Improving Airflow
3 Ways to Improve Airflow in Your Chassis
When it comes to computers the one thing to always keep in mind is that airflow is good, and heat is bad…very bad. If you’re an enthusiast in the computing world, or even just a beginner, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that heat damages vital components and decreases the lifespan of your electronics. A 10°C rise in temperature can decrease the lifespan of your components by up to 50%.
To help offset heat, whether you are using liquid cooling or air cooling, all chassis use fans to generate airflow in the case. To achieve ideal airflow your case should consist of both intake and exhaust fans placed strategically inside of your case. These fans should guide cool air intake over critical components such as chipsets, hard drives, memory cards and most importantly the CPU cooler.
Airflow of intake and exhaust fans should match. For example if you have a 120mm intake fan, you should also have a 120mm exhaust fan. These configurations work with one another to provide an equal level of exhaust and intake. This is important because it maintains optimal air pressure inside of the case, which will ensure that equal amounts of air are being brought in and carried out of your chassis. 
However, there is more to it than just having the correct number of intake and exhaust fans. The shape, location and size of your air vents are also important. If your exhaust fan has a mesh grill over it, but your intake fan has no grill at all, the pressure inside of your case will not be optimal for proper ventilation. Basically, it will be taking in more air than it is exhausting and the resulting pressure in the case will push back on the intake fan dramatically reducing the amount of fresh air entering the case creating a risk that the air in the case will become stagnant and hot. Standard small honeycomb or mesh grills can block up to 50% of the airflow moving in and out of your case, so you want to avoid these if you can. The ventilation grills should have large holes to allow proper airflow. The best performing type of grate is a wire finger guard like the one pictured. Another thing to mention here is noise. If the pressure inside of the case is not properly balanced the fans will have to work harder to do their jobs, which in turn will increase noise levels. - Keeping your chassis environment free of dust particles is also important for ensuring optimal airflow. If you don’t clean your computer the dust that gets clogged in the vents will prevent airflow within the case, causing the CPU temperature to increase.
To put matters simply, optimizing the cooling ability of your chassis involves ensuring proper air flow by having an equal number of intake and exhaust fans, using good ventilation grills that allow for proper airflow, and keeping your computer clear of dust and debris. Of course, you can further decrease heat in your chassis by changing the cooling systems on your CPU and GPU. Look for a cooler with lots of headroom to ensure optimal airflow within the case. Just remember that cooling units usually come with additional fans and you may need to change other things in your case to balance the airflow.
