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A matter of air flow

Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
edited April 2011 in Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern
I have a custom built entertainment center. Since it was going to house my 360 and my PS3, when it was being built, I made sure to have 3" of clearance on all three sides of each console. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be enough, so I've drilled two 60mm holes in the back of the spots for each console, and I'm going to attach case fans to increase air flow.

What I can't figure out is if it's better to blow cool air in from the back of the system, or to suck the hot air out from the inside.

What say you?

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    AumniAumni Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I've always thought that sucking the hot air away from the heat source instead of blowing cool air onto it works better. The design of lots of computer components also subscribes to this concept.

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    SmokeStacksSmokeStacks Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    It would probably be better to pull the air out. if you're just pushing air into the back of the systems your case fans plus the system fans are just going to be working against one another.

    The front of a console is usually where the intake is, so having cool air coming toward it from the suction coming from your fans seems like it would be a good idea.

    The only thing you'll have to worry about is added fan noise. Bigger fans are actually quieter, because they can spin at a slower RPM and still maintain the same amount of airflow.

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    cadmunkycadmunky One hand on the bottle, The other a shaking fist.Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    best scenario is to have intake and exhaust. higher cfm on the intake. without getting too complicated, you could try to cover the front (on a hinge, or w/e) and install a couple of fans on the intake side of the consoles (xbox is right when flat). place the consoles so their intakes best utilize the fresh air, maybe duct the top and back to direct the flow right into the intakes. exhaust out the back, maybe duct that too. and a partition between the two.

    point is, you want the air to flow, not just blow around. i guess a drawing would help.

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    cadmunkycadmunky One hand on the bottle, The other a shaking fist.Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    actually, i guess the xbox has intakes on all 4 sides. maybe the ps3 is the same? both vent out the back?

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    Dark ShroudDark Shroud Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    PS3 has intakes & vents on all sides.

    If you want you can try using laptop coolers. Just place them under the consoles and plug them in the the USB ports or run a USB Hub behind the systems or case its self. There are plenty of discusions about this online with people using USB fans to create air flow around their systems.

    I'm going to assume you have them laying flat for proper ventilation instead of on their sides.

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    Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited April 2011
    Okay, so I'd purchased all the fans I was using by the time I made this thread. Just plugged directly into the power, they're actually quite quiet. But now that they're secured to the center, they actually seem to be louder than the previous fans. I've got them as secure as possible to reduce vibration, and it hasn't helped much.

    Considering this isn't plugged into a computer of any kind, but rather directly into a socket via a molex adapter, are there any modulators I can purchase to slow down the RPMs these things are spinning at? Air flow is actually well above what I'd probably need it to be, so slowing them down shouldn't provide a problem.

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    TNTrooperTNTrooper Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    A bit of rubber in between the fans and the center would probably help with vibration.

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    Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited April 2011
    Yeah, that's what I was thinking of trying. Just need to find some rubber thin enough that I can put it between the two, and still use the provided screws.

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    TNTrooperTNTrooper Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Would the rubber rings I use for chain maille might work? Just make sure the inner diameter of the rings is as close to the the diameter of the screw as possible.

    http://theringlord.com/cart/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=80&cat=Rubber+Jump+Rings&websess=33992577809329

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    PirusuPirusu Pierce Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    There are also rubber screws. Frozen CPU has different ones than these, but these are the first I saw linked. Not so sure how well they'd work securing the fans to your entertainment center, but another idea at least.

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    Skoal CatSkoal Cat Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    You can hook up all of the fans to a dimmer switch type unit?

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    GooeyGooey (\/)┌¶─¶┐(\/) pinch pinchRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Skoal Cat wrote: »
    You can hook up all of the fans to a dimmer switch type unit?

    That's probably what I would do.

    There's also purpose-built stuff for this.

    Some of the Cool Components units are temperature-controlled so they self adjust, which is handy.

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