Im building ny first pc and want to know how many fans I should put in it. The case itself comes with 2 80 mm fans. Should I get more or is that adequate for cooling. My setup includes 80gb hd, 128 mb vid card, 128 mb ram, amd barton xp 2500, and 350w power supply. :mad:

If you don't already have a front intake fan, get one. 3 case fans should be adequate enough for that system in normal usage.
:cool:

:eek: Um, just a suggestion, but have you thought of more system RAM?? Wow! 128MB of main RAM?? That's like the absolute minimum for WinXP!

Sorry to make such a big deal out of this, but I like to make sure that my main RAM is at least twice as much as the RAM on my vid card. Even if this is a cheapo PC, 256MB of RAM should be minimum.

Oh, and about the fans :p, don't forget that the power supply has one or two fans, also. I would put one of those 80mm case fans in back, and one in front. That should be enough cooling.

I sorry, I meant 256 mb RAM. Wanted 512 but didnt want to go over $400 for the system at this time. There will definately be upgrades to RAM and vid card in the future.

My system is overclocked so there are 8 volcanos, I like the noise ;-)

A good airflow is better than having 20 fans...

...is the minimum number of fans required to keep your system temp where you want them to be.

So, for starters, I would refrain from buying extra fans. Like saphaline said: put one of the two that came with the case in the lower front, both if there's room for it. Should your system temps be to high with this setup, adding an extra fan is easy and quickly done.

Don't forget that more fans = more noise. Sometimes this doesn't matter, but normaly you'd want to avoid it.

Have fun building your system, and remember: you never forget your first time ;) :p

hi guys, just wanna ask why a fan in the lower front is needed when theres already one at the back, theres also a hole at the lower front so when the fan at the back is turned on, wouldn't it suck air from the hole in front? so its the same as having two fans.

it has to to with the air pressure in your case.

Having one in the back blowing air out gives a negative air pressure in the case, which causes outside air to flow inwards. For a part trough the gap in the lower front, but also trough every other opening in the case.

Having one fan in the lower front blows air in, thus creating positive air pressure in the case, causing the hot air to flow outwards. For a part trough the gap in the uppper back, but also trough every other opening in the case.

In both cases, you have just one fan either blowing or sucking, which causes the air flow to be not a straight stream lower-front --> upper back. Airflow will be better/tidier when having two fans directing the airstream.

If you don't want to place more than one fan: the lower front is the best place for two reasons:

1) every case has it's psu in the upper back, serving a bit like a rear-exhaust-fan
2) dust. Having a front intake means that this will be the only opening in your case trough which dust comes in (all the other openings have air flowing out, remember?) so if you place a filter there, dust should be less of an issue inside the case.

As Abbadon was essentially saying, 'positive case pressure would be ideal!' However, with the way the cases are set up I think we rarely achieve that goal...

Ideally, if we were able to achieve positive pressure inside the case, we would be able to initiate dust control by filtering the intake fan.

However, it would appear that the case designs are centered around "air flow," rather than being able to pressurize the case.

Here's my logic: If you've an 80mm fan pushing air into the case from the front and a 80mm fan exhausting...you've achieved a balance (i.e., no positive pressure).

Once you take into account the Power Unit's fans also exhausting air...you've created a negative case pressure...which would result in unfiltered air coming in through every nook and cranny (Welcome to the "Dust Bunny Inn!" :( )

Obviously, the duties of the intake fans would have to exceed the exhausting fans to achieve positive case pressure. This could potentially be accomplished by putting in two 110mm intake fans which would overcompensate for two 80mm Power Unit exhaust fans...

However, fan placement would be critical because this could result in stagnant air pockets within the case which could include air surrounding the CPU and/or Video Card...

Adding multiple internal fans would just seem to create a lot of turbulence and simply recirculate warmed air with an accompanying cacophonous din...:(

It would certainly seem that without "modding" a case that the standard case architecture is designed to achieve nothing more than an air flow pattern conducive to expelling heat.

I don't want to be creating a negative environment :rolleyes: , however, I would suspect that most of our cases pretty much suck by design! :D

Fan placement in a standard case would be an intake lower front which would push air across the bottom of the case. This air would be drawn up by a combination of naturally rising component heated air and additional exhaust fan/s (Power Supply fans are a given) and expelled out the mid and upper rear of the case...

Did I mention the critical nature of ambient air temperature??? :eek:

I have an exodus casing(you know, the one with the useless restart button), I have two rear exhaust fans but I can't see if I have an intake fan in front, I can't see through cuz there's some kind of metal board with holes on it blocking my sight. If ever I dont have an intake fan, do you think I should buy one or just use one of the two fans at the back and place it infront?

Hi assembly,
My brothers computer case is like that, big metal board that you can't see the front through. There are screws hidden on the insides of the front that will let you take the actual front facing off of the computer to get to the fan or even see if you have one. My brother didn't know this and when I got the computer I really didn't see how it had been running as the whole front was blocked with dust. Have fun with your build!!
LG;)

I'd definitely see about getting a fan in the front...you really need that air intake coming in low and then rising...

You could do it either way...remove one of the rear and put in the front, or just add one if as LG points out, 'There might be one there!'

I personally use air conditioning filter that comes in a sheet. I cut it into pieces that fit to cover the intake fan and just toss when they get dirty. The stuff can also be washed...but it's pretty cheap. I think I paid a couple of bucks for the sheet...got it at Home Depot if I remember correctly...

You could probably place the filter over any vented openings that you see in your case...

I am a bit confused... For front intake fan, does the case have to have some sort of opening or ventialtion at the lower front ?? Coz, my case doesnt have any opening/ventilation in the front :confused: Ofcourse, there is no fan either in the front, but there is a box like thing, which i guess is to hold a fan :rolleyes:

Yes, those box like things in the front are designed to hold a fan...

If you take the plastic front cover off you'll probably find the metal perforated and stamped outward to allow air intake and create a little bit of space. I would suspect that the bulge in the metal is to insure that the fan blades don't come into contact...

thanks Whyzman, I opened the case today and saw exactly what you said :) My cabinet already has 4 fans = 2 fans at the back + 1 for powersupply + 1 on heatsink. And i didnt see any wires left for an extra fan !

Is there a fan there rahul? Or, just the plastic box for mounting one?

If you've run out of power connectors for adding a fan you can get jumpers to add more 12Vs....

No, there is no fan in the front, just the plastic box.

Ok, i think, i will try this jumper thingy after all(theory, pracs, orals :mad: ) my exams are done i.e. in June. :(

thanks again. ;)

Kinda like this:

http://www.kdcomputers.com/eui/prime/profile/169/66/component.htm

okies :)