Case fan placement

Inigma · 14 Feb 2012

Hi all!

Hopefully this is in the right place. I have a Lexa S currently, all fans are stock atm, one at the front bottom (intake), one on the side panel (intake), one at the back (exhaust) and one on the top (exhaust). I was wondering how everyone ventilates their computer, short of using liquid cooling.

My main question was: if i were to add another fan at the top, be it intake or exhaust, would it make much or any difference? I assume you would make it exhaust, but would that be affective at all at getting rid of the heat, more so than what my current fans are doing now?

Thanks in advance! :)

ignatzatsonic · 14 Feb 2012

You'd have to test it to find out.

The larger question is why do you think you need another fan?

You appear to have 4 now, more than most people. Why stop at 5? Why not 10?

There is something called diminishing returns, but you may be one of those who thinks that 27 degrees is demonstrably preferable to 31 degrees.

Or maybe you just like tinkering.

Inigma · 14 Feb 2012

Well at the moment my cpu sits around late 30's early 40's if I remember correctly and my gfx card around the same too.

I was interested to see what other people have and their thoughts on fan cooling. Maybe someone has the same case as me and has tried adding the fifth fan.

Solarstarshines · 14 Feb 2012

Fan placement does make a differnce but there is a limit on how much fans will do after a while

I have seven tottal fans two on the heat sink 2 on top 2 on the side one in the rear and not stating the obvious my psu has a fan

Anyway i am running a crossfire set up and i have both of my cards 2 slots away from each other still makes no difference the amount of heat issued by both cards in tandem is nuts

I had readings at 90c at one point on the #1 card but after changing drivers it has gone down more then 20 c

So what i am saying to you cooling has a big impact but only so much sometimes the drivers we use will also turn the heat up a notch or bring it down more then normal just wierd that way

ProjectDan35 · 14 Feb 2012

Adding an extra fan may not make a difference. It probably would if you were producing tons of heat that couldn't escape the case fast enough.

I run 1 120mm in the front pulling air in, 2 120mm on top exhausting, 1 120mm in the rear exhausting, and a 200mm on the side panel window blowing in.

But then again since I have a fan controller, I only run the top 2 and the rear at 50%.

Layback Bear · 14 Feb 2012

If you are all ready running cool adding fans will only help a little. The only weak point with your case that I have found is the cpu cooling.
NZXT Lexa S Review - Overclockers Club
I would monitor the temps of the cpu under load. That will tell you a lot and whether or not you need more cooling. I use Real Temp for a monitoring program.

smarteyeball · 14 Feb 2012

Inigma said:

Well at the moment my cpu sits around late 30's early 40's

Stock intel cooler? Sounds about normal and certainly far from warm.

if I remember correctly and my gfx card around the same too.

Normal temp there too.

I was interested to see what other people have and their thoughts on fan cooling. Maybe someone has the same case as me and has tried adding the fifth fan.

Adding a fifth fan to that case really wouldn't make much difference tbh. You'd get more impact by replacing all the stock fans with ones that push more air.

Inigma · 14 Feb 2012

Thanks for all the input so far!

Yeah the cpu cooler is stock and is what I would expect from a stock cooler and my gfx card gets to around 65+ after playing bf3 for a while, was just wanting other opinions to see if adding another fan would bring it down.

Layback Bear · 14 Feb 2012

Temps under full load are the ones that count. Idle temps mean very little. As smartyeyeball has posted better quality fans would probably do you more good than just adding fans. Knowing the load temps exactly of your cpu and video card so we can compare them would give us a good indication of your tower cooling. Also your ambient temp are need with your load temps. Example: If you CPU and video card are hot (not overclocked) under load your case needs more cooling.
Intel stock CPU fan work well if installed properly and you are not overclocked.

fseal · 14 Feb 2012

Another possible issue is making sure that heat you are expelling out the back and top is not being sucked right back into the side or front. I.e. make sure that the computer is not boxed in under a desk, it will heat it's own air supply and run much hotter. Keep it open so that air blown out goes away from the computer. (Course your room/ofice at large will heat up eventually when gaming even at that, be sure to open a window

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