Airflow in a cheap case

Thimblewad · Sep 22, 2016

Soooo, I got myself this Thermaltake BlackEdition V3 a while ago, paid 30€ for it, it's pretty, a lot of fans can be put in it and I like it. I recently bought a few Arctic Cooling F12 fans (yes, 120 mm) and I tried to somewhat make an okay airflow. To give you an idea how everything is put together, I made this super-duper picture:

Blue arrows: intake
Red arrows: exhaust
Yellow? square: represents another fan that is on the side panel.

Also, to clarify why things are good this way (in my opinion): the GPU exhausts it's hot air on the side, so the side-panel fan exhausts all that air out immediately. Also, the fan on top is blowing air inside, feeding it to the CPU cooler and then it get's exhausted out. Is this a good way of putting it together? haha.

P.s.: Here are my idle temps:

DeathtoGnomes · Sep 22, 2016

There is a old saying: Heat Rises.

Its like a fan that is never there but is always running at full speed. :toast:

eidairaman1 · Sep 22, 2016

The top panel fans, back panel fan should be exhaust, bottom panel fan and front panel fan should be intake, if you have any side panel fans they should be intake. In due honesty I have 4 fans in my big case and my cpu is oc to 5.1GHz, no side panel fans at all

Thimblewad · Sep 22, 2016

Well, if I put the top panel fan to exhaust wouldn't I get weird airflow, since the CPU fan blows air in the other direction and they would both be intaking air from "thin air"? Also, wouldn't doing the same to the side panel fan mess up the airflow that is coming from the GPU? For better understanding, I can takes pictures of the PC no problem, just let me know because then I have to unplug it

eidairaman1 · Sep 22, 2016

Since heat builds at the top you have to have an efficient means of shitting it out. My case from manufacturer has the top fan as exhaust.

Ps set your front and bottom fan for a little higher speed for positive pressure.

erocker · Sep 22, 2016

Bottom and front, in. Top and back, out. You may want to use a higher RPM fan in the front as your case is negatively charged due to having more exhaust.

*Sorry heh, just noticed eidairaman1 just posted the same thing.

slozomby · Sep 22, 2016

Leonardo997 said:
Well, if I put the top panel fan to exhaust wouldn't I get weird airflow, since the CPU fan blows air in the other direction and they would both be intaking air from "thin air"? Also, wouldn't doing the same to the side panel fan mess up the airflow that is coming from the GPU? For better understanding, I can takes pictures of the PC no problem, just let me know because then I have to unplug it

do you have both fan slots on the top in use? if you are using the top as intake you should only be using the front slot to put air in front of the cpu fan. if the fan is on the back slot its exhaust. if using 2 fans they're both exhaust.

most GPU fans push air onto the card rather than pull air away from it. so the side fan is there to supply air to the fans on the card.

DeathtoGnomes · Sep 22, 2016

side fans were intended as a cheap way to direct airflow towards the video card. smaller and narrow mid-tower cases didnt have enough free space for hot air below the video card to have an adequate escape path, the side fan pushes fresh air in that direction. Bottoms fans help tremendously there too.

Thimblewad · Sep 22, 2016

@DeathtoGnomes - I have a mid tower "sleeper" and there's maybe 3-4 cm (1.2-1.6") of space between the card and the panel when the case is closed. For example: My AC Freezer Ex. misses the panel by maybe .5 cm (0.2"). Is it then a good idea to go intake?

@slozomby - As shown in the picture, only one slot on top is used. The second one is blocked by the CPU cooler. The front fan is intake, the top fan is intake and the bottom fan is intake.

@eidairaman1 - Using and old Akasa fan controller so the fan speed thing: noted.

@slozomby & @eidairaman1 - The GPU fans blow the air onto the card, but it flows out on the side of the GPU unit, which is right in the middle of the side panel fan (about 1 cm (0.4") away). That's why I think it's better that the side panel fan continues the airflow that comes out of the GPU and increases it.

I may be going to deep into this but man, I seek wisdom.

Thanks for the replies!

DeathtoGnomes · Sep 22, 2016

Leonardo997 said:
@DeathtoGnomes - I have a mid tower "sleeper" and there's maybe 3-4 cm (1.2-1.6") of space between the card and the panel when the case is closed. For example: My AC Freezer Ex. misses the panel by maybe .5 cm (0.2"). Is it then a good idea to go intake?

....

Thanks for the replies!

between the card and the bottom of the case is dead air, there is not a lot fo air flow there, if the side panel fan is mounted higher, than the case was designed for that fan to blow onto the CPU with a stock cooler. Being you have a Freezer and not the stock cooler, you can do what you like with the panel fan.

Do you have your Freezer so that it blows air out the back? or can you turn it to blow out the top?

ASOT · Sep 22, 2016

Front need if possible 2x120/140 intake,top need to exhaust air from mobo,cpu..back exhaust,side exhaust(if u want keep it clean)

Jetster · Sep 23, 2016

If you don't have bad heat issues you can have the top blowing in and only the back out. Positive pressure is much cleaner with filters

So every fan in only the rear out

Caring1 · Sep 23, 2016

Turn the CPU cooler 90 degrees so it blows out the top, then the hot air rising gets assisted on the way out.

jboydgolfer · Sep 23, 2016

About 7 years ago I bought a Thermaltake commander and even tho it was cheap it too had decent or better airflow

rtwjunkie · Sep 23, 2016

You definitely want the front and bottoms as intakes like you have. If possible, put more powerful fans on those intakes for positive pressure.

As to the top, you asked if having both top exhausts as exhaust would impede the country getting air. Simple answer: no. That's one of the reasons for the higher flow intake fans.

As has been said, the side panel has been designed to pump fresh air right onto the GPU. Try it as exhaust and intake. I have found on cases where I have a side it is more trouble and impeded airflow more than anything. Usually the top and back exhausts have no trouble removing heat from all components.

P4-630 · Sep 23, 2016

Back and top exhaust is the best way of doing it IMO.

Thimblewad · Sep 23, 2016

Hey everyone! Sorry for the late reply, working in a pizzeria is just a fantastic job.

Well, after some tinkering, I got the PC out and turned the side panel fan so it's intake. Guess what? When I do that, the side panel bends in an odd way and prevents the fan from spinning at all. After that, I removed the fan altogether, did a 15-minute gaming test and the GPU is about 2-3 °C hotter without it, so I left it as is. All other components have the same temperature.

Then, I turned around the top fan (exhaust this time around) and the CPU temps went up almost 5 °C. I believe the reason for that is that the air sucked in by the front fan isn't enough (it's blocked by 2 HDDs and an SSD) and therefore the intake on top is needed for the CPU fan to work normally.

For best understanding, I'm including two pictures of my case so you get the idea (there's no cable management and I have a shitload of stuff in my PC):

↑ The front fan's air is mostly blocked by the HDDs and SSD. ↑

↑ The CPU cooler can't be turned in any way so I believe what I have set-up now is the best way to go through. ↑

P.s.: At no point in time was I asking to have 2 fans on top, that is impossible because of my CPU cooler anyway.

Cable ties FTW

rtwjunkie · Sep 24, 2016

Well, it's not normal or best practice, but if that setup gets you the lowest temperatures, that's what you should use!

slozomby · Sep 24, 2016

looking at the picture with all the gear in it makes more sense.

the only thing I can think of that should improve airflow would be to move the hard drives up to the 5 1/4 bays. either with standard brackets or something like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DGZ42SM/?tag=tec06d-20
with the backplane you'll get a little more air in the cpu area, offset somewhat by the fact that its cooling the drives.

that way you free up the bottom front fan to pull air towards the gpu.

possibly blocking the top rear grill to force the air across the cpu heatsink.

natr0n · Sep 24, 2016

My advice run the case open like shown no case doors/panels. The only issue will be dust.

Caring1 · Sep 24, 2016

Leonardo997 said:
P.s.: At no point in time was I asking to have 2 fans on top, that is impossible because of my CPU cooler anyway.

Cable ties FTW

Not if you mount them externally to pull air out, or blow it in.

DeathtoGnomes · Sep 24, 2016

Caring1 said:
Not if you mount them externally to pull air out, or blow it in.

I was gonna say this. I did that with lighted fans in a case mod build (this case.) because the case was too small. Sometimes you have to give up on the looks to get what works well. The other option here is buy a bigger case.

I agree move those platter drives up out of the way of the front fan, and the SSD down 2 slots.

peche · Sep 26, 2016

this is a great idea for cooling on your case sir!

also the correct airflow for your case is this one:

Regards

Thimblewad · Sep 26, 2016

peche said:
this is a great idea for cooling on your case sir!
/picture/
also the correct airflow for your case is this one:
/picture/
Regards

I'd go for any of those two, but the first picture shows GPU's that have a blower fan (most probably) and I can't go with the second one because my side panel fan doesn't "fit" if I put it on intake. I have concluded that the best setup is my initial one. Of course, you all helped a lot and I wouldn't know that without you.

Thanks guys!

DeathtoGnomes · Sep 26, 2016

Leonardo997 said:
I'd go for any of those two, but the first picture shows GPU's that have a blower fan (most probably) and I can't go with the second one because my side panel fan doesn't "fit" if I put it on intake. I have concluded that the best setup is my initial one. Of course, you all helped a lot and I wouldn't know that without you.

Thanks guys!

would ya mind posting couple pics of the side panel fan mounted on both intake and exhaust?

System Name	Thermaltake
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 5800X3D @ 4.60 GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite V2
Cooling	Thermalright Peerless Assassin
Memory	32 GB Crucial Ballistix @ 3600 MHz CL16
Video Card(s)	XFX 319 Merc 6800 XT
Storage	Kingston 256GB SSD \| Kingston 240GB NVMe \| Samsung 1TB NVMe \| Samsung F3 1TB HDD \| Barracuda 2TB HDD
Display(s)	34" ultrawide LG 34GL750B 144hz 1ms \| 55" LG UR91 4k@60Hz
Case	Phanteks Eclipse P400
Audio Device(s)	ALC 1220 120dB SNR HD Audio
Power Supply	Thermaltake GF1 850 W - 80 Plus Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502 HERO Lightspeed
Keyboard	Asus TUF Gaming K3
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64

System Name	Dumbass
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF gaming B650
Cooling	Artic Liquid Freezer 2 - 420mm
Memory	G.Skill Sniper 32gb DDR5 6000
Video Card(s)	GreenTeam 4070 ti super 16gb
Storage	Samsung EVO 500gb & 1Tb, 2tb HDD, 500gb WD Black
Display(s)	1x Nixeus NX_EDG27, 2x Dell S2440L (16:9)
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Primo w/8 140mm SP Fans
Audio Device(s)	onboard (realtek?) - SPKRS:Logitech Z623 200w 2.1
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000i
Mouse	Steeseries Esports Wireless
Keyboard	Corsair K100
Software	windows 10 H
Benchmark Scores	https://i.imgur.com/aoz3vWY.jpg?2

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

System Name	Thermaltake
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 5800X3D @ 4.60 GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite V2
Cooling	Thermalright Peerless Assassin
Memory	32 GB Crucial Ballistix @ 3600 MHz CL16
Video Card(s)	XFX 319 Merc 6800 XT
Storage	Kingston 256GB SSD \| Kingston 240GB NVMe \| Samsung 1TB NVMe \| Samsung F3 1TB HDD \| Barracuda 2TB HDD
Display(s)	34" ultrawide LG 34GL750B 144hz 1ms \| 55" LG UR91 4k@60Hz
Case	Phanteks Eclipse P400
Audio Device(s)	ALC 1220 120dB SNR HD Audio
Power Supply	Thermaltake GF1 850 W - 80 Plus Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502 HERO Lightspeed
Keyboard	Asus TUF Gaming K3
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

Airflow in a cheap case

Thimblewad

DeathtoGnomes

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

Thimblewad

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

erocker

*

slozomby

DeathtoGnomes

Thimblewad

DeathtoGnomes

ASOT

Jetster

Caring1

jboydgolfer

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

P4-630

Thimblewad

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

slozomby

natr0n

Caring1

DeathtoGnomes

peche

Thermaltake fanboy

Thimblewad

DeathtoGnomes

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e-Plus Wifi
Cooling	EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 4090
Storage	WD/Samsung m.2's
Display(s)	LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case	Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s)	Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Amp, Adam Audio T5V's, Hifiman Sundara's.
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Epomaker 84 key
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Gaming Desktop
Processor	i7 6700k
Motherboard	asus rog alpha
Cooling	H110i
Memory	Corsair Dominator 16gb DDR4 3200
Video Card(s)	GTX 1080
Storage	EVO 840 500gb, EVO 850 500gb, Perc 710 Raid WD RED 4tbx4
Case	Corsair 500r
Power Supply	Antec 850
Mouse	Logitec G502
Keyboard	a cheap dell

System Name	AMD
Processor	AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600
Motherboard	B550M AORUS ELITE V1.3
Cooling	Deepcool AK500S
Memory	CORSAIR LPX 32GB DDR4 3200 CL16 B-die
Video Card(s)	PULSE AMD Radeon™ RX 6600
Storage	Samsung 980 PRO 1TB PCI Express 4.0 x4 M.2 & Seagate 2TB ST2000DM008-2UB102
Display(s)	OMEN 25i 165Hz DisplayHDR 400
Case	MATREXX 40 3FS
Audio Device(s)	Realtek® ALC1200 Codec \| Logitech Z533
Power Supply	SEASONIC FOCUS GX 650 W
Mouse	Aqirys Orion
Keyboard	Logitech G910
VR HMD	N/A Skip
Software	W11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	XXX

System Name	Juliette // My HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// ASUS RTX 4060 OC
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	G903 and a Master Mouse MM710/No mouse, MS game copntroller
Keyboard	EVGA / Logitech K400
Software	Windows 11 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	H7 Flow 2024
Processor	AMD 5800X3D
Motherboard	Asus X570 Tough Gaming
Cooling	Custom liquid
Memory	32 GB DDR4
Video Card(s)	Intel ARC A750
Storage	Crucial P5 Plus 2TB.
Display(s)	AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Mouse	Lenovo
Keyboard	Eweadn Mechanical
Software	W11 Pro 64 bit

System Name	Americas cure is the death of Social Justice & Political Correctness
Processor	i7-11700K
Motherboard	Asrock Z590 Extreme wifi 6E
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A
Memory	32GB Corsair RGB fancy boi 5000
Video Card(s)	RTX 3090 Reference
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 1Tb + Samsung 970 Evo 500Gb
Display(s)	Dell - 27" LED QHD G-SYNC x2
Case	Fractal Design Meshify-C
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus+ Gold 1000 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G502 spectrum
Keyboard	AZIO MGK-1 RGB (Kaith Blue)
Software	Win 10 Professional 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	the MLGeesiest

Processor	Core i9-9900k
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax ETS-T50 Black CPU cooler
Memory	32GB (2x16) Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX 4070 Ti Super OC 16GB
Storage	1x 1TB MX500 (OS); 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 2TB MX500; 1x 1TB BX500 SSD; 1x 6TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	Infievo 27" 165Hz @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus GX-1000 Gold
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	AlderLake
Processor	Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans
Memory	32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MT/s CL36
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2
Display(s)	23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p
Case	Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window
Audio Device(s)	Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless
Keyboard	RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock

System Name	natr0n-PC
Processor	Ryzen 5950x-5600x \| 9600k
Motherboard	B450 AORUS M \| Z390 UD
Cooling	EK AIO 360 - 6 fan action \| AIO
Memory	Patriot - Viper Steel DDR4 (B-Die)(4x8GB) \| Samsung DDR4 (4x8GB)
Video Card(s)	EVGA 3070ti FTW
Storage	Various
Display(s)	Pixio PX279 Prime
Case	Thermaltake Level 20 VT \| Black bench
Audio Device(s)	LOXJIE D10 + Kinter Amp + 6 Bookshelf Speakers Sony+JVC+Sony
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 80+ Gold 650W \| EVGA 700 Gold
Software	XP/7/8.1/10
Benchmark Scores	http://valid.x86.fr/79kuh6

System Name	Athenna
Processor	intel i7 3770 Dellided
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Rev. 1.1
Cooling	Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro + Tt Riing12 x2 / Tt ThunderBlade / Gelid Slim 120UV fans
Memory	16GB DRR3 Kingoston with Custom Tt spreaders + HyperX Fan
Video Card(s)	GeForce GTX 980 4GB Nvidia Sample
Storage	Crucial M4 SSD 64GB's / Seagate Barracuda 2TB / Seagate Barracuda 320GB's
Display(s)	22" LG FLATRON 1920 x 1280p
Case	Thermaltake Commander G42 Window
Audio Device(s)	On-board Dolby 5.1+ Kingston HyperX Cloud 1
Power Supply	Themaltake TR2 700W 80plus bronce & APC Pro backup 1000Va
Mouse	Tt eSports Level 10M Rev 1.0 Diamond Black & Tt Conkor "L" mouse pad
Keyboard	Tt eSports KNUCKER
Software	windows 10x64Pro
Benchmark Scores	well I've fried a 775' P4 12 years ago, that counts?