Common Fan Layout Mistakes You Might be Making with Your PC Build! PC airflow tips and tricks

Show only the the right way never the wrong.

How many fans do I need for a full tower pc case?

Do you recommend Peerless Assassin 120SE air cooler or a Kraken elite NZXT AIO for a pc?

Great video!

I think it's not so clear. I have an inverted case where the gpu is above the cpu. My case allows me to install 1x 120mm front, 2x 120mm on top and 1x 120mm rear fan.

My 3 scenarios i thought for my situation are:

1. front and rear intake. Top exhaust.

2. front and top intake. Rear exhaust.

3. front intake. Rear and top exhaust.


Which of the 3 versions would be best for my situation with the inverted case?

I would think its either scenario 1 or 2 for me but i am not sure.

You mentioned gpu fans and exhaust fans fighting each other. That would be true with top exhaust for me because my gpu is mounted under the top fans with gpu fan facing upwards.
Thx for answers

1.) Fan motor arms are the push side that blows air
2.) Be mindful of putting pull side of fans too close to any object from case or heatsink. Don’t make more noise by not paying attention to suction pull side not having enough gap.

Thanks Prawn, very helpful :)

Where’s his power supply?

thanks

Front and bottom to intake and top and rear exhaust. Sounds easy enough

Bottom intake would mean all the dust from the ground coming in?

what is the PC Case used in this Video? Please let me know, it help build the new PC. My existing Case has a bottom fan and is beneath the PSU. Is it a wise choice to add a fan as intake towards MB, please let me know. thank you.

My only two options to mount an AIO cooler is either on the top, or on the front. What do you recommend? Should I mount it on the front as an intake or should I mount it on the top as an exhaust? What would give me the best results in cooling?

9 fans has to be loud

If my case only has holes on one side, the bottom and the back and I can only install one fan in the back, I should make it an exhaust, right?

Having the power supply at the bottom that exhaust to the outside, does it make sense to put the intake fans at the bottom?

I have 3 intake on front and 3 exhaust on the side (thru AIO radiator) that works guys? Guess cannot add more intake anywhere (no space on the bottom) so I cannot add exhaust at the top if I followed the logic correctly. I am already balanced atm

To be fair, wouldn't the entire test be different if you put the side panel on the case? Regardless of your fan config, if you have no side panel, your airflow will suck, right? Lol cause then there's no pressurization inside the case.

On top of a psu cover, are they intake or exhaust fans? For example the Lian Li can have two fans on top of the psu

So side fans should be intake? You didn’t mention side fans at the end

How do side intake fans interact with the front intake fans? Do they help? Or do they create a turbulence zone that impairs the airflow coming from the front?

finally a video worth my time!

I watched several videos on this topic and yours was the first to really stick with me. Thanks for explaining like I'm 5!

Case fans in general are a scam really...you will never see a great impact on cooling regardless. The components that utilize fans for cooling is another matter...

I dont get it. Whats wrong with the initial RAD fan setup pulling air through? You say its the wrong way?

In my PC everything is intake except the rear exhaust. is that ok?

i am not putting diarrhea fans in my case

What do you think about: Intake: 3x 120s front, 2x 120s bottom. Exhaust: 1x 120 back, 2x 140 top

haha. ive been building my PCs for 25 years and i have always over looked fan configs. but now that my new PC is gunna have RGB fans this issue has naturally come up and it was immensely helpful to learn which way the fans blow for optimizing my new setup. The hilarious thing is that my last rigs I just put the fans in any old ways and those rigs were amazing with no cooling issues and ran like beasts. But the more you know the better you can do... at least theoretically, haha!

I donno if I'm correct but here we go..

3 front fan: intake
3 radiotor fan: exhaust
2 bottom fan: intake and 1(I'll place in middle)exhaust.

1 Rare fan: exhaust

Total 10 fans 5 intake 5 exhaust... It that right? Like neutral airflow

Excellent video explaining fan setup and the importance of the correct fan orientation.

i have got my 3 exhaust fans on the bottom is that bad ?

what do you think in this scenario.. three 120s front intake one 140 up rear exhaust and top rad 360mm two exhaust (that near the rear 140m and one intake (near the front fans )?

Noctua is the only way to go as all other fans are for minimum wage.

Wtf are you Chyrosran22's brother?

why does every word you say sound like sarcasm? lol . Edit : nvrmnd, the appearance at the end explained everything XD

Thanks

I've done 3 top intake, 2 front intake, and 1 exhaust at the back Plus the CPU cooler which acts as an exhaust and my GPU temps stay below 60c hotspot can reach max 80c but that's it, CPU stays below 30c but this all depends on your case as well.

why don't show us the right way and call it a day?

Will it hurt if I top mount my radiator and still exhaust through the top

THANK YOU for this video!! im planning on building my first pc this year and ive been doing my best to research everything as thoroughly as possible, but for some reason i just could never wrap my head around what anyone was actually talking about when it came to fan configurations and intake vs exhaust. using the smoke machine to visually show the airflow was so immensely helpful

After you have the fans setup right, what Tom’s should the intakes and exhaust be set too? Also if you have a AIO?

I need help, so i have two intake fans on the front and i have one exhaust in the back. I decided to buy more fans and I want to install them on the top, should they be intake or exhaust?

Would you recommend Noctua fans over Lian Li fans? Performance preference, leaving out the Aesthetics SL120V2 vs NF-A12x25

Excellent Video!

Im actually building my first pc this week and im stuck on my fan setup and dont know what to do. I have a cpu air cooler with 2 fans on it and 6 140mm fans in my case. 3 intake in front, 1 exhaust in rear and 2 I was gonna use for top of my case and that is where im stuck. My cpu cooler with be exhausting to the rear fan so ill have 3 intake im front to a cpu cooler which is pulling from the front and exhausting to rear so how donI setup my top fans? Also seems I dont have enough exhaust so I wanted to do 2 exhaust in top but with my cpu cooler im confused what to do. Please help me someone.

Thank you so much!!!!

So for gaming pc should i go for positive placement or neutral?

If all else fails, I see a future for you as an airline attendant, thanks to all the directive hand gestures...lol! Great vid! I admit I had to stop and think about this when doing my build. It's tempting to defy logic in favor of aesthetics! The next big breakthrough...designing a fan where the shroud can be swapped or offer options for intake or exhaust that support your build and style. Appreciate what you do!

I have a question, I hope this gets answered by anyone if possible.

I have a coolman robin 2 mini (you can call it a poor man's lian li o11 mini, if im correct)

I run an i5 10400 and have 6 fans (3 bottom intakes, 3 top outtakes).

I was told that I dont need to have an AIO with my CPU so I stuck with an air cooler (blowing directly onto the cpu). Is that good? I was planning on adding 2 more intake fans on the side (beside the mobo), or is it just an overkill at this point?)