# Which one should do which?



## Alexm22191 (Jun 6, 2009)

I have a fairly standard mid sized case with a fatty (sluggish) side fan and a fast 120mm rear fan. there aren't any more slots for fans.
which one should be exhaust, which one should be intake?


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Allo Alexm :wave:

The side-fan should blow in, the rear-fan should suck out :smile:


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## Alexm22191 (Jun 6, 2009)

that is the current set up, but the cooling power is week. during light gaming it usually hit like 40-48 Celsius. or is that not bad?


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Do you mean the CPU temp.? The max temp depends on which CPU you have, but 40-48C appears to be inside the specs for most, if not all CPU's.


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## Alexm22191 (Jun 6, 2009)

the cpu temp usually stays below 40c. the system temp ranges from 40-50c during light gaming.


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

The easiest and cheapest way to help cool the insides, is to tidy the cables up, especially if you have any IDE-drive ribbon-cables, they can block or divert some major airflow if left dangling all over the place.

Also clean out all the dust you can find, dust-bunnies often breed between the heatsink-vanes on the CPU - A tin of compressed-air and an artists paint-brush is excellent for that, it's easier if you can remove the fan off the top of the CPU/heatsink. DON'T remove the heatsink itself, you'll need a special thermal paste for it to work, when reseated.

Alternatively, you could replace the slow fan with something more powerful.


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## Alexm22191 (Jun 6, 2009)

Actually my wires are extremely neat and out of the way. It doesn't even have any ode cables, just sata. Also, the computer is brand new, I just built it. I think the problem is the slow side fan, which I might replace soon.


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Fair enough, that saves a lot of boring cable-tidying :grin: 

It'll be worth replacing that slow fan soon, before the dust starts collecting :wink:


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