Dumb question about fans

[Odoacer]

Okay, so I bought a Enermax UC-8FAB-B for my case. It's cool and all, comes with a nice golden fan guard. But the thing is, my case already has a fan guard on it and I'm not sure which way to install the fan. Right now it's running with the fan guard pointing inside the case because I figure it's pointless to have two barriers to restrict airflow.

Or am I going about this the wrong way? Should I flip the fan around?
Thanks for any input.

 

[Degrador]

Which way your fan is facing determines which way the air is going to get blown. Which way you want the air to blow depends on where the fan is. Generally, you want air to blow into the case from the front bottom, and exhaust at the rear top. Fan guards serve two purposes only, they can look good, and they stop you from putting your fingers in the fan while the comp is on. The first one goes with personal preference, and as for the second - most of us usually have the computer off when we're going to try sticking our fingers in the fan. Although often we like to try and find out if the nerves in our fingertips still work, at which point fan guards become annoying in that you have to remove them before you can perform the experiment.

Of course, the other thing they do is restrict airflow. The guards most cases have are usually perforated metal, and I think you'll find most people in this forum remove those as they are very bad for airflow.

 

[Odoacer]

Thanks for the explanation. My fan is pretty much in the middle (mid-tower), but I guess it's high enough to be calling it an exhaust fan.

What I'm not sure of is if the fan is on the right side to be an exhaust fan. How do I find out?

 

[yelo333]

All good fans have an arrorow etched on them to tell you which way they blow air. look for it

 

[Degrador]

Originally posted by: Odoacer
Thanks for the explanation. My fan is pretty much in the middle (mid-tower), but I guess it's high enough to be calling it an exhaust fan.

What I'm not sure of is if the fan is on the right side to be an exhaust fan. How do I find out?

Usually if you look at the side that has the sticker on it, the air will blow in your face. However, some fans have stickers on both sides. If you understand this terminology; the air will blow towards the concave side (the concave curve in the blades is what pushes the air).