Fan of a top mounted PSU steal air flow from a rear fan?

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MOS_6502

Honorable
May 2, 2014
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10,640
Hello.

I ordered the pieces for a budget system for myself, and I forgot a small detail, the fan of a top mounted PSU.

My configuration is as follows:

x1 Asrock QC5000M-ITX/PH (AMD A4-5000, pasive cooled processor)
x1 120mm 68 CFM intake fan
x1 120mm 60 CFM exhaust fan
x1 computer case that allows 4 fans:


  • ■ 1 front
    ■ 1 rear
    ■ 2 on the side

so, my doubt is: if I install a fan in the rear, the top mounted PSU will steal airflow from the above? if yes, it would be a good idea to use that fan as exhaust on the side?.

Regards.
 
Solution
R
You have a 15W processor there. To put that in perspective, that's much less than a quarter of the heat coming off an standard ceiling incandescent light bulb. Because of the passive heatsync you do want a little airflow in the case, but honestly, one front intake fan and your PSU operating as the only exhaust would be absolutely fine.

Airflow does become an issue for systems running multiple high speed graphics cards and overclocked CPUs. When your components are pumping out 600W+ worth of heat you need to make sure your case is pumping out that hot air and keeping a steady supply of cool air so your components don't gradually cook themselves. But 15W... don't worry about it. As long as there's a bit of airflow over your CPU...
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rhysiam

Splendid
Mar 24, 2013
4,366
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You have a 15W processor there. To put that in perspective, that's much less than a quarter of the heat coming off an standard ceiling incandescent light bulb. Because of the passive heatsync you do want a little airflow in the case, but honestly, one front intake fan and your PSU operating as the only exhaust would be absolutely fine.

Airflow does become an issue for systems running multiple high speed graphics cards and overclocked CPUs. When your components are pumping out 600W+ worth of heat you need to make sure your case is pumping out that hot air and keeping a steady supply of cool air so your components don't gradually cook themselves. But 15W... don't worry about it. As long as there's a bit of airflow over your CPU heatsync (from at least one fan), everything will be fine.
 
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thx1138v2

Splendid
Jun 18, 2011
2,172
97
22,040
Air flow will also be dependent on the arrangement of your components in the box and cable management so there is really no way to say for sure.

Try it both ways for a couple of days each way and keep records of the ambient temperatures and CPU/GPU temperatures. The use the better configuration if it makes a difference.
 
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rhysiam

Splendid
Mar 24, 2013
4,366
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26,990
If you had a 100W + CPU with an overclock and a 250W GPU it would absolutely be worth considering/trailing difference setups, but honestly, you're massively overthinking this. It's like stressing about whether you need to upgrade your car to an 8 cylinder engine because you'll be carrying 2 pillows on the backseat.
 
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