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How many case fans do you need for a Full/Mid tower case?

Techpenguin101
By Techpenguin101
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Go to solution Solved by Jurrunio,

depends on how good you want it to be and how much heat your hardware produces

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I'm considering air cooling my CPU and want to build in a full/mid tower case.

 

How many case fans do you need for good airflow in a full/mid tower case?

                                      JOE? who that?

 

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  • Solution

depends on how good you want it to be and how much heat your hardware produces

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That mostly depends on the case itself.  Some cases allow the air to flow freely, others are very restrictive.  The more restricted your airflow is, the more (and more pressure-optimized) fans you need

 

The hardware inside is the second factor.  An overclocked 18-core with dual GPUs is going to generate a lot more heat than a quad core with integrated graphics, so it'll need more fans to move enough air.

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it depends on your definition of "good airflow". If you want a system that leaves no dust inside, I would try for around 5-6 case fans, three on the front pointing inwards, and two on the back facing outwards. If you just want straight cooling of a light build, maybe 3 or 4 should be good, possibly less. For anything high-end, I would probably just fill up the available fan slots on your case, but it depends on your system specs and what you're doing with it and your intentions with airflow.

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24 minutes ago, Techpenguin101 said:

I'm considering air cooling my CPU and want to build in a full/mid tower case.

 

How many case fans do you need for good airflow in a full/mid tower case?

While I agree with @Jurrunio , normally 2 Intake and 1 Exhaust will cover you just fine. Though some cases are designed well for Negative Pressure. (Especially ones with good bottom intake.)

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2 intakes, one rear exhaust are the bare minimum according to the LTT video made some time ago. Or two stronger intakes and 2 weaker exhaust.

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33 minutes ago, Techpenguin101 said:

I'm considering air cooling my CPU and want to build in a full/mid tower case.

 

How many case fans do you need for good airflow in a full/mid tower case?

Put the largest fans you can get, and fill every spot a fan can go. Done.

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