Correct CPU Fan Orientation with 4 Fan Case

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GaryB

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Dec 4, 2013
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Experts - I'm building a high end workstation utilizing the cooler master HAF 932 (In case your wondering, no I didn't get it because it has blue fans :)) and was wondering which way I should point my CPU fan (Artic Freezer i30). Since the case has what I assume is 2 inlet fans (side and front lower) and 2 exhaust fans (rear and top) I was thinking that the CPU fan should point upward toward the top exhaust fan so that it can draw air from both the front and side inlet fans. The alternative of course is to simply point it towards the front of the case but since its so high up it doesn't seem to get direct airflow. What are your thoughts? Upward or to the front?

Also since the case fans are 3 pin and not 4 is there any advantage to running them from the mobo (which has 8 x 4 pin fan connectors) rather than from the PSU? I know that the monitoring tools should report the RPM of the fans if they are on the mobo but that is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard if it can't actively manage the RPM.
 
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Yup, hot exhaust from cpu1 directly into cpu2 would not be ideal. If there is sufficient case airflow, that might not matter, or it could be a recipe for disaster. That is why there is no one right way to handle every setup.
Some of the best things you can do is some research, think about it, plan ahead, then monitor the temperatures under operating conditions and make adjustments as necessary.
Sounds like you are well on your way.
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2x4b

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Oct 28, 2013
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An advantage to plugging it into the MB is that the MB can alert you to a fan failure. But you are right about the rest of it.

And yes, the traditional airflow is inward from the front/side and out towards the back/top. But there is no absolute right or wrong answer. It depends on your particular setup.

Here are a couple of good Tom's articles on airflow and cooling:
Part 1: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cooling-airflow-heatsink,3053.html
Part 2: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cooling-air-pressure-heatsink,3058.html
 
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GaryB

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Dec 4, 2013
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Thanks 2x4b - I hadn't considered Fan failure certainly something to bear in mind.

As for the CPU fan I'm leaning to front to back mainly because the mobo has an extra CPU socket that I will probably utilize at some point in the future and I don't want to use up space. That said if there is a strong compelling reason to have the fan pointing towards the top and therefore blowing hot air upwards to the exhaust then I would definitely follow that course of action. Thinking about it, if I did point it front to back and then add an additional CPU wouldn't that conceivably be a bad idea since it would be blowing the hot air from CPU1 over to CPU2?
 
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2x4b

Honorable
Oct 28, 2013
775
1
11,360
Yup, hot exhaust from cpu1 directly into cpu2 would not be ideal. If there is sufficient case airflow, that might not matter, or it could be a recipe for disaster. That is why there is no one right way to handle every setup.
Some of the best things you can do is some research, think about it, plan ahead, then monitor the temperatures under operating conditions and make adjustments as necessary.
Sounds like you are well on your way.
 
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GaryB

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Dec 4, 2013
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Thanks again for taking the time to respond 2x4b - Sounds like I'm along the right lines. I read those two multi series blogs you posted above and they are great thank you. Put's a lot of background in. I think I've decided to shoot for the CPU cooler vertically since I have that huge exhaust fan on top of the case also I don't want to jeopardize my 2nd CPU when I get it - Can just see it being a ball ache to change the cooler around in the future! I'll keep an eye on the temps and make a decision to change from there if I need to. Thanks again for your help.
 
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