Best cases for airflow?

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some guidance—specifically, what’s the gold standard for setting up airflow in a rig like this?

Here’s the chassis I’m working with..



I was sketching out a plan along these lines. I’ve got six available slots for 120mm fans..



Now, regarding that bottom fan: I’m worried if I flip it to pull air into the case, it’ll fight against the GPU’s own fans blowing in the opposite direction. Or am I just overthinking it? Is that actually an issue?

Keep in mind, I’m currently running a basic stock CPU cooler, but the plan is to upgrade to an Arctic Cooling Freezer 33 eSports Edition soon, so please factor that into your logic..

I'm all ears. Let me know what you think..

What’s even the point of putting a vent down there? What is that actually going to do for you?

How many fans are you even running? You just put one or two in the front for intake, one in the back for exhaust, and honestly, that’s plenty.

nimblegardener37 said:Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some guidance—specifically, what’s the gold standard for setting up airflow in a rig like this?

Here’s the chassis I’m working with..



I was sketching out a plan along these lines. I’ve got six available slots for 120mm fans..



Now, regarding that bottom fan: I’m worried if I flip it to pull air into the case, it’ll fight against the GPU’s own fans blowing in the opposite direction. Or am I just overthinking it? Is that actually an issue?

Keep in mind, I’m currently running a basic stock CPU cooler, but the plan is to upgrade to an Arctic Cooling Freezer 33 eSports Edition soon, so please factor that into your logic..

I'm all ears. Let me know what you think..

You didn't attach anything, nothing is showing up.😛

Not a single thing is in place yet. I’m still in the planning stages, which is exactly why I want to pick your brains about optimizing the airflow...

nimblegardener37 said:Not a single thing is in place yet. I’m still in the planning stages, which is exactly why I want to pick your brains about optimizing the airflow...

I meant the pictures, they aren't showing up 🍿

Is that link broken for you?

I tried wrapping it in an (image)

nimblegardener37 said:Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some guidance—specifically, what’s the gold standard for setting up airflow in a rig like this?

Here’s the chassis I’m working with..



I was sketching out a plan along these lines. I’ve got six available slots for 120mm fans..



Now, regarding that bottom fan: I’m worried if I flip it to pull air into the case, it’ll fight against the GPU’s own fans blowing in the opposite direction. Or am I just overthinking it? Is that actually an issue?

Keep in mind, I’m currently running a basic stock CPU cooler, but the plan is to upgrade to an Arctic Cooling Freezer 33 eSports Edition soon, so please factor that into your logic..

I'm all ears. Let me know what you think..

Look, if you cram six fans into a single chassis, that sixth fan is probably going to drop your temps by maybe a fraction of a degree—all while making your PC sound like a literal tractor. Honestly, don't bother. Just stick to two fans in the front to pull air in and one in the back to exhaust it, and you'll be perfectly fine. If anything, focus on maintaining positive pressure inside the case—meaning you're bringing in more air than you're pushing out—because that’s what actually helps prevent dust buildup from getting everywhere.

I’ve got five fans running in my old Corsair Airflow series case.

Intake: one up front, one down by the PSU.
Exhaust: two at the top, one in the rear.

I keep them all hovering around 700-750rpm, except for one that stays at 1000rpm because it won't go any lower.
It actually performs better than just running two fans at max speed—plus, it's way quieter since noise is basically dictated by your loudest fan.

But honestly, this only works if you’re actually tweaking individual speeds to keep things quiet.
Running three or more fans at full blast (1200+rpm) is just overkill and obnoxious.

When I crank them all to the limit, my GPU temps drop by maybe 5 degrees under full load. It's pointless, though. At those speeds, the GPU fans barely even ramp up from their minimum (around 33%), making the whole rig louder for zero actual gain compared to just letting the GPU fan run at 45%.

wiredotter14 said:I’ve got five fans running in my old Corsair Airflow series case.

Intake: one up front, one down by the PSU.
Exhaust: two at the top, one in the rear.

I keep them all hovering around 700-750rpm, except for one that stays at 1000rpm because it won't go any lower.
It actually performs better than just running two fans at max speed—plus, it's way quieter since noise is basically dictated by your loudest fan.

But honestly, this only works if you’re actually tweaking individual speeds to keep things quiet.
Running three or more fans at full blast (1200+rpm) is just overkill and obnoxious.

When I crank them all to the limit, my GPU temps drop by maybe 5 degrees under full load. It's pointless, though. At those speeds, the GPU fans barely even ramp up from their minimum (around 33%), making the whole rig louder for zero actual gain compared to just letting the GPU fan run at 45%.

Hmm, is your GPU venting heat out of the case or just circulating it inside? In my experience, three fans are plenty to run silently while still dropping temperatures by maybe a degree or so even at their maximum speed.

Nicole James said:Hmm, is your GPU venting heat out of the case or just circulating it inside? In my experience, three fans are plenty to run silently while still dropping temperatures by maybe a degree or so even at their maximum speed.

It’s not a reference model; it has dual fans and dumps heat straight into the case.
The issue is the card is pinned at 100% because I'm mining, so I need decent airflow just to keep those fans from ramping up.
The rig is ancient—running an i7 920—so if I kill two fans, the whole thing heats up, forcing the GPU to spin harder, which is exactly when it starts getting loud.