scythe case fans - good or bad? recommend others?

[jasonalwaysready]

Is there a specific way to achieve maximum cooling? I have a front, 2 side (80mm and 120mm), 1 rear, 1 top (exhaust), and obviously the psu fan. I have everything blowing in except the exhaust on top the the psu obviously.

i think its more customary to have air flow across the case. for example, on my own case i have 2 blowing into the case at the front and 2 pulling air out at the back and top; air flow moves from the front to the back. if your fans have filters, its a good idea to have more pushing in than out so that dust isnt drawn in from cracks and openings in the case, but pushed out through those areas instead.

maximum cooling? no case at all while still using the fans... or water cooled. but the noise levels tend to be a bit higher for the former with additional risk of losing a protective shield around your components.

 

[GhOsT1321]

If your case has a lot of ventilation, then positive airflow is the way to go. If your case has little ventilation, then slightly negative, or balanced is the way to go.

 

[kmote]

I have been using one 120mm scythe since I built the computer in my sig. Mine has been absolutely fine.

 

[johns622]

My case came with 3 when I bought it in late 2009. They were weak, probably 20-30cfm. I broke one several weeks ago when I went to carry my computer outside to dust it out. Forgetful me forgot to put the screws for the side back on and as I was bouncing down the steps, the side slid off and bounced down the stairs and broke the fan wire. That's when I decided it was a good time to upgrade.

Including CPU, GPU, and PSU, I had 6 fans going. Now I have 7 and 4 are upgrades. My temp has dropped nearly 20-30ºC. I'm not kidding. As stated before, the icons in SpeedFan that were once flame icons no longer become flame icons. I was at 90%+ cpu usage for the past 4 hours while I dual box'd WoW and I didn't see any high temps. My exhaust fan used to blow hot air out the top. It's cool now, hardly warm. There is so much air being circulated through my case, it's coming out of every crack lol. Not too efficient as far as air flow goes but it's obviously staying cool. I unhooked the little spring for my unused CD-ROM slot and left it open for the hot air at the top to have another hole to vent out of. It's a fairly strong and moderately cool breeze.

I highly recommend anyone else to upgrade fans. It may not seem like much of an upgrade, but my computer runs smoother and faster now that it stays cooler.