in from in front of the case and directs it towards the lower half of the case. As the air travels towards the GPU, it passes over the SB and helps keep it cool. The air shouldn't be much hotter than it was at first, so the GPU is now pulling in that constant supply of air. The excess air should just flow right out the back through those slotted expansion slot covers. The reason I say "should" is because, if the GPU is under load and getting hot and the fan spins up really fast, it might be possible that it pulls in more air than the front fan can provide and then starts pulling in from the expansion slots. I'm not entirely sure if it would actually do that, but if it does it shouldn't be a problem.

It is of course possible to reverse the front fan and blow air out to cool the case using negative air pressure, but I don't think there are enough holes in the right places on the case for this technique to be effective. With the front fan pulling in, and the top fan (B) blowing out, it should also ensure that a decent amount of air flows up through the drive bays in case those components do need a bit of air.

So, long story short, keep it the way it is. Hope I helped.

Here's what I would say.

Thanks for the advice everyone much appreciated!

Ok I have edited the Airflow picture becuase I did not know that the GPU and the PSU worked like that. (in from the bottom, out the rear)

As mentioned by Beee, Corsair recommend having the H70(D) intaking air to the radiator then out the other side into the case. But Corsair aint always right with there own products I suppose.. Maybe I should do some trail and error with this?

Turning the PSU(F) upside down so the fan on it is blowing onto the GPU(E) seems a good idea but doesnt seem normal and im thinking that could damage the PSU itself?

Switching the front case fan(C) so that its taking air out the case seems abit daft because atm its cooling my HDD and possibly the GPU like whatshisname55 said.
Also moving the front case fan up is a no sadly, there is a big enough space for it but no where to mount it. I have a spare 120mm fan, just no where to mount it. Unless you can buy somthing to do that I dont know

Cheers for the comments

Mad-Mike wrote:Turning the PSU(F) upside down so the fan on it is blowing onto the GPU(E) seems a good idea but doesnt seem normal and im thinking that could damage the PSU itself?

The PSU sucks air in from the big fan, as shown in the edited image. Turning it upside down would cause it to pull air away from the GPU.

The latest edits looks right. I would have put D the other way around to blow the hot air out of the case, but if the manufacturer recommends otherwise they probably have a reason, and I'd go with that.

Everything except D is how I would mount it. The PSU as it now is takes air from outside and shoves warm air our the back, which is good.

The only thing I see that could be changed is to add another intake fan above C. Would help create a positive airflow so that dust doesn't settle in your case. Otherwise everything looks good.

Zrix wrote:The latest edits looks right. I would have put D the other way around to blow the hot air out of the case, but if the manufacturer recommends otherwise they probably have a reason, and I'd go with that.

Dougalachi wrote:Everything except D is how I would mount it.

Im going to do abit more research on the Corsair H70(D) to see why they recommend intaking air.

Q2M100 wrote:The only thing I see that could be changed is to add another intake fan above C. Would help create a positive airflow so that dust doesn't settle in your case. Otherwise everything looks good.

like I noted in a previous comment, I have enough room for another fan at the front of the case above (C) but there is no where to mount it.

I reckon they recommend taking air in from the outside because it will be inherintly cooler, and if you want the best cooling over the radiator, then blowing cool air over it rather than tepid air from inside the case is probably beneficial. Not sure about the rest of the system, but tbh, the warm air going over the CPU itself won't affect it as it is covered by the huge heatsink.

I have a noctua C14, and that blows air at the CPU itself from top down e.g
outside->[x]->||->[x]->(CPU). (from a cross-section view). It does not heat the CPU as the heatsink acts as a barrier and air is awful at conducting heat, and therefore does not affect it as much as the heatsink fluid taking heat away.

Not sure about the whole upsidedown PSU, I'll have to give that a go sometime, and see if it decreases the temps of my GPUs, but that'll have to wait till Xmas hols...

Tom's did an article a few days ago that might give you some insight: How To: Properly Plan And Pick Parts For An Air-Cooled PC, Part 1 : Back To Basics On Cooling

Thank you, that is really interesting.