Opinion poll: Case pressure preference, and CPU fan direction

Great explanation. Thanks red

I did not overlook the fact that positive fans also bring in dust, but my fans are filtered. The small gaps in my case however are not.

I have filtered those small gaps too :haha:. My system stays clean enough. Or it could be just an environmental factor. I'm now working on making the filters more efficient. To allow more airflow, yet keep out dust. Let's see how it goes.

The planned guide will be helpful for noobs like yours truly. I had problems configuring the fans on my case and it took a while before my brother and I settled for its present arrangement. I followed Corsair's recommendation in setting up my H100 -- so I have 4x120mm fans blowing air in from the top of the case and a single 140mm fan acting as exhaust through the back. (The air blowing into the case is actually warmed by the rad -- which has always worried me.)

I would have preferred to have the 200mm fan at the side panel of the HAF X blowing air out. But being near the PSU, my lower GTX 470 was idling at 52°C with that fan acting as exhaust. So my brother reversed its direction and used the shroud that came with the HAF X to blow cool air directly at the GPUs. That reduced their temps. They began to idle at around 42°C to 45°C. The 230mm fan in front of the case also blows fresh air into the case through my HDDs.

So presently I have all these big fans blowing air into the case. Only the built-in exhaust systems of the GTX 470s and a single 140mm move warm air out. Seems pretty uneven, yes. But my CPU idles approximately 32°C to 35°C hottest (I used HWMonitor to check) -- which, I guess, isn't too bad. The highest I've ever seen my temps go while gaming is 45°C.

I'm sure the guide will help me improve on my present set up -- as I do worry that it gets a tad hot inside that case.

Are you sure it's the temperature of the CPU package and not just the core? I have a room temp of around 32°C, my CPU core idles at 29~31°C, and my CPU package idles at 42°C (some mods are already into place, earlier used to be 45°C). So if it's the core temp you're talking about...given your rig,we're looking at...50°C+. However, it also depends on ambient temps. Which temperature monitor do you use? SpeedFan and HWmonitor will give you the CPU package temps, i.e., the temperature of the CPU as a whole. CoreTemp only reports the core's temp, true to its name.

Now I'm confused. Haha! I use HWMonitor and Argus. My temps are at 33°C right now -- hottest. Ambient is around 27°C.

Sorry for the noob error. Maybe I should correct that somewhat so as not to confuse fellow noobs. Wait a sec... There.

Thanks for pointing that out, Marnomancer.

No probs. Every pro was once a noob. In fact, I myself am a noob yet. Still got a lot to learn. :haha:
Given those temps, your fans are doing a good job compared to mine (it's a dumpster dive, so I can't complain). Still, we won't mind if they work a little better, right?
Cool regards,
Marnomancer

Wow, the poll looks cooler (no pun intended) now.
BTW, anyone else has anything to contribute?
P.s: Sorry for 'necro-bumping', but I needed some more votes to be sure. The thread was falling into the background.