Airflow/ventilation question

[darious00777]

Is it generally a better idea for air cooling to have a good opening in the front and pull the air through the system, or just pull the front off and leave the side open?

Secondary question. Would having a small fan (about a square foot) blow air at or pull air away from the case with the side open make much of a difference for keeping the system cool/stable?

Thanks.

 

[Crapola]

It's always better to pull the air in thru a fan than not having the fan. It creates better air flow... But, make sure you have an exhaust fan on the back... Remember, you want to create an air flow....

If you can't get it cool enough having, and I have done this in the past, you can open up the side and have a fan blowing on it to keep the comp cooler. But, it does get really loud... not to mention, unattractive...

8O

 

[69camaroSS]

It's a really good idea to vent the top of the case. Heat rises and collects up there, especially if you have a top mounted Power supply. Otherwise a good case is designed to provide good cross flow over components. Trust the design and beef it up with more fans if you need to.

Some cases are designed to pull in through the sides and some through the front. Most cases exaust out the rear, espeacially mid tower and full tower cases.

If you have a plastic case then removing the cover may help. If it is aluminum, then the heat tranfer is pretty good naturally.

You can also add inserts for unused 5.25" slots that let air in through the front. These are cheap and effective.

 

[darious00777]

So if I've got all that taken right, leave the system as is. If temps are too high, and everything is working properly, try and add a fan on the top to pull air out. If that doesn't do it, or after adding thing, beefing other parts up, put in a side fan to intake. Worst case scenario only would be to open the case up an have a fan pointed on it.

Thank you much, I think that info will come in handy in the future. Wouldn't mind giving that top fan idea a try. Always wanted to mod a case.


Addition:

Does anyone know of a good fan for an AM2 board that can run an X2 chip at load 24/7 that's reasonably priced?

 

[69camaroSS]

Not arguing with you. . . just agreeing with what you said.