Cooling in or out?

[FC360]

I just got a new graphics card and want to put a bit of extra cooling into the case so it doesn't over heat and was wondering what would be the best way for me to do this? The case currently has 3 fans, 1 on the PSU blowing air out, 2 at front with 1 blowing air out and the other blowing air in so would having a fan/fans on the back be blowing air into the case or blowing air out of it?

 

[rolli59]

The two in the front should both blow in then add a fan in the back that blows out.

 

[COLGeek]

The two in the front should both blow in then add a fan in the back that blows out.

+1 to rolli59. You are trying to get airflow pulling cool air in through the front and exhausting hot air out the rear of the case. Right now, your front fans are actually fighting with each other and aren't helping you very much. Fixing the front fan config may allow you to not have to do anything else.

Good luck!

 

[boiler1990]

A side fan over the GPU will also help (if your case supports a side fan), since it will be pulling cooler air from outside directly into the GPU.

 

[FC360]

unfortunately my case doesn't support a side fan which is ashame as that would be perfect especially if it was big as the graphics card is near the bottom of the case due to the big amount of space between the cpu cooler and the PCIe slot where the card is.

I've taken my front panel apart and found that both fans are infact blowing air into the case which is interesting as it felt like 1 was blowing air out but oh well, just going to get a fan to suck air out of case as suggested thanks everyone

 

[COLGeek]

Adding a rear fan will do wonders to get the hot air out of your case. Good luck!

 

[FC360]

I've had a fan in back of case for a couple of weeks however it's not made much of a difference to the temperature as it's not really doing much but it's making it ever so slightly cooler, about 1-5 Celsius. I think the problem is that the Graphics card is pointing down and there is no fan under it to take air out, will have to buy 1 of those pci fans. Thanks for your help everyone

 

[boiler1990]

5 Degrees is somewhat substantial, though it depends on the original temps and the model of GPU. Can you provide a link to the model/design of the card?

 

[chesteracorgi]

The best airflow is bottom intake and rear & top exhaust. Don't provide cross currents as they interfere with good rational airflow. COLGeek is correct. Try his solution and see if it helps.

 

[jsc]

A side fan over the GPU will also help (if your case supports a side fan), since it will be pulling cooler air from outside directly into the GPU.

A side fan over the GPU may help.

Side fans sometimes help and sometimes do not. The only way to know for sure is to try both configurations and use the one that gives the better cooling.

In my case (Antec 900's), side fans do not help.

 

[boiler1990]

I was assuming it was a reference model GPU, which for most cards would intake air from the case and exhaust it out the expansion slot.
Thats why I asked for the GPU model.

 

[FC360]

I have a Asus AMD 6850 DirectCU which I believe blows air out the side of the card, so in my computer case is blowing the air down to the bottom of the case.

I do have 2 fans in the front of the case at the bottom blowing air in and the fan on the back is I believe slightly above the highest front fan and is at the same level as the cpu heatsink so it's mainly taking the hot air emitted by the cpu out of the case. The original temperature was 69C while I was playing Starcraft 2 and is now around the 64C which tends to be the highest it gets to. Also my case doesn't support a side fan and are these any good?

Here is a image of it, the picture was taken just before I installed the back fan: