Airflow with Antec 300

hispeed120

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Hey guys,

I'm revamping my old rig slowly but surely, and I have a question regarding fans and airflow. I just picked up an Antec 300 case and an Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7 for my old 64-bit P4 processor. I'm wonder which fans I should get for the front of the 300 case, if I should get a fan for the side vent to bring cool air in, and if I should replace the stock rear and top exhaust fans.

I've also got an ATI X800XL (soon to be HD4870) and a HT Omega sound card, along with tv tuner card. I'm also planning on getting a new power supply (CoolMax CUG-700B 700W modular power supply). Eventually will be upgrading the mobo to support a Q9450.

I'm not opposed to spending a little extra money to get good fans (quiet and good air flow), but I don't need fancy LED lights. Variable fan speed is somewhat desired, but I don't know how to set it up (though I'm sure I could find it).

Thanks for any suggestions in advance.
 

ches111

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You might want to have a read here:

http://forum.X*C*P*U*S.com/ask-gurus/12366-proper-air-flow-pressure-computer-cases.html

For some reason I had to asterisk that out as the name of the forums, as it is in the exclude filter.

Just remove the asterisks and you will have some good information.

The thread has a lot of information that is directly applicable to your issue it is just on a diff site. It discusses the benefits of both Positive and negative air cooling.

Hope that helps.

To the mods we should be able to link to helpful information on other sites. The Link given will help this member with his/her question.
 
The Antec fans that come with the case are more than adequate. Both in quality and cooling capability. Add a couple more 120mm fans and use 4 x 120mm plus the 140mm and you have great case cooling.
 

ches111

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Actually Badge.. Adding additional fans will only help if done right...

In fact it could end up being detrimental to the build if the RIGHT air is NOT flowing to the RIGHT places..

Also do not want to create DEAD SPOTS in the wrong area of your case.
 
Try the basic case first. The Antec 3 speed fans are quite good.
You will find that noise is most directly related to the rpm's of the fan.
There other factors of a more esoteric nature.
If you want to add some, I would start with some front intake fans.
I am not a fan(pun?) of side fans, since I think they disrupt a nice front to back and bottom to top airflow.

An easy way to control fan speeds is with a Zalman fanmate, about $7.
I think fan noise is less obtrusive if it is constant as opposed to ramping up under load.
 


Hi Ches111. I have three of the cases. 4 x 120mm plus 140mm work better than expected. The strong point of the case is it's ability to keep the system cool. I have one system using AMD 64 4000+ and a Radeon 1800XT. The system has never ran cooler than it does in the Antec 300 with a full load of case fans. I have no reason to remove or change any of the fans I have currently. I read the x...S article. I built this system before that article was written. I was surprised at the cooling ability the case provides. As good as my Antec 900, or any case I own for that matter. I own twenty five cases. :sol:

Edit: A few of the cases laying around are old DELLs or similar. Stuff people have left me with after I built them a system. The Antec 300's really do a great job cooling. I have two brand new in the box waiting to build for the next guy whose HP smothers itself in dust. LOL.
 

Zorg

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I agree with badge. I just built one with a 300 and it cools well. I would throw one in the front, and possibly one in the side to give a little extra air to the VGA if you want. The Antec Tricool Double Ball Bearing fans aren't the best or the flashiest but they are all you need, and they are relatively cheap. You can adjust the speeds for noise and flow. I set them on medium, it's a nice trade off.

Keep the rear and top fans. I don't know if they are sleeve bearing or not, but it doesn't matter they work fine. They might not last quite as long, but who cares.

If you think the fans are too loud then you can go for the super quiet ones. I think you will find a balance though.
 
Right, the side is to give the VC a direct source of fresh air to draw from. I use a couple of cases currently (one a Lian Li) that have no VGA side fan mount available. I had to velcro an 80mm to the floor blowing up under the VC to get some direct air for the card's fan to pull. I go through this with every build it seems. Cooling the system I mean. Antec Three Hundred=very nice cooling solution to start with. Especially if you are on a budget the case is a very nice solution. I paid $39 for my third one.
 

starkie24

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If you are looking for some good quality fans Yate loon have some very powerful fans that push through a lot of air per minute but may prove to be a little noisy opposed to something like silenX who have fans that are both quiet and powerful.
 
Well, it was my first attempt at painting a case. I sanded it down about four times after painting it! You know, used an eraser :lol: I never got it like I wanted it, but for now it has a trial home server in there. Looks fast. :lol:
 

ZOldDude

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If you -remove- the exit fans grill(s)/gaurd(s) then you remove what is called the Air Dam Effect and gain about 80% more airflow.

Side fans "swirl" the air inside the case and disrupt correct airflow patterns and tend to slow down the removel of warm air....a non fan vent allows cool air to enter over a warm area such as GFX cards or CPU (some case have a free air velocity stack above the CPU cooler area).
I avoid side fans on the vents.

The vents will work as intended as long as the exit air flow pressure is greater than front intake pressure.

Best bet:
Remove the exit grills/gaurds.

The old 7 unit game LAN setup listed in my forum profile ran 4-6C over room air while they had a 50% overclock.
 

Grimmy

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I'd say it depends on the build.

If using a tower HS with a video card that uses the 2nd slot for pushing heat out, the a front to rear is the airflow you want.

If your HS is stock, and if you have a video card that does not vent heat out, then you have to try a different approach in getting airflow to push out heat, or pull out heat.

I used to have a side fan mount, but I had a crack in the plexiglass. I've replaced it, so it no longer has a side fan. I still find the traditional airflow (front to back with more neg pressure) seems to work best. But then it really depends on the way the case is designed, so what works best for one of my PC cases, will not work as well on another.

For a different example, if you have vents near the rear exhaust fan, say the side panel, the rear exhaust fan will not work well, since its not pulling air from the front, but rather through the nears vent. So if you don't plan on using a side vent, it's best to block it off, so you can bet better neg pressure to to force air in from the front.

Just my 2 cents.
 

DXRick

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Good point! I have a P4 3.0 Northwood on an Intel mobo running at stock speeds. First, the CPU would quickly overheat when running a game. So, I replaced the CPU cooler with a Zalman. Then the memory zone would overheat. So I rigged another fan to blow down on the memory. Other than that I just have the one 120mm rear fan (which I had to replace when the first one failed). Now my temps in all 3 zones never exceed 40C.

 

hispeed120

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Wow, thanks everyone for the info! Since my PS is on the bottom of the case and will have a fan blowing air upward, should I plug the side vent? I'm goign to order two 120mm fans for the front, and keep the stock rear and top exhaust fans. I think since the rear 120mm fan is higher up (above the GFX card), it will take the airflow from inside the case more than fro mthe side vent?

I'm still a little fuzzy on which fans to get for the front to optimize airflow while still ensuring quiet operation.

Thanks.
 
Your PSU fan sucks air in the top or back, and sends it out the back of the case. You may have to mount it upside down to ger some clear air, but that is no problem, they are designed to go either way. The PSU takes care of itself, cooling wise, and no more. Do not think of it as helping case cooling.

If you want to get a front 120mm fan, look for one that runs at 900 to 1200rpm. It will be quiet.
If you have doubts about this, get one that runs 1500-2000 rpm, and a zalman fanmate which can adjust the speed down.
 

hispeed120

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I'm not so sure. The COOLMAX CUG-700B 700W PS that I'm getting doesn't seem to have any exit fan for the rear, only out the top.
 

Grimmy

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I've never... seen a PSU that pushes hot air back into the case. What you see is an intake. You don't have to have a rear fan for an exhaust, it just pushes hot air out.

So you basically will have the PSU trying to pull air down, while the video card is trying to pull air up.

So a side fan would be needed to push air in between the 2.