This is the airflow setup I employed on my NZXT Gamma (OT, I know, but it's relevant in the fan config aspect). Red is coded for exhaust and blue for intake fans.
*i.imgur.com/oRuTh.png
Since my house has a massive dust problem due to the illegal dynamite/gelatin based quarrying taking place a few metres away (we experience door rattling, crockery shattering tremors every few hours), I decided to retrofit the cabinet with improvised air filters. I bought the cheapest black cloth for the intake fans; the kind that's apparently used by prostitutes for blouses, since it's nigh transparent. This material is thin yet finely woven, so it does obstruct airflow to some degree, but I have no other choice since the dust over here is highly atomised by the explosives. This obstruction should pose little problems due to the intake role of the fans.
I used a loosely woven netting cloth for the rear exhaust fan, as it has to expel most of the heat built up in the chassis. The top exhaust fan again is filtered by the prostitute blouse material, which although restricts airflow, but is crucial to prevent dust from settling inside the components. The front intake sucks in air mostly from the bottom through the mesh filter. Side intake fan blows air onto the graphics card through the prostitute filter. The top intake fan blows air over the RAM modules and also feeds the Hyper 212+ push pull fans with cold air. The Corsair CX400 is thermally isolated from the chassis with its downward intake through an NZXT supplied filter and passive exhaust from the rear vents placed at a 90 degree angle.
Any inputs on this would be appreciated. I tried a fair bit of arrangements to finally settle on this one. Where it have increased, the idle temperatures haven't changed more than a degree or two at the worst despite the rather aggressive prostitute filters. Try and share your airflow set-up, because this is one aspect where improvement costs nothing but makes a lot of difference.
