Antec 300 HSF and Side Airflow

[RussianCarl]

Hello, I have searched the forums and have not come up with a satisfactory response despite all the threads out there. My first question is about the side panel. Some places say intake is better, some say exhaust. I am using an 8800 GT with stock heat sink and it does run hot... is it better to have air running on it and getting swirling action going on, or drawing air from the video cards heatsink and from the front fans? The information is very conflicting.

And lastly, which direction should I align the CPU HSF? I normally have it facing rear exhaust but perhaps pointing it towards the top is better? Like I said, I am unfamiliar with these new airflow dynamics... my previous case only had 1 intake and 1 exhaust fan.

Thanks for your expertise.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The general rule of thumb is cool air in through the front bottom and hot air out the rear top with a little more exhaust than intake. It's sort of like a wind tunnel effect.

To be consistent with the wind tunnel effect, it is common for the cpu hsf to blow air toward the rear panel exhaust fan. However, some cases are equipped with an additional fan in the top panel of a case. If the additional fan is positioned directly above the cpu, then some people will mount the cpu hsf so that it blows air toward the top mounted fan. Either way seems to be okay since the general principle of bottom front to top rear airflow applies to both configurations.

Fans in side panels are normally used to provide additional cool air. Depending on the location of the fan, it may provide additional cool air for the cpu, video card, or the northbridge and southbridge chipsets.

I purchased my first computer in 1984. It had one small exhaust fan!!!

 

[RussianCarl]

Thank you for your response. It really helped me out... can't wait to put this rig (back) together.