Intake fans, do I need them?

K9-Cop · Post by **K9-Cop** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 4:50 pm

I've got an Antec Solo with the following setup:

P5NSli mobo
C2D E6600
Themalright XP-90 with downward facing Nexus 92mm at 12v
Seasonic S12-500
XFX 7950gt vid card
Samsung HD401LJ, lower, suspension mounted
Two Nexus 92mm front intake fans at 12v
Stock Antec TriCool 120mm on low
Audigy4
Pioneer DVR-111D optical drive

I should say I believe I've done a really good job keeping the inside clear of obstructions, so there are very few cables that would interrupt airflow.

The question is, do I need those front fans?

My concerns are:

1) Do you think there'd still be enough airflow to adequately cool the passive vid card?

2) This would mean all the fans are blowing out the back. What does case pressure matter?

3) Should I keep a fan in front of the hard-drive?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 5:38 pm

Hello,

It'll depend on the drive temps, and the noise. With the Tri-Cool, you may or may not even notice the front fan(s) -- but I'd say it is unlikely that you'll need two fans up front. Maybe one, but not both unless you have an exceptionally warm room.

truckman · Post by **truckman** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 10:46 pm

I needed to put a 92mm Nexus intake fan in my Solo case to keep my 10K RPM Seagate Cheetah cool. At 12V, one intake fan is plenty (even with a dirty filter), so I'll probably undervolt it if it becomes audible once I quiet some of the other systems in the room. Two intake fans are definitely not necessary if you only have one drive.

I'm in the process of putting together another system in a Solo case. The drive in this system is a single-platter Hitachi Deskstar 7K160. It's power dissipation is low enough that I'll try to see if I can get by without an intake fan.