I have just changed out my Side Intake Fan. It had a Metal Dust Filter with small pin holes. It has worked fine for about five years but the pin holes seem air flow restrictive. What kind of dust filters do you have on your intake fans?
I've sealed all air intakes so it has to go by the filters.
The front filters are on the 5 1/4 empty bays that I use a air conditioner filter on them.
On the side I use one of these Dustproof 120mm Case Fan Dust Filter Guard Grill Protector Cover PC Computer-Newegg.com
case filters - Newegg.com
The mesh filters, such as the ones made by DEMCIfilter, are the most effective but, being magnetic filters applied externally, they are unattractive and not always convenient to apply or and clean. Foam filters are a poor second in effectiveness but easily make up for it in being easier and more attractive to add to a case (Megahertz07 gave some excellent examples of foam filters). Both types are more effective and have less resistance to airflow than pinhole metal filters.
All dust filters will reduce airflow and will increasingly so as they collect dust. The better the filter, the more it will reduce airflow initially and the quicker the additional reduction will increase as dust accumulates on the filters. This means frequent cleaning to limit the reduction in airflow as dust accumulates on the filter. Both the initial airflow reduction and some of the reduction from dust accumulation can be mitigated by increasing airflow from the fans by using more fans, better fans, or larger fans.
I'm currently using the factory foam filter that is on the front of my case and an add on foam filter for the fan on the side of my case. They stop most of the dust but enough really fine dust still gets through to still require cleaning the inside the case, although at longer intervals between cleaning than would otherwise be necessary. My next case will initially use a disposable factory pleated paper furnace filter but will eventually use a homebrew pleated fabric mesh filter that can be cleaned and then reused, and will offer less airflow resistance than a paper filter. I will bee compensating for the decrease in airflow caused by the filter but using more intake fans. pleating the filter media also creates more filter surface area, allowing for more dust accumulation at a lower rate of increasing airflow reduction before replacement or cleaning is necessary.
I had looked at the very fans in Megahertz07 post. Thanks very much for your comments on them. I had wondered if they were efficient. == Lady F., your comments were very helpful also. This is the best place to come with a PC problem. There is always someone here who knows how to deal with the problem. Thanks
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