Top Radiator .. Intake or Exhaust?

[matari]

Unless your case ambient is extremely hot and or your radiators are stressed, it will not make a hudge difference. Make sure you the airflow through out your case is uniform as possible; keep all fans on the plane pushing air in the same direction, or across.

[lilmanmgf]

Well I take back what I said earlier. I have the same case as the one you are putting together, ATCS 840. Here is my setup:

CPU: i7 930 @ 4 ghz => Enzotech Sapphire
GPU: 5850 => MCW60
Rads: 1 Pa.120.3 on top, 1 MCR360 up front.
Pump: MCP350 with XSPC res top

Fan wise I am like case 1, Intake in the front, top and bottom, exhaust out the back. My temps dropped 6 degrees at idle and load on the gpu and 7 degrees on the cpu. I have a temperature probe inside and outside the case, and according to it the ambients have remained about the same.

[dMITIj]

So i'm building my new case and i have some doubts on what to do on the top radiator ...

Basically i'm using a 420 and a 280 BlackIce GTX radiator with push-pull 140mm fan configuration...

But i'm having some problems on how to do the air flow...

So i have these 2 options ( blue rectangles are intake fans, red are exhaust ) :

<------

My inicial thoughts were to just leave the rear fan as an exhaust and use both rads as intakes ... this way they would get fresher air improving the performance.

The front fan is a 180mm Silverstone Air Penetrator that will have a clear path for the air flow, so it will be able to intake the cold air to the end of the case... "pushing" the hot air for the rear exhaust fan and case openings...

What do you think it's the best option? The left drawing or the right drawing?

Here's actual photos of the case...









Components to be cooled
- CPU
- Chipset
- The VGA will be cooled as soon as the water block for it is launched...


Thank you for your help.
( I already asked Martin for some help but i don't want to take him much time with private messages, so i'm putting this as a topic here )

Hello.
if i were you ill use the setup in the right site of those to (<------), so that you have a lot of fans to take out all the warm air inside the case.

could you please put up some more pic. of the case from the top, so that i can se how the 420 radi fits, and maby som from the "insite up" thanks.
because ill be getting the same case and a 420 also

best Regards.

[antiacid]

I'd use my top rad as an exhaust, simply because natural convection makes heat rise. Why not use that property for your benefit? You'll have cool air coming in from the bottom of the case and a clear flow path from bottom/front to back/top. Anyway, if you wanted to be thorough you'd try it both ways and report back

[Church]

antiacid: In most cases natural convection can be ignored. It's too weak compared even to veeery slow fans airflow.

Why not make all the rads use outside air and all the case fans (front and back ones it seems?) blow outside? I'd also put dust filters on both rads then.