airflow

[elpea117]

should the fans always be blowing on the hardware?

[Technophile]

Not sure what you mean. In my case I've got a few intake fans, a few exhaust fans, and a couple of fans blowing directly on my processor and graphics card.

[elpea117]

i mean, hmm how to explain. Right now i have two case fans, they are blowing on the inside of the computer. Their right next to my video card and blowing right on it. So if i get more fans should i have them all blowing on towards the inside? by exhaust fans i think you answered my question but im not sure.

[Technophile]

Not all of your fans should be blowing inside. If you do this then the hot air has no where to go out. Ideally you should have the same amount of exhaust fans as you have intake fans, and the air should be flowing in the same general direction. Heat rises, so it's best to put the exhaust fans near the top of the case. I have 1 rear exhaust fan plus the power supply fan blowing out the back, one top exhaust fan, 2 lower front intake fans and two lower side panel intake fans near the vid card. The vid card and processor of course have their own fans blowing directly on them inside the case.

[elpea117]

i have another question about cooling. Is it really nessecary to buy hardrive fans and ram coolers and such or is that just a waste of money.

[Technophile]

My ram has factory installed heat spreaders. Pretty much all of the high end memory does. If your ram didn't come with them, and you aren't overclocking your ram, then you don't need them.

Hard drives can get pretty hot, especially if you keep them running all the time. The way my case is set up my drives have plenty of space between them and the front intake fans blow through them. It certainly wouldn't hurt to keep your hard drives cool. Is it absolutely necessary to have fans blowing directly on them? Not really.