The top is mesh. That’s why I did so many intake fans - to let the pressure naturally out of the top.
I still might experiment with switching the side panel to exhaust. That’s what I wanted to do in the first place but every build I saw used it as an intake and I was scared that would starve the CPU fan.
I did seem to get the noise down a bit by modifying the curves and making the ramp up smoother.
Wow, thank you for such a great explanation!
I will probably first try switching the side panel fans to exhaust, just because it’s much easier and might help level out the pressure. If that doesn’t work, I’ll definitely try your proposed layout!