ohyouknow said:
Like stated above, mount the rad/fan in the exhaust position right by the motherboard inputs or through the roof with the fans pushing air through the radiator and out of the case. Heat rises, just remember that. Good Luck it will do much better than the stock cooler. However, the fan is fairly loud but you can always upgrade that to quieter ones.
That is the opposite of what was stated above.
bicycle_repair_man said:
A lot of people will recommend mounting the fans so they take air from inside the case, but
this isn't the best method. The warm air in the case will pass over the radiator which will warm the water.
It's better to
mount the fans so they take air in from outside the case, as ambient air is cooler. Obviously, make sure you maintain good air flow, so switch some other fans around to compensate if you have to.
Heat rises when there's no fans but the laws of themodynamic heat transfer have a much greater effect that always trumps air convection
q = k A dT / s
where
q = heat transfer (W, J/s, Btu/s)
A = heat transfer area (m2, ft2)
k = thermal conductivity of the material (W/m.K or W/m oC, Btu/(hr oF ft2/ft))
dT = temperature difference across the material (K or oC, oF)
s = material thickness (m, ft)
Whether you have the fans blowing into our out of ya case, everything not bolded above is a constant we will call C
So the formula becomes q = C * dT
Now to the question
Ambient Air = 25C
Inside Case Air = 30C
Coolant Temperature = 35C
Delta T with air blowing out of the case = 5
Delta T with air blowing into the case = 10
Exhaust Scenario Heat Removed (q) = C * 5
Intake Scenario Heat Removed (q) = C * 10
Blowing cooler 25C air thru the radiator into the case will remove twice as much heat from the coolant as blowing 30C air thru the radiator out of the case.
Pop over to OCN and look at all of the crazy folks with 2, 3 and 4 radiators .... some have 32 fans ...16 on both sides of the rads, all blowing air into the case.
My build:
Top Rad = XT45-420 w/ 6 x 140mm fans in push / pull blowing air into the case
Bottom Rad = XT60-280 w/ 4 x 140mm fans in push / pull blowing air into the case
Case Fans = (2) Front Case Fans Blowing In / (2) Side Case Fans Blowing In / (1) Rear Case Fans Blowing In
I would have had the side fans blowing out if the mounts were at the rear of the case but as they are at the front of the case, the air would just short circuit from the front fans.