Computer case fan testing
My case has terrible ventilation at the front and as you will see, an intake fan doesn't really do much. I tried every configuration to find out what the best possible cooling would be under my circumstances. I don't own a hard drive, so perhaps my temperatures are a little cooler than they otherwise would be.
These measurements were taken at stock speeds with stock CPU cooling. The case fans are Zalman ZM-F1 Plus 80MM, which come with a noiseless adapter that lowers the speed of the fan by about 1000 RPM. I eventually settled on a single rear fan with noiseless adapter.
Idle
both fans: 24.5ºC
rear fan: 24.5ºC
front fan: 25ºC
front fan, with noiseless adapter: 25.5ºC
rear fan, with noiseless adapter: 25.5ºC
no case fan: 25.5ºC
Load
both fans: 64ºC
rear fan: 65.5
front fan: 71.5ºC
front fan, with noiseless adapter: 71.5ºC
rear fan, with noiseless adapter: 68ºC
rear fan, noiseless, 3.5 bay open in front for more airflow: 67ºC
no case fan: 71.5ºC
Ambient temp: 17ºC
