# [SOLVED] pc air cooling



## gameloser (Feb 22, 2012)

hey guys. can you plz tell me the minimal number of intake an exhaust fans i need to cool my pc. heres my rig:
cpu:intel core i3 3220 3.3Ghz
gpu:sapphire hd 7770 1gb oc
ram:8gb ddr3
hdd:1Tb wd
i'm going to use the pc for gaming.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

*Re: pc air cooling*

The minimum would be a single, high performance exhaust fan on the upper rear of the PC, along with filtered venting on the front, bottom and/or sides. In a gaming system, you should also have an intake on the lower front.


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## gameloser (Feb 22, 2012)

*Re: pc air cooling*

only. i was planning on installing two intake fans at the front one exhaust fan at the upper front ant two other exhaust fans at the top.is that a bit too much?


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

*Re: pc air cooling*

You do not want the exhaust on the front. I suspect that what you describe will create a 'hot spot' in the lower back corner of your case where a pocket of warm air never gets changed. Note, that this is the location of your graphics card. Try to keep to a front-to-back, bottom-to top air flow. 

Are five fans too much? Impossible to say, but entirely unnecessary with your hardware. Even over-clocked, you won't be producing much heat.

If you really feel the need to have five fans, set it up this way:
1/ One (or two) intakes on lower front or bottom, preferably directly in front of your hard drives.
2/ One exhaust in the upper rear corner.
3/ One exhaust on the top, directly above the CPU.
4/ One intake on the left side, directly over your graphics card

Instead of placing the second intake on the front, you might mount it on the right side panel such that it pushes air at the back of your motherboard. Note this is possible only if the panel is removeable and there is a cutout in the motherboard tray.

A water cooling setup, however, often changes things and usually means you have to rethink the entire solution.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: pc air cooling*

One 120mm in the front (blowing in) & one 120mm in the rear (blowing out) is commonly enough. Too many fans can be as bad as too few.


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## T_Rex (Oct 21, 2012)

*Re: pc air cooling*

Not usually, depends on the fan arrangement. Physics


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## gameloser (Feb 22, 2012)

*Re: pc air cooling*

thanks. heres my arrangement:
one 120mm intake at the lower front.
an 80mm exhaust fan is already installed in the case so i'll just leave it there.
and finally an 80mm fan on the top.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: pc air cooling*

If you have a good quality PSU, with sufficient power for 7770 GPU (500W bare minimum and 620W preferred), you should have no problems using the the front 120mm and the one rear 80mm fan. 
The 80mm on top will probably not be needed and not using it would reduce noise. Try with and without it connected.
If you could replace the rear 80mm with a 120mm, it would be more efficient as well as quieter.


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## gameloser (Feb 22, 2012)

*Re: pc air cooling*

thank you so so so so so so so...... much. actually i made a mistake. my case has a 120mm blue led fan at the back not 80mm. so i'll just install a 
120mm intake at the lower front. again thanks for answering.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: pc air cooling*

Adding the 120mm in the front should be plenty and you're so so so so so so so welcome. :smile:


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