Top or bottom mount PSU?

IMO, and what most people like are the bottom mount PSU. One reason is that when the PSU is mounted on the top it can make the case top heavy, so the extra weight on the bottom instead of the top is always nice.

Another reason I like it is that if you can find a good PSU with a fan on the bottom of it, most cases that have okaces for the PSU on the bottom also have vents on the bottom where the PSU go. That will allow you pull air directly from outside your case into your PSU which will keep your PSU cooler and wont have so much heat in your case.

Again, them are just my opinions. Other people might like it differently though.

Thanks,
Typeo

Mine is a non-modular PSU, and it works perfect in the case I have. Well besides having a some extra unused cables that I have to find a place to put them so they don't restrict air flow, but that is not that difficult to do.

I thought I had my PSU in my Sig specs, but it looks like I forgot it. Ill have to add it now that you mentioned it.

Thanks,
Typeo

EDIT: Here is the PSU I use, and have not had any problems with it so far. I always try and get a corsair brand PSU. Ive never ran into any troubles with them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139005

Top mounted psus are:

- Easier on cable lengths and cable management.
- Theoretically harder to keep cooler
- Make most cases top-heavy.

But (except for cable lengths) it almost always depends on how the case deals with things, not just the psu.

Bottom-mounting the psu solves top-heavy and any cooling "problem". I think bottom mounted gets preference because cable management can be fixed with wire extensions (or ignored).

OTOH, I prefer top-mounted and tend to look for cases that do that properly.

Recently, though, the ability to get large video cards in a smallish case while maintaining temps with quiet air flow trumps all the other "concerns" for me.

I recently built my first machine, and went w/ the antec 300 case that has the psu at the bottom. For all the reasons posted above, I absolutely love it. It looks very clean w/ the psu at the bottom. With the case opened up, it's like everything is easyier to see and get to. Also, my pc will eventually be mounted under the desk, so having the mobo higer up, and consequently all hte i/o ports higher up on the case makes attaching external devices a bit easier.

I don't know about cooling- imo, it seems to me w/ the psu at the bottom, it will draw cool air in through it's massive fan, keeping itself cooler, than if it were mounted at the top, drawing in warm air. And that psu fan is so freakin' big, I don't see how any significant amount of heat it'll add to the ambient temp in the case anyway.

Also, I've got a few gripes with the wiring, mosty the sata power connectors that came w/ my thermaltake modular psu. The connectors are arranged to come down from the top of the case, so in my case (pun) the wires come up from the bottom, so they reach the drives upside down. They can't be flipped over. So, I've got this big loop-de-loop of wire to get juice to my hdd. That and hte 8pin mobo cable has to cross over my video card and pass right in front of my cpu hsf. I've got extension cables and sata y connecters to clean that all up on my newegg wishlist/price watch. I don't want to spend $7 shipping on $14 of product- or I'll try to hunt them down locally.

BM

Hot air rises up- BUT- there's a gigantic 140mm fan in my psu sucking it all back down and blowing it out the back of my case.

I hold my hand about an inch above my psu w/ the pc running and I feel nothing but cold air. Heck, w/ that antec case, no matter where I hold my hand I feel nothing but cold air. But- then again, I haven't really put it through it's paces yet. I've yeet to see how it handles batch processing a few hundred raw photos in lightroom...

BM

I havent put it in yet, just got it shipped, but a few reviews specifically note that the cables are a little longer, and the PSU itself should be a great, quiet, solid build:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703005

Edit- Guess I'll answer your question though haha. I very much prefer bottom mount PSU. As long as your cables reach where you need them to, you have every reason to put it on the bottom. Especially if the fan is on the back and your front case fans are directly across from it (cooling your HDD's) its great airflow.