Recommendations for case fan placement in new computer case

[paladin]

I recently replacement my old computer case with a Corsair Carbide 300R. Besides the two case fans the 300R included, I installed two more case fans. One case fan is mounted on the side as an intake and the other case fan is mounted on the top of the case as an exhaust.

Is there a better arrangement I could use for the additional case fans in my new case?

[Stark]

Do you a tally need this airflow or is this one of those 'more fans = MOAR betterer' things? I have a rear fan and that's it, and I don't have a fireplace yet. Your case is even covered in grills anyway.

[White Haven]

Stark being an asshole aside, that's more or less the optimal configuration. Front-and-side to top-and-back is your basic airflow direction, and you've got those bases covered.

[Stark]

Weepy being a crybaby aside, do you have anything that actually generates a lot of heat? Given the huge double grill on the side panel, the fan there is probably contributing nothing (but turbulence lol). Are you running dual GPU heaters?

[Borgholio]

I recently replacement my old computer case with a Corsair Carbide 300R. Besides the two case fans the 300R included, I installed two more case fans. One case fan is mounted on the side as an intake and the other case fan is mounted on the top of the case as an exhaust.

Is there a better arrangement I could use for the additional case fans in my new case?

You only really need as many fans as you need to keep your electronics cool. I have a quad-core AMD system with 16gb RAM, an older GeForce 9 series card and four hard drives. It doesn't put out an insane amount of heat, but it can get warm in the summer. To counter this, I got the Antec 900 case...which is a "fan"boys dream. With the sheer number and type of fans it comes with, I never saw the need to fit any more fans into it...and the ones I have I run on medium or low speed to keep noise down, but I still get great airflow and low system temps.

Keep an eye on your CPU, GPU, and MB temp using GPU-Z and whatever hardware monitor works with your motherboard. If you see temps getting really high (and you're sure the computer is free of dust), then add another fan. Generally you'll want the front and side fans to be intake, and the top / rear fans to be exhaust.

[Cykeisme]

Has anyone tried this little software utility called SpeedFan?

There's probably already mobo-specific (and video card-specific) software that does it, but basically what it does is show you the readings from all the various temperature sensors on your hardware, and also lets you control your fan speeds from one app.

Probably not useful for folks who already have their own preferred software for this sort of thing, but I found it useful.

[phongn]

Positive pressure is preferred (more airflow in than out) but by no means necessary. As others have said, are your various component temperatures where you like them? Yes? Done (maybe even remove some for noise reasons or replace with quieter fans). No? Add more airflow.