Antec 1200 Case question (fan direction)

[msidphi]

I just bought a 5870 for my i7 920 Antec 1200 build. I purchased two extra fans to fit in the optional slots.

I was wondering which direction would be best for the side fan: is it better to push more cool air in or dump more hot air out?

Also, does anyone have pictures of where the second optional fan goes? I saw that its roughly 'below the optical drive' but don't recall seeing anything while building, and haven't see anything during a few quick google searches.

Thanks

 

[wathman]

I think the consensus is that you use the side fan as an intake. If you really wanted to be sure, just try running your system both ways, and see which way gives you the lower average temps.

 

[dndhatcher]

Side fan intakes cold air directly into the GPU intake fan. If you make it blow out you will likely suck warmer case air into the GPU cooler causing the GPU to run hotter.

 

[ubernoobie]

tjharlow on youtube did this and found cooler temps using the side fan blowing air out.
The extra fan mount is on the hard drive cage... I think

 

[dndhatcher]

There are 3 moveable 3-drive bays you can place anywhere you want into the single long 12 drive slot front cage. One of those bays has an optional (removable) bracket for holding another fan in the middle of the case, basically converting one drive bay into a two fan wind tunnel pulling air from the front into the middle of the case.


Interesting on the side mount blowing out. It probably depends on what components you have in and on what kind of cooler your GPU has. It would be easy to try it both ways.

 

[tecmo34]

The second option fan is on one of the hard drive cages. Mine was on the second hard drive cage, which I setup to blow air onto my dual GPU's. I have my side fan as intake fan and get good temps. I might play around with using the fan as an exhaust fan to see if temps get better.