Is it better to blow or suck.........?

[colincliff]

I've had a HTPC for a couple of years and i've recently transferred it to a smaller case - the Novatech Vision. Its a nice looking case and suits my hifi setup perfectly - however the airflow is much worse than the previous case.

I have two questions. I'm about to fit a case fan and the only mountings in the case are on the base at the front. There is a little clearance under the case for the air flow. The pictures below show the placement of the 80mm fan in red (the motherboard is blue). Based on the placement of this single fan is it best that a case fan sucks air in or blows air out of the case?





Second question refers to the CPU fan. Currently this sits close to the case lid where there are no vent holes. I'd like to cut a hole and fit some kind of grill for the CPU fan to get better air flow from the top. Can you buy ready made grills for which can be fitted to cases? (i've not modded any cases before)

Much obliged for any advice here

[jim]

Erm. Well. I would have to, erm. Oh, I see

Usually if you've got a case fan on the bottom, it draws air in, but with only one :/

What sort of clearance are you expecting? I presume it will be on a solid surface rather than fabric?

As for grills, IIRC KustomPC sell them, and I'm sure they're not the only ones.

[kalniel]

Presume the PSU fan is blowing out of the case, so if your case fan is on the other side of the case do the reverse and suck into the case, that'll encourage air to flow in one direction which will be better.

Don't know about grills, sorry.

[colincliff]

Thanks guys, I was wondering who the first viewer of the post might be

The HTPC will be on a shelf and has about 1cm of clearance. My initial thought was also that the fan should draw air in and hopefully expel it out the back of the case.

thanks for the KustomPC tip, hadn't really looked round that site before.

edit: kalniel - yes, the PSU is blowing out the back - i hadn't really figured that into the airflow. That makes sense.

[GoNz0]

hot air rises, go with physics and help it on its way.

[peterb]

Grills are available for all the common fan sizes. All they really are are finger guards to protect your fingers from the fan blades.

So cut a hole the same diameter as the fan, drill the mounting holes and the fan and guard are all fitted using the same holes.