Can anybody here give me the reason PC builders stick fans in the side of the case? I mean, it's a perfect setup having a smooth stream of air flowing from front to rear... why screw that up by creating turbulence and upsetting the air flow with a fan stupidly placed on the side?
Sorry I just had to finally ask.
Depending on the CPU fan, the side fan draws in air directly onto the CPU fan to blow through the heatsink instead of cycling warmer case air.
My PC case has a duct, but no fan. It seems to work well.
A side fan usually vents hot air from the PCI card area.
dan k
That fan on the side of the case (i'm assuming you are referring to the new idea of a side mounted fan, not the fan on the rear of the case) is there to directly blow colder air onto the cpu. Just so long there is enough exhaust from the case, i realy dont' think turblance is a big deal sinc ethe important thing is to keep venting fresh cold air on top of a hot cpu.
OK, then explain why every example I've seen has had the fan in the centre of the side panel, away from the CPU, with no ducting on it.
i have no idea. All the cpu's taht we have at my university actually have the holes and ducting directly over the cpu.
If you are talking about those fancey cases with the clear sides, i'm assuming that its just for looks (why its in the center and directly over the cpu).
The cases that we have are all designed specficially for p4's whereas those fancy cases are designed for just about anything that can fit in there.
Aesthetics? Actually, most of the ones I see have the side-panel fans more towards the back of the case, closer the CPU. It rarely is centred exactly over the CPU, but does introduce a lot of cool air into the case.
The problem with most generic cases is the airflow is abysmal. The side fans are an attempt to compensate for poor design in cases that simply do -not- have good airflow. There's often little room in the front for bringing in cool air, and modders will often cut holes in the front, or open up constricting grilles and remove plastics, but that's not always an option.
What Apple got right with the G5, PC modders often have to accomplish with a jigsaw and brute force....or spend a small fortune on a custom case.
I just read a good article on budget PC cooling without side holes here.
Do you know if they have anything like that covering drive bays?
I have a P3-450 as a file server with 5 IDE hard disks (1-8.4GB, 2-10GB, 2-20GB). Currently there are 2 fans in front of the drives bringing in air from the front of the case. Soon there will be one in the rear to exhaust the warm air.
Before the two front fans were added, the drives got very warm. They are barely lukewarm now, but the fans make the machine rather noisy as a result.