"Wilson" said:
How do I do that? Turn the fan around and aim it toward the back of the comp
instead of into the middle? There really is no outlet in the back to run air
out the back.
Also, couldn't I just leave one of the side panels off the comp if I wanted
air to get out? My case has only a small hole showing on one side of the
comp when I remove the side panel. So the noise is not bad at all.
The side should be on the case, to "define" the airflow. If
removing the side on the case, you would want a large room fan
blowing on the computer, to simulate how effective it is to have
the side on the case. If placing the side on the computer case
makes the internal air hotter, there are not enough fans or
intake/exhaust vent area to match them. (The original Antec
Sonata doesn't have enough intake vents, for example.)
Airflow goes in on one end of the computer, and out the other.
Arrange the fans so they don't fight that relationship.
The sum of the CFM ratings of the intake fans should match the
sum of the CFM ratings of the exhaust fans. That will help a
bit with dust.
A classic configuration is like this. Air comes in at the front of the
case, down low, and is exhausted from the back, a bit higher than the
intake fan. The disadvantage of this configuration, is the two drives
in the upper drive trays are not getting any airflow. And hard drives
are the most sensitive element, from a reliability perspective, so
do the best for them first.
|\/ PSU Drive1 |
|/\ Drive2 |
| |
|\/ Exhaust |
|/\ fan |
| Intake \/ |
| fan /\ |
|-------------------------|
(rear) (front)
Depending on the computer case, there may be a lower drive bay. There
may also be a vent on the front of the computer. Moving the hard drives
only (don't have to do the CD or DVD) into the lower bay, as long as
there is a vent and some incoming net airflow, is one improvement.
|\/ PSU |
|/\ |
| |
|\/ Exhaust |
|/\ fan |
| Drive1 \/ | <--- Intake vent is most important
| Drive2 /\ | <--- Intake fan is optional
|-------------------------| (Fan to the left of the drives
(rear) (front) would be less effective.)
With an older case, I have also done this. Placed a fan on the
exterior of the computer case, to blow air directly onto the
drives. The older case only has an upper drive bay. The older
case also did not have an exhaust fan on the back, only the PSU.
By removing a couple of PCI slot plates, it is possible to make an
exhaust vent for the air to escape. The processor in this machine
is low power, so it doesn't get too hot in any case. The cooling
on this case, is actually pretty good, even though there is only
one useful fan (the front one) at work.
|\/ PSU Drive1 | \/ <--- External intake on custom
|/\ Drive2 | /\ <--- metal frame
| CDROM |
| |
<--- (removed |
| PCI slot |
<--- plates) |
|-------------------------|
(rear) (front)
Using a duct plus blowhole on the side of the computer case,
raises the question of how it affects the rest of the airflow.
If the blowhole is an intake port, the blowhole fan is fighting
against the fan or passive vent that is cooling the hard drives.
If the blowhole is an exhaust port, it may end up working against
the CPU fan, which blows onto the motherboard. (Reversing the
CPU fan is not always possible, or desirable.) I don't see an
easy answer there, as to what to do. If a CPU ducting scheme had
its own intake and exhaust holes, then it would not affect the
rest of the airflow.
"Go with the flow" is the rule of thumb
HTH,
Paul
