Are side panel fans worthless?

**davnport** · 10-26-2003, 09:25 PM

I've read both good and bad things about this. To me it makes sense that having cool air blowing onto your vid card or pci devices would help keep them cool. However, it also makes sense that having a side panel intake could disturb the front intake-to-rear exhaust air flow by causing turbulence that would not help to cool the inside of the case at all. Comments?

**mikead_99** · 10-26-2003, 09:28 PM

Lot's of debate on that. IMHO, 90% of the time, they suck.

See more: http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthre...hreadid=212081

Edit: Fixed link

**mystifmagic** · 10-26-2003, 09:32 PM

If you have an equal amount of intake air as you do outtake air, the side panel fans are invaluable. Having a cold air intake is a very good thing to have in your case. A side panel fan can easily bring fresh cooler air from outside the case to the video card or even better, the CPU. If done correctly, you won't want to live without one. Good Luck

**sapasion** · 10-26-2003, 10:17 PM

I use side panel fans. Quote me all the thermodynamics you want. Fact is my cpu is 15ºF cooler with a 120mm fan over it in the side panel than without it.

**thebove** · 10-26-2003, 10:30 PM

i actually use side fans as exhausts...in my room the air is always really warm, so in my case it's better to be exhausting the really hot air out of the case than it is to push already warm air into the system....case temps will rise at least 6C when i switch my 3 120mm side fans to intake

**XP1800** · 10-26-2003, 10:35 PM

My side panel fan doesn't even affect my CPU temp, it only drops my system temp 3C-4C and [b]definately[b] cools off my video card. I only keep it on while gaming though, since I prefer my rig to be quieter the rest of the time

**sapasion** · 10-26-2003, 10:36 PM

Yeah I think we've all experimented enough with our own individual cases to achieve our best personal results for some its lots of intake and for others its just the opposition.

**Jagermeister** · 10-26-2003, 10:40 PM

Hmm, my case isn't the biggest nor is it a very good case cooling wise (Apex TU-150), after adding a 120mm side intake fan, my temps dropped about 8 degrees celsius. Sure, the air flow is all screwed up, and some of my other components might be getting more heat... it's still worth it, IMO. The 120mm fan hits the GPU, CPU, and northbridge, cooling the three major heatsources.

**CrawlingEye** · 10-26-2003, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jagermeister
Hmm, my case isn't the biggest nor is it a very good case cooling wise (Apex TU-150), after adding a 120mm side intake fan, my temps dropped about 8 degrees celsius. Sure, the air flow is all screwed up, and some of my other components might be getting more heat... it's still worth it, IMO. The 120mm fan hits the GPU, CPU, and northbridge, cooling the three major heatsources.

Actually, I've found smaller cases get lower temps more easily than larger cases. (less space for air to ciruclate through)

**Jagermeister** · 10-26-2003, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CrawlingEye
Actually, I've found smaller cases get lower temps more easily than larger cases. (less space for air to ciruclate through)

Well, my case doesn't have air circulation. Just a constant bombardment of cold air coming from the inside.

In fact, if I take off a cd slot cover, I can feel cold(er) air coming out.

EDIT: My case is at 27 degress celsius right now. And it was about 95 degress fahrenheit where I live today too!

**XP1800** · 10-26-2003, 11:26 PM

Man at night when I forget to turn off my window AC unit, my case temp gets down to 19C sometimes

**Ashpool** · 10-27-2003, 12:13 AM

For me, it helps a few degrees with my temps, both case and CPU. Then again, SX1030's aren't exactly big cases :/

10-26-2003, 09:25 PM	#1
davnport Hammerhead Shark Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 1,401	Are side panel fans worthless? I've read both good and bad things about this. To me it makes sense that having cool air blowing onto your vid card or pci devices would help keep them cool. However, it also makes sense that having a side panel intake could disturb the front intake-to-rear exhaust air flow by causing turbulence that would not help to cool the inside of the case at all. Comments? __________________ Main Rig Abit NF7-s v2 \| AMD Barton 2500+ \| 2x 512 Corsair XMS PC3200LL \| ATI 9700pro \| WD SE 120Gb & Maxtor 250Gb \| NEC 2500A 8x \| Antec SuperLanboy \| Thermalright SP-97 & enermax 90mm \| Logitech MX Duo \| APC Back-UPS XS 800 Home Theatre: 50" Proscan projection TV-> Harmon Kardon AVR-230-> JBL SCS160si Computer Audio: E-MU 0404-> Switchbox-> ZA Pimeta-> TBA/AL ATP3s Portable: iRiver H-120-> Shure E3 MEMBER OF THE SHARKY FORUMS FOLDING TEAM Interested in learning more about FOLDING? Check out this flash!

10-26-2003, 09:28 PM	#2
mikead_99 Hammerhead Shark Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: DC 'Burbs Posts: 2,085	Lot's of debate on that. IMHO, 90% of the time, they suck. See more: http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthre...hreadid=212081 Edit: Fixed link __________________ Fold! Sharky Forums Folding Team 34149 Last edited by mikead_99; 10-26-2003 at 09:38 PM.

10-26-2003, 09:32 PM	#3
mystifmagic Running Man Mod Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Stuck in this box Posts: 6,033	If you have an equal amount of intake air as you do outtake air, the side panel fans are invaluable. Having a cold air intake is a very good thing to have in your case. A side panel fan can easily bring fresh cooler air from outside the case to the video card or even better, the CPU. If done correctly, you won't want to live without one. Good Luck __________________ *Prince of the OC Crusaders* - Opus Moderanti of The Cooler's Guild

10-26-2003, 10:17 PM	#4
sapasion Folding Team Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Folding@Home Posts: 15,177	I use side panel fans. Quote me all the thermodynamics you want. Fact is my cpu is 15ºF cooler with a 120mm fan over it in the side panel than without it. __________________ My PC OC Crusaders 3DMark Team Folding Team

10-26-2003, 10:30 PM	#5
thebove Evil Monkey Shark Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: West Bloomfield, MI Posts: 6,820	i actually use side fans as exhausts...in my room the air is always really warm, so in my case it's better to be exhausting the really hot air out of the case than it is to push already warm air into the system....case temps will rise at least 6C when i switch my 3 120mm side fans to intake __________________ Abit IP35 Pro - Core2Duo E8400 - 4GB Crucial Ballistix 1066 - ATI 4850HD - 2xRaptor 150GB RAID-0 Dave? Dave?! Dave's not here...

10-26-2003, 10:35 PM	#6
XP1800 Resident Audiophile Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 8,612	My side panel fan doesn't even affect my CPU temp, it only drops my system temp 3C-4C and [b]definately[b] cools off my video card. I only keep it on while gaming though, since I prefer my rig to be quieter the rest of the time __________________ My Heatware

10-26-2003, 10:36 PM	#7
sapasion Folding Team Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Folding@Home Posts: 15,177	Yeah I think we've all experimented enough with our own individual cases to achieve our best personal results for some its lots of intake and for others its just the opposition. __________________ My PC OC Crusaders 3DMark Team Folding Team

10-26-2003, 10:40 PM	#8
Jagermeister Tiger Shark Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Cupertino/Riverside, CA Posts: 793	Hmm, my case isn't the biggest nor is it a very good case cooling wise (Apex TU-150), after adding a 120mm side intake fan, my temps dropped about 8 degrees celsius. Sure, the air flow is all screwed up, and some of my other components might be getting more heat... it's still worth it, IMO. The 120mm fan hits the GPU, CPU, and northbridge, cooling the three major heatsources. __________________ Main Rig + AthlonXP 2500+ Barton (early week, unlocked); cooled by SLK900A w/ 92mm 64cfm fan + The Uberduct + 200x11, 1.725vcore, 2.7vdimm for everyday use; 210x11, 1.825vcore, 2.8vdimm max stable overclock + Abit NF7-S rev2 (Vantec Iceberq on NB) + 1x512MB Buffalo Tech PC3200 (CH-5) + Radeon 9500 Pro awaiting it's overclock + Seagate Barracuda 80GB 8MB cache 7200RPM HD#1 + Western Digital 60GB 2MB cache 5400rpm HD#2 + LG 52x CDRW + Samsung 32x CDROM + Allied 400W PSU + NEC FE991SB 19" + WindowsXP Proffesional + Sennheiser HD212 PROs Private Jagermeister of the Cooler's Guild.

10-26-2003, 11:26 PM	#11
XP1800 Resident Audiophile Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 8,612	Man at night when I forget to turn off my window AC unit, my case temp gets down to 19C sometimes __________________ My Heatware

10-27-2003, 12:13 AM	#12
Ashpool Derby Hooligan Join Date: May 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 13,077	For me, it helps a few degrees with my temps, both case and CPU. Then again, SX1030's aren't exactly big cases :/ __________________ #1) Big Box Core 2 Quad Q9550 - Asus P5Q3 - 4GB DDR3 1333 - Radeon HD4830 512MB - Win 7 Pro #2) IBM Thinkpad R51 Pentium M 1.6GHz - 1GB PC2700 - 80GB - Win XP (don't hate)

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