# Best Fan Setup for this case?



## XBloodyR (May 20, 2017)

Hello all, I do not know how to setup my fans anymore and need some advice.

Case: BitFenix Aurora
Fans: 4x 140mm BitFenix Spectre Pro + the included one in the case could not find out the name but it is supposed to have around 1200 rpm and is 120mm.
The Cpu cooler is the stock ryzen 1700 cooler and the psu is 550 Watt XFX XTR Series Modular 80+ Gold.
The included 120mm fan is the only one that would fit the rear so I have to keep it there.
Positive or negative pressure recommended? I want to overclock the cpu to about 3.8 or 3.9 Ghz if possible.


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## jboydgolfer (May 20, 2017)

i run positive pressure, that way heat is dissipated quickly & easily.


or you could go with something like this......depending on desire for + or - turn the rear or top fan(s) accordingly


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## FilipM (May 20, 2017)

Positive pressure always, plus it helps fight the dust.


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## P4-630 (May 20, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> i run positive pressure, that way heat is dissipated quickly & easily.



Uhmm... Thought positive pressure is more air getting in and less getting out..
With positive pressure your hardware may run a little warmer because the air out is slower than the intake fans but there should be less dust building up.


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## jboydgolfer (May 20, 2017)

P4-630 said:


> Uhmm... Thought positive pressure is more air getting in and less getting out..
> With positive pressure your hardware may run a little warmer because the air out is slower than the intake fans but there should be less dust building up.



dust = clogged = heat(maybe more prominent in builds using RAD's)
honestly Neutral is what you Should shoot for, but this is kind of like the whole "proper TIM application" deal...im not going there.

@XBloodyR
if You'd like, this Angry teenage Girl made a video about Case Air Pressure, but as with anything, I'd take it with a grain of salt, take from it what You need, leave the rest


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## Caring1 (May 21, 2017)

P4-630 said:


> Uhmm... Thought positive pressure is more air getting in and less getting out..
> With positive pressure your hardware may run a little warmer because the air out is slower than the intake fans but there should be less dust building up.


That would be true if the case was a sealed box with only openings for entry and exit fans.


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## XBloodyR (May 21, 2017)

Thanks everyone, 
what i do not really like is the middle top fan i think it is pushing out air before it can even get to the components or am i wrong on this? I guess i am going to test if the temps are better with or without that one. Maybe it could serve as intake?


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## RejZoR (May 21, 2017)

FilipM said:


> Positive pressure always, plus it helps fight the dust.



This positive pressure is pile of BS if you ask me. I have a positive pressure setup with 2x 140mm intake and 1x 12mm exhaust and I get bunch of dust in the case.


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## P4-630 (May 21, 2017)

RejZoR said:


> This positive pressure is pile of BS if you ask me. I have a positive pressure setup with 2x 140mm intake and 1x 12mm exhaust and I get bunch of dust in the case.



Yeah I've tested this as well, I also had dust build up within a week anyway (even while I use modified dustfilters for all intakes)...
I have it now back to a little more air going out than in, this seems most logic to me so that heat can get out quickly.

I use an air compressor once in 3 months or so to blow out all the dust.


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## FilipM (May 21, 2017)

The amount if dust I had in a week inside the case, now it is 3 weeks once I altered the fan speeds. System temps remained the same, maybe 1-2C variance in each direction, depending on the component. My dust filters however get dust on them faster now.


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## RejZoR (May 21, 2017)

Same. I've configured it in such a way that It's quiet and delivers enough cold air in and gets hot air out fast enough. For me it's actually the air route that matters more, so ho air goes into the case, warms up and exits the case.

Ideal is actually 1:1 ratio of intake and exhaust, so that air passes through quickly and takes away the heat. I actually think positive pressure is actually worse. If you think of it, you're forcing in more air than case can exhaust it. This means heat on top will most likely circulate down below, heating up graphic card even more then it would by just passing through quickly. Exhausting more than you intake can't make a vacuum so that's not an issue and the air will force itself in through the biggest holes, which are the intake fans and not the super thin cracks where side panels are attached.


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## dont whant to set it"' (May 21, 2017)

I'd say positive airflow at 1.1-1.2/1 ratio, considering incase turbulence or negative incase air pressure if no to minimal obstructions in the passage of air , which would almost mean ducted intake, personaly I give it a once a year (at least) dust cleanup without worrying.


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## FireFox (May 21, 2017)

P4-630 said:


> With positive pressure your hardware may run a little warmer because the air out is slower than the intake fans



I didn't get that


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## P4-630 (May 21, 2017)

Knoxx29 said:


> I didn't get that



With positive air pressure you have more air coming in than out.

I'm currently using a slight negative, little more out then in (which most people have I think).


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## FireFox (May 21, 2017)

P4-630 said:


> With positive air pressure you have more air coming in than out.
> 
> I'm currently using a slight negative, little more out then in (which most people have I think).



Would you mind to explain me what is Positive and negative pressure

Note: I have 2x 14mm front 2x 14mm top and 1x 14mm back, what is that, + or -


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## jboydgolfer (May 21, 2017)

Knoxx29 said:


> Would you mind to explain me what is Positive and negative pressure
> 
> Note: I have 2x 14mm front 2x 14mm top and 1x 14mm back, what is that, + or -


if your intake fans out number your exhaust fans its a + pressure, if exhaust out number your intake, its - pressure.


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## P4-630 (May 21, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> if your intake fans out number your exhaust fans its a + pressure, if exhaust out number your intake, its - pressure.



Doesn't necessarily mean _more_ fans but _more_ _airflow_ going in than out is positive pressure.
(One high rpm fan with high cfm could produce more airflow than some 2 low rpm fans)


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## jboydgolfer (May 21, 2017)

P4-630 said:


> Doesn't necessarily mean _more_ fans but _more_ _airflow_ going in than out is positive pressure.
> (One high rpm fan with high cfm could produce more airflow than some 2 low rpm fans)



okay, my point is really no different, no i didnt account for EVERY possible situation, but the point i made was the basic idea. i dont know how You get air in & out of Your case, but most of us use fans.i cant account for every varying type, spec, etc.im FAR too lazy.

more in than out = poistive
more out than in = negative

is that better?


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## FireFox (May 21, 2017)

That's mean i have negative pressure.


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## jboydgolfer (May 21, 2017)

Knoxx29 said:


> That's mean i have negative pressure.



 It really is dependent on a case to case basis. If you have sufficient dust filters or a fairly dust free environment the importance is greatly reduced.  Your best bet is to go for something with neutral pressure neither positive or negative.  if I had to go with one of the other I personally (because of my case and because of the environment my PC is in)  would go with a positive set up because it is harder for dust to accumulate , and my radiator (280mm)  is right behind my front bezel.after two or three months of operation when I blow it out with a shop-Vac, it looks like I'm blowing out a 300-year-old Pirates chest


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## FireFox (May 21, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> If you have sufficient dust filters



I don't use dust filters because i live in the 21th floor not dust at all.


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## jboydgolfer (May 21, 2017)

then your only concern is cooling. set it up with the closest to neutral (or negative if you have to choose one), and your golden.


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## FireFox (May 21, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> then your only concern is cooling. set it up with the closest to neutral (or negative if you have to choose one), and your golden.



As said before i have 2 front in, 2 top out, 1 rear out, is it ok?


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## jboydgolfer (May 21, 2017)

@Knoxx29
Fine. Id try the rear one as an intake, see how it runs that way.  Worst case scenario you can always switch it back. I realize that it would give you a positive pressure, but I don't focus so much on what theoretically should work ,I just try and stick with what does work in reality.

 My reasoning behind that train of thought is, no one on the Internet can say with  any certainty that a certain fan set up will or will not provide a better cooling environment. There are just too many variables between case type, ambient temperature, environment which the PC is housed in etc.Long story short, do what best suits your situation


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## FireFox (May 21, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> @Knoxx29
> Fine. Id try the rear one as an intake, see how it runs that way.  Worst case scenario you can always switch it back. I realize that it would give you a positive pressure, but I don't focus so much on what theoretically should work ,I just try and stick with what does work in reality.
> 
> My reasoning behind that train of thought is, no one on the Internet can say with  any certainty that a certain fan set up will or will not provide a better cooling environment. There are just too many variables between case type, ambient temperature, environment which the PC is housed in etc.Long story short, do what best suits your situation



Fair enough


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## DeathtoGnomes (May 21, 2017)

Negative or Positive pressure doesnt matter as much anymore. Airflow is what truly counts.

Pressure mattered eons ago when optical drives and 1.44 floppy drives permeated the cases. A negative pressure case mean any dust was getting inside these components and dust would build up in every crack and corner inside the case. I used to have pics of these cases I cleaned. Neg pressure also meant that your CD and floppies could fail to work as intended at anytime without notice. Positive pressure reduced the problems almost exponentially.  Now that we migrated away from floppies and CD/DVD are not so common, case pressure is not as important as it once was, its still should be considered when combating dust. Just dont forget to use something for filtering air.


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## XBloodyR (May 21, 2017)

So I think the right setup in my case would actually be negative pressure with 2 front intake with filters  and 2 top + 1 rear exhaust although i think i will give the middle top one less speed so the cool air can flow a little further into the case to do its job. I was really sloppy on cleaning out the dust in the past and would have literally piles of dust on almost every component and to be honest it did not really do anything even the temps did not seem to be significantly lower after cleaning it up.
So i guess i will clean it more frequently just to be sure and get my negative pressure going.


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## dont whant to set it"' (May 21, 2017)

"whatever floats your boat" ,consider the PSU and it's fan if equipped.


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## DeathtoGnomes (May 21, 2017)

XBloodyR said:


> So I think the right setup in my case would actually be negative pressure with 2 front intake with filters  and 2 top + 1 rear exhaust although i think i will give the middle top one less speed so the cool air can flow a little further into the case to do its job. I was really sloppy on cleaning out the dust in the past and would have literally piles of dust on almost every component and to be honest it did not really do anything even the temps did not seem to be significantly lower after cleaning it up.
> So i guess i will clean it more frequently just to be sure and get my negative pressure going.


Also, if you add filters to the intakes, some might say its cutting intake airflow in half. 

Try to keep it balanced out, it doesnt have to be perfect, even if it means turning off the rear fan.


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## Komshija (May 22, 2017)

Two fans in the front and two in the rear (back side + top side towards the back) will be fine.


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## FireFox (May 22, 2017)

I have a question regarding Watercooled Machines: having CPU and GPU watercooled wouldn't be enough just 2 fans?


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## DeathtoGnomes (May 22, 2017)

Knoxx29 said:


> I have a question regarding Watercooled Machines: having CPU and GPU watercooled wouldn't be enough just 2 fans?


Depends on too many things, like combined ratings, without OC'ing.


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