Do front fans help airflow in the entire case?

JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
I'm thinking specifically of the P182, but I guess this question extends to any cases that have fans mounted in front of the HDD bays at the front of the case. Since these fans seem more or less cut off from the rest of the computer by the drive bays (potentially filled with HDDs), do these fans help with the airflow in the entire case, or are they there just to cool the HDDs?

It seems like the drives, or even the drive cages if they are empty, would obstruct the airflow into the rest of the case.
 
im not sure i only have a front intake cos , i was stupid an put my 2x500G HDDs in a RAID an now i rely don't want them to fail
 
i have the elite330, but i also ahve the front fans, it fits an 120 cm, but it was to loud so i put in a 80 cm, and i put the 120 in the back. rememebr this, that hot air will always rise, so basically, yea, your blowing the heat off the hdd in the middle of the case, whereit will rise, so ur exhaust(rear fan) will blow it out.
 
Vizy93 said:
i have the elite330, but i also ahve the front fans, it fits an 120 cm, but it was to loud so i put in a 80 cm, and i put the 120 in the back. rememebr this, that hot air will always rise, so basically, yea, your blowing the heat off the hdd in the middle of the case, whereit will rise, so ur exhaust(rear fan) will blow it out.
Click to expand...

But is that all they do is blow heat off the HDD? That in itself doesn't seem to actually help airflow in the case.

Is it not actually making the inside of the case hotter by blowing the hot air backwards, at least temporarily?
 
JohnJSal said:
But is that all they do is blow heat off the HDD? That in itself doesn't seem to actually help airflow in the case.

Is it not actually making the inside of the case hotter by blowing the hot air backwards, at least temporarily?
Click to expand...

Umm, in a way, yea, temporarily. But it is much better then letting the heat build up from the HDD. Either way the hot air will rise, with or w/o the fans. But the fans sorta help the process along. And since ur hdd are located below the Cd drives and stuff, u dont want those heating up. The air from the fan will blow the hot air towards the back of the case, where it would rise freely to be sucked out from ur rear fan.

After using your comp for an hour or 2, feel the top of ur case, it should be warm, if u feel the bottom it would still be cold.

Personally, i think it would be better if it was possible to sorta install an internal fan, which would blow against the exhaust fan, at the same height, to reach optimal air cooling. But its just a dream.
 
So, are you saying it's better to place the HDD in the middle of the case? I have my HDD at the way bottom of my case. :confused:
 
It depends on several factors: fan size, fan speed/CFM, and obstructions (drives, etc.). In a situation like John described (Will the position of the HDD negate any benefit from having a front intake?), then no, because of a few reasons, the primary one having been mentioned - get the warm air away from the HDD to keep them cool.

However, a front intake, so long as it's not completely cut off by obstructions (small fan, low speed, and every HDD bay filled) will always benefit internal cooling as it will be doing it's primary job of a front intake - bring cool air inside. You're not always looking for a 'straight shot' of cool air, since you'll have the exhaust fan working in conjunction. The exhaust fan will be doing the brunt of the work (hence they're usually larger and move more air). Because of that, front intake 'obstructions', and typically a lower front intake CFM, they'll usually suck more warm air out then the front will push cool air in.

Edit: OK, after re-reading that, I can see where the end of the second paragraph may not make complete sense. I'll Post up clarification if anyone wants.
 
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Well, the Antec 900 has two 120mm front intake fans, one of the cages (containing one 120mm fan) has my HDD in the bottom, this stops the air a little, but not completely... as the HDD only takes up 1/3 of the fan...

It still lets plenty of air get to the rest of the system...

Make sense?
 
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