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I have a new desktop PC with Intel Core 2 duo. I now just buy a cabinet fan and I need to place it on the back side of the cabinet just below the SMPS. How can I place it there with appropriate position? What I mean is I need the direction which the fan should rotate so that there will be a cooling inside the cabinet..

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I don't understand this question. Normally, as case designed for a fan under the power supply has a fan grill w/ screw holes to hold the fan in place. So, normally, the answer is "by screwing it in". But you must be asking something else? –  derobert Jul 20 '09 at 7:55
I need the rotation direction so that it can cool the inside of cabinet? –  Sauron Jul 20 '09 at 8:07
Can't you plug it in and see which way the air flows? –  Travis Jul 27 '09 at 20:44

2 Answers 2

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Some references.

You are interested in the direction of the air flow (push-in or pull-out).

  • The usual thing to do is pull-out.
  • It helps if there is a side-grill on the cabinet, a little below the processor location and the fan actually is aligned close to the processor (usually the case with a good cabinet & motherboard combination).
    In this setup, the cabinet fan creates a good air flow around the processor sink+fan.
  • Sometimes, the processor comes with its own 'vent' through a side-grill, that has a 'funnel' path from the processor sink to outside. With such setups, a side fan only introduces unwanted turbulence around the processor fan. Care is required in such setups.
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Generally speaking airflow in a PC should be front-to-back.

The 80mm and 120mm fans you get in a PC typically have the direction of airflow stamped on them in the form of a little arrow, so you know which way around to install them.

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