Practicallity of a case side fan?

archangel · Post by **archangel** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 1:45 pm

It would appear for the "average" gaming/general purpose system (in my case a P4@2GHz, two Seagate 10K LVD drives and a GeForce 4600 card) most likely a balance of cooling and acustics can be struck through the use of a quiet power supply, quiet CPU fan and quiet rear case exhaust fan.

As I have read, this will set up a tunneling efffect, drawing air in from the front of the case, exiting out the PS and case rear.

Now for my question. If I purchase a case with a side panel fan, would I really want to use it? It seems that this would more than likely disturb the intented air flow pattern within the case. If I did use it, should it blow in (my guess) or blow out?

miker · Post by **miker** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 1:50 pm

Not sure which way you would want to point it, but I think your first assumption is the correct one: no good can come from those side panel fans, unless you absolutely need directed air over something like a VGA card. I would limit it to a 5V panaflo L1A max. Problem is the fan is so close to the outside of teh case, the noise goes right out the side.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 5:27 am

I totally agree with miker's summary. I think he nailed it.

I wouldn't waste your money buying a case with a side fan.

SometimesWarrior · Post by **SometimesWarrior** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 2:55 pm

Ralf Hutter wrote:I totally agree with miker's summary. I think he nailed it.

I wouldn't waste your money buying a case with a side fan.

There are some Evercase models (such as the Evercase ECE4252) that have a side fan opening. These cases have very good airflow at a modest price, and are listed at the top of SPCR's Recommended Cases page. Ideally, one would tape over the opening to optimize airflow and reduce noise.