Corsair 500R Airflow

[elfbarf]

I ordered a Corsair 500R for my new build earlier and was curious as to what my best bet would be for airflow. By default it has the following:
2x 120MM front fans (intake)
1x 200MM side fan (intake)
1x 120MM back/top fan (exhaust)

I ordered 2 extra fans (120MM) as I was thinking of mounting them on top for extra exhaust but I'm not entirely sure of if that's a good idea or not. I'm also considering reversing the 200MM side fan to be exhaust and to use the top fans for intake.

Other specs/info:
i5 3570k w/ Noctua NH-D14
ASUS DirectCU II TOP GTX 670 (which exhausts air back into the case)
650W PSU mounted to take air from beneath the case
Will be removing the top HDD cage to get a bit more air in the front

Any help/advice you could provide would be appreciated.

 

[mace200200]

It's better to have more intake than outake fans because it's suppose to keep your case at a higher pressure and keep out dust (proven to work to me in the past). I'd leave the fans as they are only top and rear fans should be exhaust. Espically leave your top fans as exhaust, heat rises and the cpu is right below them, it'll take some of the warm air from the cpu and get it out of the case right away.

 

[mace200200]

1) the only thing that keeps out dust is a fan filter

2) cases are not air tight so how can they pressurized????

LOL i don't know man thats what I was told and it worked out for me when I switched some fans around for the first time a few years ago.

 

[elfbarf]

One thing I'm a bit worried about is having negative airflow as the fans I bought for the top (which will most likely be exhaust) are much better than the stock fans that come in the front of the case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553005

The 500R's stock fans seem to be 43.2 CFM each (front and rear) though I'm not too sure about the side fan.

 

[mace200200]

One thing I'm a bit worried about is having negative airflow as the fans I bought for the top (which will most likely be exhaust) are much better than the stock fans that come in the front of the case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553005

The 500R's stock fans seem to be 43.2 CFM each (front and rear) though I'm not too sure about the side fan.

Well you could always switch one of the fans you bought with a stock fan,

 

[elfbarf]

other then scythe, ive yet to see any fan brand post accurate stats on their fans. i would take the cougar /corsair stats with giant grain of salt.

Even if those stats aren't accurate I'm pretty confident that the fans that I'm buying are better than the stock fans included with the case (which tend to not be all that great).

 

[mace200200]

i replaced all the stock fans but more for noise reasons then performance.

That's weird, all the stock fans (CoolerMaster, and DiabloTek) I've ever gotten were very quite, mostly because they don't move any air. I'm sure it varies by brand though.

 

[elfbarf]

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