How many case fans do I actually need?

[kLN93]

Hi I currently have a coolermaster 430, I was wondering how many case fans are actually necessary. I currently have 5 case fans and because of this my PC is loud. Would it be okay if I just used two fans? 1 at the front for intake and one at the back for exhaust, or would this affect my temps a lot. Neither my GPU or CPU are overclocked.

 

[Dude]

It will lower the noise. Does your BIOS offer any fan control? If so you could lower the speeds and bring the noise down. Try the easy tune 6 software mentioned here

http://www.sevenforums.com/pc-custom-builds-overclocking/319729-fan-noise-motherboards.html

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4305#utility

 

[N00berG00ber]

IMO, i would have as many fans as i can stuff into that case. however, connecting them directly to the PSU will make them run at max RPM. so you could also connect them to the motherboard and use the bios fan controls to lower the RPM. but i would have at least 4. 2 intake, 2 exhaust. minimum of 3 2 intake 1 exhaust.

just disconnect them and run some games and monitor temps. they they are higher, connect more fans.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Use some of these inline and they will slow and quiet the fans then you can add all that will fit and still be cool and quiet !

Amazon.com: Zalman ZM-RC56 56 Ohm Resistor Connector: Electronics

 

[badger906]

or a budget fan controller on ebay can be bought for a few quid.

 

[Andreas W]

Hi I currently have a coolermaster 430, I was wondering how many case fans are actually necessary. I currently have 5 case fans and because of this my PC is loud. Would it be okay if I just used two fans? 1 at the front for intake and one at the back for exhaust, or would this affect my temps a lot. Neither my GPU or CPU are overclocked.

Go for as many fans as you can fit. As an example with my own computer, I have modded my 800D to fit 4x140mm fans at the top and 2x140mm at the front, all of these ran at 12v which made quite some noise so I plugged in 7v resistor to all of them and noise went down a lot and temps did not change at all they stayed the same, so I thought what if I use 5v and sure enough sound lowered even more and nothing changed temp wise. All those fans are intake btw and 1 exhaust in the back where my h80 is fitted.

 

[LMiller7]

Most systems don't need more than an input and exhaust fans. More fans may actually inhibit air circulation and impair cooling.

 

[badger906]

on my corsair air 540 i have 2 140mm intake fans on the front, 1 140mm exhaust fan, and another 120mm fan attached to my radiator which draws air in from the top. I have all of mine set to a very low RPM using a fan controller, i set them so they are just audible if you stick your head near the case silence is bliss... until my GPU gets up to speed... then its like a jet fighter.