Hello !
Framework’s official guide about the 80mm fan slot on the front of the case states that this optional fan should be mounted as an intake..
Instinctively, I would rather mount it as an exhaust, as it sits higher than the main fan. 
I’m not sure what to do.
What do yall think ?
Edit: there’s actually another post on this sort of topic (Front fan information).
I think the basic idea is to have the air flow go out the back of the device, not the front. I bought the 80mm fan and my thermals do look slightly better. I can also hear the PSU fan less while in idle.
I don’t think it hurts anything to try have this front fan reversed and outtake out the front. But, if you look in the back, there is definitely a grill which shows air should flow out the back.
I installed my Noctua 80mm as an exhaust. I haven’t measured but it certainly moves some warm air out under load. I printed some very open front panels partly because I liked to look and partly for airflow. I don’t mind the warm air out the front and thought it would move more air that way than fighting the other fan. If I had the OEM panels I would maybe go the other way since they seem more restrictive.
Nice !
Really makes me want to get some sort of 3D printer.
Fun thing related to the front fan is that FW recommends it be mounted as an intake while Noctua recommends it be mounted as an exhaust.
I guess best would be if someone could test both under different load/rpm to see the actual results haha, and if there are any significant differences.
I ended up installing an 80mm fan as an intake because I don’t want the hot air from the APU to go over the SSD, and since I installed the front fan, the SSD temps went down around 10-15%. So for me, it makes sense like this.
In general, I think the best setup is input fans with dust filters, any non-fan openings have air going only out and the inside remains relatively dust-free.
I have this setup on two (non-FW) pcs, and it works fine, but the manufacturer set them up that way and I think/hope they checked out the case airflow and fan specs in advance.
No idea how well that would work with a random desktop case and random fans, but the test I’d really like to see on the FW desktop would be input fans with vs without filters.
My first post here was exactly about some fan dust filters Fan dust filter on FW Desktop?
I actually got those, both sizes, 80mm and 120mm, but pretty hard to instal, the front 80mm one might fit decently, but the side 120mm one, there is no space for that between the fan and cover. Only if you install it on the outside, but it would look like crap.
Did you find any other options for dust filters?
Outside & looking odd is fine with me.
I haven’t tried too hard to find alternative because my existing PCs are still working and I’m following FW mostly out of curiosity.
I vaguely recall seeing both magnetic filters (like the ones that came with one of my PCs?) and sheets that you could cut to size, which might be thin enough to fit (??)
You can mount the 80mm front fan either way. Framework recommends intake, but some users mount it as exhaust with no issues. If your front panel is restrictive, intake works better; with open panels, exhaust can help push warm air out under load.
