When it comes to cooling your PC, case fans play a pivotal role. They’re not only responsible for bringing fresh air into your system and expelling hot air out but can also improve (or hinder) the aesthetics of your PC. Many PC cases come with pre-installed case fans conveniently configured as intake and exhaust, so is upgrading your case fans still worth it? Is it even necessary?
There are several factors involved before that question can be answered, namely the number, type, and quality of fans you already have on your rig. Additionally, your case fans might not be the limiting factor in your PC’s thermals and noise levels at all. Let’s unpack when it actually makes sense to upgrade your fans.
What case fans do you have on your PC?
Check if your existing fans are lacking
Before you start browsing new case fans on Amazon or Newegg, it makes sense to assess the setup you already have. In many cases, if you’re not satisfied with your PC’s cooling performance on your PC, your case fans might not be the culprit, especially if you’ve already configured enough quality fans in the right orientation, and optimized them well.
Number of fans
The biggest impact on cooling performance is the number of case fans you have on your PC, up to a point. Provided you already have a decent CPU cooler and a quality AIB model graphics card, a lack of sufficient intake and exhaust fans can result in raised temperatures inside your PC. Typically, you should have at least two intake and one exhaust fan in total.
Beyond 2–3 intake fans, there are diminishing returns in terms of system temps.
If your CPU cooler’s fan/fans are already configured as exhaust, focus on having 2 to 3 intake fans in your case. If your PC case already satisfies that criterion, you probably don’t need to worry about adding more fans. Beyond 2–3 intake fans, there are diminishing returns in terms of system temps.
Type of fans
If you have an older system that came with pre-installed fans, there’s a chance they’re all DC fans, instead of PWM. The speed of DC fans can’t be controlled via the motherboard, and they tend to run at full speed all the time. In contrast, PWM fans can be optimized to run at slow speed when you don’t need the additional performance, and slowly ramp up when your system temps begin to rise under load.
You can also consider moving to 140mm or 200mm fans to reduce noise levels, as larger fans can pull in the same amount of air at a lower RPM.
High noise levels from DC fans can be disconcerting, so replacing them with PWM fans can help you set optimum fan curves using software, resulting in a silent PC most of the time. Moreover, you can also consider moving to 140mm or 200mm fans to reduce noise levels, as larger fans can pull in the same amount of air at a lower RPM.
On compact PC cases with restricted airflow, you might want to pick static pressure fans over airflow fans. Static pressure fans are better suited to pushing air against resistance, such as inside compact mini-ITX cases, on radiators, and even in larger cases where things like drive cages are in the way.
Quality of fans
Finally, if your PC has enough intake and exhaust fans, and they’re all PWM, you might want to look at their construction (if you’re experiencing unusual noise levels). Cheaper fans with ball bearings can be noisier than their more expensive counterparts with fluid dynamic bearings (FDB). Switching to FDB fans might result in a slightly more silent PC, provided your older fans were indeed the noisiest part of the entire PC.
Is upgrading your case fans worth it?
For most people, it’s not worth the investment and hassle
Coming right down to it, if you’ve covered all your bases — reliable CPU cooler, quality GPU model, and enough decent intake and exhaust fans — buying new case fans might not give you any tangible performance gains.
Optimizing your fan curves can make a much bigger difference than upgrading your case fans. If you’ve not already done so, leaving the fans to do their own thing, I highly recommend you configure optimum fan curves for each of your fans to create a silent PC.
You should also look at your PSU, CPU cooler, and GPU as possible suspects.
Lastly, if the CPU and GPU temperatures on your PC are well within reason, with noise levels being your only concern, then you should also look at your PSU, CPU cooler, and GPU as possible suspects. Unless you have a really cheap case that came with sub-par case fans, other areas might be contributing more noise than your case fans.
The fan inside the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 13.
You can optimize the fan curves for your CPU and GPU fans, but replacing the power supply would probably be the only option for a noisy PSU. In those cases, you don’t even need to think about upgrading your case fans.
#upgrade #PCs #case #fans
source: https://www.xda-developers.com/do-you-need-to-upgrade-pc-case-fans/
