Do I have to have front fans?

Forums › Desktop computing › Do I have to have front fans?

Ronsoak

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#171896 4-May-2015 23:12

Read this first.

I have a fairly large case which is a Coolermaster Scout 2 white (see picture)

It has 8 potential fan slots. 2 front, 2 top, 1 back, 2 side, 1 bottom. Currently i have filled all but the bottom fan (PSU covers part of it) and I feel that that maybe over kill and creating sound noise.

Could I in theory do without the front two fans and just have all the fans at the back seeming all the hot bits are are the back.
I was thinking 2 out on top, 1 out on back and 2 in on side.

My rig is
I5-4590
GTX 970
750 PSU
12 GB RAM
2 x SD
1x HDD

Thoughts?

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#1297973 4-May-2015 23:31

So, I'm assuming you're going to have the two side fans as intake and the ones at the top and back as exhaust?

Ronsoak

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#1297975 4-May-2015 23:40

hooplish: So, I'm assuming you're going to have the two side fans as intake and the ones at the top and back as exhaust?

Yup exactly that, will kinda create neg pressure but with the whole front compartment not doing much it will be fine i think.

andrewNZ

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#1298003 5-May-2015 07:10

Front fans are useful for cooling hard disks if they're packed in like sardines. That's about it.

nakedmolerat

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#1298006 5-May-2015 07:15

I'll probably choose front, top, back.

timmmay

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#1298031 5-May-2015 07:44

I have two front fans to keep my hard drive cool, one rear to pull the heat out of the machine. I found the fans that came with the cooler master silencio case were very low powered, I replaced them and things got cooler.

Ronsoak

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#1298047 5-May-2015 08:25

timmmay: I have two front fans to keep my hard drive cool, one rear to pull the heat out of the machine. I found the fans that came with the cooler master silencio case were very low powered, I replaced them and things got cooler.

Omg that's the reason I replaced my Silencio it got so hot!

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timmmay

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#1298054 5-May-2015 08:54

I have the 550, I think I read you had the 4xxx. My CPU and hard drives stay pretty cool, cooler than most. I have a Noctuna cooler with a huge fan, two hard drive fans, and one exhaust fan which is now pretty powerful. I use a fan controller because I find motherboard control not so great, plus I think my fans had the wrong number of pins.

DravidDavid

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#1298074 5-May-2015 09:22

Front fans are usually there to draw cool air through the hard disks positioned directly behind to keep them cool. But in some cases, front fans are quite ineffective due to the way the hard disks are mounted.

Cases designed today usually have the disk bays configured transversely to the front of the case, where as old cases, the drives are configured in-line with the front of the case. The transverse design means the front fans are often just hitting a bunch of plastic, hampering airflow. Side fans on the other hand allow the air to pass between each drive and usually out a vent on the other side of the case.

Top mounted fans are a must for me as they extract a lot of warm air coming off of my large CPU cooler. A strong rear fan is also a must for me.

This may have been improved in recent years. All my cases are 3 or 4 years old, but this is my experience with front cooling fans.

Ronsoak

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#1298235 5-May-2015 11:23

Do HDDS actually get hot?

Jase2985

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#1298284 5-May-2015 12:04

M00S3: Do HDDS actually get hot?

yes, and the heat does effect life span

timmmay

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#1298294 5-May-2015 12:23

Google isn't sure that heat is big factor in drive reliability (report here), but keeping electronics cool is generally good practice.

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andrewNZ

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#1298306 5-May-2015 12:43

M00S3: Do HDDS actually get hot?

I've had a hard disk get too hot to touch. From memory it reported a temp around 80 degrees

richms

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#1298322 5-May-2015 13:00

Ive had drives sitting in the 70s for years and they were still working when the raid became too small to be any use. Those were WD 2TB drives, from back when 2TB was as big as they came and cost a crapload. Lasted thru till december when I broke the PC down, stuck it in a new case and equipped it with 5TB's

Richard rich.ms

Ronsoak

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#1298327 5-May-2015 13:04

richms: Ive had drives sitting in the 70s for years and they were still working when the raid became too small to be any use. Those were WD 2TB drives, from back when 2TB was as big as they came and cost a crapload. Lasted thru till december when I broke the PC down, stuck it in a new case and equipped it with 5TB's

]

Nice

By the way, every time I see you on this forum I click on the link in your Sig too see where it goes. Are you ever going to change that?

richms

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#1298332 5-May-2015 13:10

M00S3:
Nice

By the way, every time I see you on this forum I click on the link in your Sig too see where it goes. Are you ever going to change that?

No, I really only use it for email at the moment. If I have a need for a portfolio again I will dig out the backups and knock something together, but you really only need that if you are wanting to work for someone else which I dont really want to do again.

Richard rich.ms

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