Cooling Question

[Skibum0832]

Hello,

I just bought an Antec 1100 case. There is the option to mount a 120mm fan on the side panel behind the CPU. My question is should this fan be sucking hot air out or blowing cool air in. I've never had the option to mount a fan behind the CPU.

Thanks

 

[FinneousPJ]

I'd use it as an intake, but I don't think I've ever seen a study on this.

 

[g-unit1111]

I'd suggest reading this article about how to setup a good cooling system: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cooling-airflow-heatsink,3053.html

 

[Skibum0832]

While I'm sure this is informative, my question is solely based on the positioning of one fan. I know how to set up the rest of my system for cooling. My problem is, I've never had a fan located on the backside of the CPU. My question is as simple as suck air in or blow it out on the Antec 1100...

Thanks

 

[InvalidError]

If you use filtered intake fans, you want to minimize drawing extra dust through other fan openings by configuring them for exhaust rather than intake.

If you configure the rear fan as intake, most of its airflow is going to go straight out the blowhole fan, which doesn't do much good. Better off setting it up as exhaust so it draws air away from the CPU.

 

[skaughtz]

Judging by the image I found of the Antec 1100 case, I would suggest blowing the air INTO the case. It would appear that this would bring cool air in directly behind where the CPU is seated. This should help dissipate heat both from the motherboard and the CPU, if only slightly. I'm not sure that aiming it to blow out would pull any heat off of the motherboard (and with the motherboard acting as a barrier, it won't create a suction to pull heat out of the case... plus, you don't want to be pulling warm air over top of the motherboard). Since the fan appears to be almost flush against the board, blowing air in would at at least give you convective heat transfer (cool air would hit the board, collect heat, and then be sucked out the back or other side.).

If you do that, you might want to aim the other side to blow air out to prevent a pressure build up in the case.

Edit: Since the fan appears to be so close to the board, think about it this way: if you burned your hand and had a fan, you would have the fan blow cool air over your hand to cool it off, or would you turn the fan away from your hand to try to pull the heat off of it?

I would definitely blow cool air onto it.