How many fans is enough?

[Bdaler]

Is there a point where you have so mucg cooling that it kills the effect?

 

[captainQR]

not as much as bad planning. try to visualize the airflow of your system. start at the intake(s) of make sure that there are no obstructions, such as a rat's nest of ide cables. also, try to stagger heat generating pci cards, and make sure that they are keeping cool. there's been many articles on this issue, and the last one that i have read said to make sure that you have more outflow than inflow, so your not blowing the same hot air around in your case. there are also add-ons to your power supply that will increase not only to outflow, but the life of the power supply as well.......
i've got four case fans in mine, and i'm considering a bay fan as well....

 

[WishMaster]

until u cant bear the noise

 

[KouklatheCat]

Wish, I agree.....

The other way to tell if you have too many case fans is if your computer hovers off the desk or floats around the room.

 

[dcdomain]

LOL... but if you have a bunch of fans intake and exhaust, wouldn't it just move horizontally?

Hmmm... interesting, if you attach high grade bearing wheels on the case and placed it on a tractionless surface... would it move?

 

[KouklatheCat]

Right now I am installing a 92mm in the top (exhausting out) and a 92mm below the power supply (also exhausting out). I have 2 80mm High Output fans in the front (intake). The 92mms produce 44cfm and the 80mm H.O. produce 42.5cfm. I think this set up might make my fan move all over the desk. I am still installing the fans so im not sure what effect that will have on cooling.

 

[RagingGuardian]

My Lite-On was way cooler than my room in the summer with 3 120mm fans.

 

[Supradude]

there IS a limit to airflow... and it can probably be best found with a few well placed thermistors... i had 15 fans in my computer... i started the computer with everything on, then let it sit for a while, then i started turning off individual fans (i have a baybus) for like half an hour and monitoring the temp... some of the fans made no difference when off, so they were overkill fans... try a similar method and see if it works for you...

 

[fast_eddie]

Yes that's it! More exhaust than intake. Suck air thru every drive opening.

 

[Losty]

anyone know how i can hook up a case fan to blow air onto my cpu hs?
is that wise?
i need something to hold it in place sideways...against the back of the case

so if you have like lots of fans sucking air out...you won't need an intake right?
won't the negative pressure suck air in from the sdies and the bays?

 

[Hala]

I have intake (2*40mm fans)and 2*80mm fans blowing out case temp is 5-8C higher than my room temp.

 

[NutBucket]

There is no such thing as having enough fans. One suggestion though is to use rheostats or put switches on some of them to keep the noise bearable when you're just surfing of watching a dvd or something like that. My current count, 10.

 

[Gringo]

as soon as it starts dragging itself accross the floor, add 2 more, and youre good to go.

 

[dadx2mj]

If your case temp is the same as the room temp I can so no more benefit in adding fans unless you like the noise or are trying to build a hover craft

 

[Losty]

i agree...blowing room temp air into the case...won't make it cooler than room temp!

 

[KouklatheCat]

Losty,

If you have a removeable MOBO tray and room for it I would cut a small block of wood. Then mount the block to the MOBO tray and then the fan to the wood using zip ties. If you put just one screw in the block of wood you should be able to rotate the fan/block to adjust its flow about anywhere in your case (onto the cpu or wherever).

 

[Losty]

wow...thanks for the input...
got some creative minds here...hehe

 

[Supradude]

interesting thing though about the room temp deal, lotsa times with sufficient air movement and cooling, you can get the inside of your case cooler than room temp!!! mine usually runs at least 2-3 degrees under rm temp and no matter how warm the room is, the air coming out of my exhaust fans air aircondition-cooled = )

 

[aznmist]

Forget about forced air...
use water cooling

 

[Mikewarrior2]

There is no way, that any case, regardless of cooling, can the case temp be lower than room temp.

Room temp air is fed into the case temp. Unless you have some sort of fridge system in your case, case temp will not be lower than room temp.

For example, i am running 2-3C over room temp, and have a intake of about 130CFM, and exhaust of about 120CFM.


Mike
Note, Exhaust air may "feel" cooler than room temp, but this is the same as a Room Fan. The air is moving, whereas room air is stagnant.

 

[SiberianTiger]

wind chill factor...haha

 

[Jhhnn]

Dunno about killing the effect, but there is definitely a point of diminished returns where more airflow has negligible effect on actual cooling. Once internal case temps are within 5-10 degrees C of ambient, you've arrived, IMHO. More becomes pointless, unless you just like fans.

 

[Galadala]

Remember that when you are designing a case that a little positive pressure is good. I other words more air coming in than what is going out.

That way air will be trying to escape through holes in the case not air being sucked in through other holes in the case, causing dust to make its way inside the case.

 

[nickburns]

you know you have too many fany when you have them all blowing out and your case implodes like a crushed pop can

 

[Neoplasia]

Take a floor fan, turn it on and sit in front of it. Tell me it's not cooler than room temp and I'll call you a liar. Having said that I doubt that case fans will make a big difference, but come on does having the coldest computer really matter that much? IMO the important part is making sure you keep it well withing the safe zone, anything more is just a waste of good money.