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Building my computer


DaMage
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AS you might know Ive been re-building a desktop PC again. I have a few questions though that some people around here might be able to give some input on.....i know there are a few tech heads here.

1. I have some extra fans that i can attach to the board (3 fans on the case now)....What setup should I have? aka, which should be input and which should be output and where on the case should i position them. I have heard alot of different ways on how to do it. I have holes on the front, side (over the CPU) and back of the case for fans.

Thats all for now, though i'll update the thread if I get more questions.

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The best method is to have the direction of air going in 1 direction, ofc this does not apply to the cpu cooler if you have standard cpu block/fan but it does if you have a custom cooler.

I've been using the simple and effective way of, Front mounted fat pulls air Inwards, rear mounted fan pulls air out. Side mounted fans as nice as they look generally do more harm than good as they disrupt the air flow.

Also if you have a GPU with a downwards facing fan you might want to concider getting a under mounted exhaust fan that sits underneath the GPU so it can suck all of that hot air straight out of the case.

A word of advise, on the fans there is an arrow that points in the direction of air flow, most people dont even know that they are there and put the fans on the wrong way :D

I'd make you a diagram but my camera is bust and I cant be bothered to find one on the net because I'm lazy.

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Zay is right about the arrows on the side of the fan showing the direction of air flow. Front fan should pull air in, rear fan should pull the air out. On mine I have the side fan over the CPU pulling air inside to the CPU. Not only is it bringing more air to the CPU and its own fan, but it is adding air flow to the memory sticks to help keep them cooled down.

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There is really no question here.

Intake is in front and vents in the back. Any side panel fans are intake as well. Cases are designed for this, that is why the grill on the back fan slot has larger holes and the front fan slot grill has smaller holes, and sometimes a filter or foam pad for a basic filter. Any other direction and you are putting your system at risk of overheating.

Build your system first before worrying about where to place extra fans. 90% of the time, you don't need anything more then the stock fans.

My system has 2 80mm intake (front and side) and 1 120mm vent as well as my power supply's 120mm fan venting, both of which are located very close to the CPU, so helping with cooling there, a nice bonus. Then there are the obvious fans like video card and CPU.

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Thanks for all thehelp.

The reason i want to add more then just the stock fans is that the computer always overheats in the summer, so getting more airflow is important. This rig isnt important enough for liquid cooling, i neither overclock or have much extreme hardware that would need more cooling.

@Echo: the system is built, all I have ot do is replace the RAM on it next week and Im done. Ill post back if i have troubles.

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Looking at the stock fans in the sytem, it seems the fan at the back is pulling air in, the power supply draws air fro mthe back and deposits into the case. The back slot has small holes and the front holes have wide gaps...however the front fans are also covered over by the power button on the case.

what do you think?

EDIT: Also the back panel only has 1 slot for a fan, that means the entire metal parts has 4 slots for fans, two in the front (covered by the platic that hold the on/off button), 1 in the side and 1 in the back. Oh and I have 3 Fans attached, 1 is weak that was the stock fan, the other two are stonger that I took from my old desktop.

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How do you all feel about liquid cooling?

I once scalded my hand on one of the water pipes coming from a mainframe. It was unpleasant, though I felt more surprised than anything. I think I quite like the idea of water cooling on the basis that "serious" computers use it, though for me it's unlikely to have any real purpose since I'm not into overclocking.

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Given that heatsinks and fans available today are MUCH better than they were just a few short years ago.... you need to be doing some SERIOUS overclocking to require liquid cooling. I am not really a fan of introducing a potential system killer into my system in such a manner....... I do some mild overclocking, once in a while..... but, a GOOD quality heatsink is really all 99% of people need.

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Agreed folks thanks. I mainly brought it up to cover the subject. It`ll be a looong time before I can afford that much of a hot rod computer to need liquid cooling. The possibility of a leak is one of my main concerns too. There are some very affordable kits out there but as stated, the state of the art is very much better than it was and heat sinks/fan arrangements work nicely. I find it interesting that Sony brought in a whole airflow engineering team to work out the cooling scheme for the PS3 rather than going for liquid cooling. Says alot to me.

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Completely covered? Or are there slits on the sides and underneath? I've yet to encounter a case where the front is completely sealed off and can't function as an intake area.

But if that's the case, put the more powerful fan in the exhaust position, and the lesser fan on the intake position.

Also, given that possible setup, have you considered getting a better designed case?

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If there is a spot on the inside of the case where a fan was/is mounted and you need to screw it in from the front, the front panel of the case is easily removed for that purpose. Generally 2 or 3 screws on each side of the front panel on the inside and possibly plastic tabs. Main thing is to not let the front panel drop or put too much tension on any connecting wires to the front panel.

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