Do i need a side fan ?

Question

hi guys

i have a side fan on the perspex on my pc case however its making more noise than all the others put together

however would it affect the cooling of the p.c if i simply removed it,i have a rear fan and can easily fit a front fan if needed

so if i set up the case to draw air in from the front and then draw it out from the rear will this be ok

i have also recently fitted a new hiper 425watt psu which also helps the cooling of the case

so can i ditch the side fan !

cheers guys !

Answer 1

Most likely answer is yes but as you have mentioned ensure that you still have a good airflow ie font intake rear exhaust and your PSU.

I had the same problem with my side fan making too much noise so I just unplugged it and found no difference in temps.

I would however try to keep an eye on temperatures using software like Everest or Coretemp (Coretemp is free i think) and compare before and after temps.

Short Answer being you should be fine!

Answer 2

its up to you but i would get a new fan for the side i have liquid cooling 3 massive fans 2 fans for my hdd a huge fan on my 750watt psu and then a further 3 little fans keeping everything nice and cool happy computing

the choice is yours  

Answer 3

yeah, ditch it unless you want to buy a new quieter one. as long as you have air flow though the case you will be ok, as long as your not overclocking (i know you're not)

i have one fan at the front and one at the rear and dont have any problems.

Answer 4

Side fans can often hinder the cooling within your PC case. The important thing is to keep as much fresh, room temperature air inside the case as possible. If you have a side fan with an air tunnel directly to the CPU heatsink this is slightly different. An air tunnel (usually a plastic construct) will reduce front to rear airflow across the CPU heatsink, but ensure a high volume of outside air directly from the side. Without that tunnel however, most side fans are useless.

If you do not have the tunnel, ditch the side fan. Have front and rear fans. You want to have your rear fans sucking air out of the case and the front fans blowing air in. Have two fans at the rear and one at the front. This will set up a better front to back airflow and prevent warm air from returning into the rear of the case. Most people's cases are near to a wall, and so warm air collects behind the case and it is important to stop it entering into the case again. To test this, after your computer has been on for half an hour or so, put you hand behind it and notice how the air behind it is warmer than the air to the side of it.

To make your fans as quiet as possible go for high quality fans with ball bearings as opposed to bushes. Also, consider the silicon or rubber 'anti-vibration' gaskets that you can buy from most good computer stores. You may also want to consider a good quality 'noise-reduction' foam for the interia of your case.

Ensure that your fans are kept clean at all times (dirty fans are noisy fans) and consider fitting filters to them.

Answer 5

You can ditch it becuase you have other fans around you mentioned. Also you could just replace it, but no need. Even though more fans does speed up the performance of your computer.

Hope this helps.

Dan

Answer 6

no, you shouldn't. get the fan replaced with an aftermarket type of the same size, like if it's a 120mm fan you have, then get a 120mm fan, they sell fans that are designed to be very quiet, so Id get one of those. check the decibel rating on the fan. if that fails, then get a new CPU cooler, stock heatsink and fans cool kind of poorly, and they make a lot of noise. BTW the PSU may help cool the PC, but the heat extraction would strain it too much. and if the side fan is the only intake fan you have, then the answer is simple, no, do not ditch it.