SPCR

http://litbolti.arnaras.net/myndir/HTPC-Case-mod/

Single 120mm fan blowing in.
Still need to think a bit on the PW-200-V placement as wires are tight to the 4-pin ATX on the mobo.

I might just suspend it below the HDD.

Thanks to Bluefront, Eitheta and a lot of posts and reviews here for inspiration and ideas.

Nice work.

Is that a full size Ninja, or the mini-version. Also, I guess you're using an external optical drive?

scrandman, thats definitely a full size ninja, you can tell by the heatpipe configuration.

gudmann, have you tried having the fan blow outward? it would reduce the air pressure, as well as utilize the vents around the case. what would happen is that instead of the heat bunching up in dead spots, the dead spots wouldn't even be able to form.

i've only really had the experience in building one computer similar to that, which was my sisters, and its an Apevia Q-Pack. there's a single 120mm fan blowing outward, which utilizes the vents along the side of the case to maximize cooling efficiency. having the fan blow in would decrease the temps of whats right next to the fan, however the farther away you get from the fan, the worse the cooling gets.

just my $0.02 on the matter.

Yes, as bonestonne notices, this is a full size ninja.

I'll definetely will try both fan directions, but as I understand it, it is far more efficient to blow cool air directly on the parts that need cooling.

That however brings the problem of getting air to those places. If they are not in any wind, dead spots as you say, they are not cooled.

It may take some ducting to solve that.

But I don't think much ducting is neccessary here. I might try to set up a fin of sorts accross 1/3 of the height of the fan to push air downwards to the mobo.

One more thing. I'm putting this in a closed wooden cabinet that hangs on a wall about 30 cm from the floor. I've sawed out a 6 x 9 cm square hole in the back, directly below the fan and made a duct out of aluminium foil covered foam board. ( hole upwards or sideways are not an option )

So I'll try both fan directions with the case freely standing on the floor and in the cabinet. Since hot air rises so I am sceptical about pushing hot air out and down.

very nice work.