Which way to fit fans?

[DennyCraneBL]

This is probably the dumbest question I have ever had to ask, but which way do I fit two case fans in my PC?

I have two fans, one front and one back, and don't know which way to fit them.

I thought with the "wired side" facing inwards to the case, but wouldn't having two fans like that just cause a game of batting hot air around?

 

[waylander]

the fan in front should be an intake (pull cool air into the case) and the one at the back an exhaust (push hot air out).

IF you can't figure out which way to face the fan to make that happen just plug the damn things in and hold a piece of paper in front of it to see which way it's pushing/pulling air.

 

[mrmez]

Yeah, whs.

Front = intake
Rear = exhaust

 

[darkspreader]

Yeah, and side fans should blow in (intake), i think? That's the way I have mine now, one 12cm exhaust in back, one 12cm intake in front, one 12cm intake on side, and the 8cm CPU fan for exhaust. 8)

 

[enforcer22]

Look at your fan the side with the wire attacked is the exhaust side so on hte front the wired side would be in and the back the wired sie would be pointing out. front to back. side to top.

 

[twolfe18]

if you just look on the side of the fan, there is almost always an ARROW that points in the direction that it pushes air. the horizontal arrow shows which way the blades turn.

and yes, make the front the intake, back the exaust.

 

[Mondoman]

If all else fails, look at the cross-section of the fan blades. They will be "cupped" toward one side or the other. The side they are cupped toward is the side the air blows out.

 

[enforcer22]

Normaly i would have said something about the arrow but all the fans i have gotten the past 2 years dont have the arrow :-/

 

[dasickninja]

Arrows? Wha? Usually the label shows what direction the fan blows. that or you could spin it yourself to find out.

 

[tool_462]

Also, a good air cooling rule of thumb: Cubic feet of air exhausted per minute > Cubic feet of air taken in per minute

 

[enforcer22]

Arrows? Wha? Usually the label shows what direction the fan blows. that or you could spin it yourself to find out.

fans have labels? wth. you mean directions that tell you which way they blow? who are you kidding. Nothing in a computer comes with a manual that would teach just about anyone who reads it the simple basics! BLASPHAMY I SAY!

 

[dasickninja]

Man rule #1: Deny all existence or knowledge of the word manual.

 

[enforcer22]

rotfl

 

[KaderHashmi]

sorry to mess with the original authors question but the side panel fans should they definately be intake or could they be better as exhaust. Ive got 2 80mm fans on the front for intake and a really pwerful rear exhaust fan. but i want to add 2 120mm fans to the side panel and i originally intended for them to suck air out of the system. one will be positioned by the gpu and one above the cpu. is this wrong?

 

[neiroatopelcc]

I suppose they could be exchausts, but I don't think that's a good idea unless your cpu fan blows the hot air from the cpu and up (normal is sucking air down) ... else you'll be sucking the cold air intended for the cpu out of the case..

Since the gpu fan is mounted the way it is, that would benefit from side exchaust the way it is (assuming stock fan)

 

[KaderHashmi]

ok so the gpu would benefit if i put side fans as exhaust rather than intake (yes i am using the stock gpu cooler)?

with regards to the cpu - im using a titan vanessa cooler (which has a side-blowing fan unlike the zalmans) and because of the odd arrangement of my case (sansun galaxy), the fan on the vanessa heatsink blows air down the case towards the psu (psu is right at the bottom of the case and cpu is first component above it with the pci cards right at the top). there is a little gap between the cpu fan and the psu fan so i wanted the side fan to suck air out from the path of the exhaust from the cpu fan. should i rotate the cpu heatsink so it blows in one of the other directions? the manual shows the fan blowing AWAY from the pci slots so thats what ive done. ive been told that basically my case is upside-down in its layout so im a little concerned.

so what would you say - make both side fans intake or exhaust?

 

[neiroatopelcc]

I'm not sure if I imagine your cabinet right, but in my head your vanessa is blowing air down into the psu ? If that psu has two fans, that ain't bad, cause the internal fan usually sucks air in from the cabinet and thru the psu, out at the back - thus acting as an exchaust for the cpu - if it doesn't have two fans however, the only thing that happends is air hitting the psu and causing turbolence (however that's spelled) ....

I'm going to leave my computer out of sight for some hours, so I hope someone with a better understanding drops by.

Anyway, wouldn't it just be a matter of trying it out ? monitor the heat level, turn the fans around and monitor again?