boji

as a smoker and gamer i have polluted several nice systems to the point of overheating. not to mention the early demise of several hard drives.

i have always been confused as to how to properly cool a pc. i have seen diagrams that contradict one another. i had always tried to supply air to cool components and balance the exhaust or have more exhaust. i always put the intake fans on the front and since my pc is usually close to me it would suck the cig smoke right in.

my new case really is poor quality (not sure of the brand) but it had a top and side exhaust fan installed and i added one to the rear. i have no intake fans.

the case seems to cool ok. i get better cooling now than when i used intake fans and have the same internal components. here is the good thing...THE PC NO LONGER SUCKS IN MY CIG SMOKE.

if i had to plan another system, i would use a case that is vented on the bottom of both sides or vent it myself and use the same exhaust configuration i have now. i would also use vented front panel slot plates and space out my drives with a vent under each. cooling my drives has been the only real challenge and i have had luck converting the slot cooling fans designed for the rear for use on the front.

just my thoughts...yes i know i should quit!

feddup

I'm a smoker too and realize it helps dirty up the PC. I hate to tell you this but your PC is still sucking in your smoke. If you were only exausting air from your PC it would cave in like a beer can. Air is getting in through all the cracks in the case. Since the PC isn't exploding or imploding the same amount of air must be entering as is leaving. For best cooling you need intake as well as exaust fans. Generally the air should move front to back bottom to top but some of the newer cases are doing it differently. Lian-Li has some nice low restriction filters that actually work pretty well to keep this smokers case very clean. If you wanted to mod a similar filter aquarium shops have a material thats used for salt water tank filtration that is a nice compromise of flow and filtration. Stopping smoking would of course be the best idea but nice intake filters are a more realistic alternative.