proper airflow question

[Xylob the Destroyer]

I have an Antec SOHO "server" case (see it here: http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=90510#)

There are 2 fans at the rear and 1 in front, as shown on Antec's site.
Additionally, I have 1 in the 'window' that's on the side panel.
None of them were installed when I got the case, they were all in a box that was stuffed inside.

I am trying to figure out how to configure these fans.
Which one(s) should be exhaust and which one(s) should be intake??
And why??

My PC is overheating and I'd like to get it's airflow optimized.

TIA!!!

[normcar]

The front fans should be blowing in, and the rear fans should be blowing out. Usually, the CPU fan is blowing toward the CPU, so I blow the side fan toward the CPU/motherboard to bring in cool air near the CPU. In addition, on my boxes, there is another fan support for the lower HD enclosure. There should also be a filter at the front, which you will have to keep clean. I also have wired 2 addtional fans (with twist ties) to blow on the upper HD cage, and on the HDs I have in the 2 upper 5 1/4 bays. You should also use the round IDE cables for better air flow. I also use the SP-90 CPU cooler with a 90mm fan. This is the best way I have found to cool using this case, and the temps are fairly cool, (CPU at about 112F under full load), and by HDs stay fairly cool to the touch.

[rallynavvie]

If you ever get around to modding your case a friend of mine has the exact same one and we came up with a really great fan mod for it. It does involve cutting your case up though. Hopefully you've got a PSU that draws air from below and exhausts out the back otherwise this may not help. You'll need a drill bit for metal for the size of the inside diameter of a 120mm fan. When looking inside the case at the very top panel between your PSU and top 5.25" bay there will be a blank spot. Measure so that the hole you drill on top is about an inch away from the edge of the PSU, this should also keep it at least an inch away from any optical drives you installed in that bay. Buy a good 120mm fan, I recommend one of the dual-ball bearing aluminum ones as they're very durable. Also get a 120mm wire grate to go over it. You'll then need to drill the four holes around your new hole for the fan screws, then mount the fan inside the case and the grate outside the case with the fan blowing out. If you've got a DVD burner make sure it's installed in the top 5.25" bay near this fan.

His Antec TruePower PSU has a 92mm intake on the bottom of the PSU with an 80mm exhaust on the back of the PSU. He found that the larger intake fan was forcing excess hot air out the vent holes on the side of the PSU and thus had a "bubble" of hot air hanging around near where we put that 120mm fan. Not only does that fan draw off a lot of the heat the PSU puts out it also draws out heat from the optical drives as well as whatever else gets stuck up there naturally. He also got rid of one of his rear exhaust fans just so that more of the heat from the hard drives would go out the top rather than past his CPU HSF. Only downfall is gravity, stuff can fall into that fan even with the grating over it depending on where you keep the case. His is under a desk so not likely anything can fall in there, but if yours is more in the open maybe get one of the filtered covers instead of the grate. Also a good idea if you don't always keep your computer on so dust doesn't build up on the fan blades when it's sitting idle.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

ja! already planned on doing a 120mm in the top (eventually...)
I have my sound card's drive-bay mounted controls in the top bay,
under that is my burner
then the bay-mounted controls for my PSU (Antec Tru-Control 550W) with the floppy mounted in it
bottom bay is DVD-rom drive

took the whole thing apart last nite and wiped out the dust-bunny colony that had settled in
rearranged some stuff, replaced the floppy cable with a round one, and added a fan
now have 2 intake in the front, 2 exhaust in the rear, and 1 intake in the side

[normcar]

Get the compressed air bottles, they are great for keeping the dust off fan blades, heatsinks and other parts of your computer. They also scare away dust bunnies.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

oh yeah, went through 3 of them last nite
have to go back to Costco and stock up again...

[Faustus]

I have almost the same exact case design. I used to have all the fans but found it was too loud.

Either pull them all in using slower and quieter fans, or if you PSU has 2 fans (one on the back one on the bottom) use one on the front, one on the side, and one in the back. I've not had any airflow problems like that, the noise level is down, AND the temp differences was neglagable IMHO.

[rallynavvie]

It was a bitch drilling through that steel with a big cutting bit like that but I was really impressed with the heat differences after he put that 120mm on top. Almost 5° all around. I'd move your optical drives to the top two slots though so the heat they generate (which is quite a bit with a burner) gets vented out the top. Also you may want to get some files and take the razor-sharp edge off the inside of that new hole. We filed it down to an almost rounded edge just to make sure. Not like it'll do any damage once the grate and fan are on it but you may get some nasty cuts when installing it...

[Xylob the Destroyer]

noise isn't really a concern
it'll probably be a while before I get around to doing the top fan though
I'll need to save up some $$$$ to buy a decent drill and a hole-saw bit for it