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Case window or side fan?

IAmAndre
By IAmAndre
in Power Supplies
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Hi,

 

I'm interested in a case and I'm not sure which variant to take. They cost roughly the same but this variant has two more fan-mounting options while this one has an acrylic side window instead. I saw a customer review on Newegg about the latter version saying that the airflow wasn't that great with two front fans, but it's just a customer review.

I can see in this article that side fans are actually pretty important for cooling, and on the 3rd page you can see that with their system having one fan on the front and another one on the side has better results than 2 fans on the front. Now this is a relatively old system and I'm not sure if it's still relevant today. This article seems to confirm this tendency too. With all that said, from what I'm seeing on online shops, less and less cases feature side fans as windows are more common these days.

Now I'll be using 2 HDD's and 2 SSD's and might add some more in the future. As for the actual components, I'll be using a Ryzen 5 2600X with the stock cooler along with a Vega 56 with a blower-style cooler. From my understanding, these coolers are adequate for cases with low airflow, but maybe a side fan would be more effective in lowering the temperature of the chipset.

I personally like the side window for aesthetic reasons but wouldn't mind sacrificing it for better cooling/durability. The case comes with a pre-installed fan on the front along with a dust filter. I have 2 other unused fans lying around but I wouldn't be against not having to buy one or two extra fans and dust filters.

So which version do you think I should get?

 

Thanks

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In my opinion it heavily depends on the front panel, if it is nearly shut like the sharkoon mentioned, the fans can´t suck much air and are pretty much useless. However if the case has a mesh front panel or enough ventilation holes, it beats the side fans. top fans are great too.

 

I have this one v1000 window , the airflow is great but the stock fans are trash

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6 minutes ago, Goigerer said:

In my opinion it heavily depends on the front panel, if it is nearly shut like the sharkoon mentioned, the fans can´t suck much air and are pretty much useless. However if the case has a mesh front panel or enough ventilation holes, it beats the side fans. top fans are great too.

 

I have this one v1000 window , the airflow is great but the stock fans are trash

Your case has bigger fans and appears to be bigger (I haven't checked the numbers) so I think this helps a lot.

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5 hours ago, Goigerer said:

@IAmAndre mine is actually smaller since it is only a mAtx case

Then I guess I should go for the version with side fans.

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If you had said Vega 64, I would definitely say side fans. What CPU?  I think you will just have to check reviews of that case regarding the cooling. How careful are with acrylic? If it gets scratched up, will that bother you? (I think there are some products that restore acrylic, but I don't know how successful they are.)

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On 5/18/2019 at 2:41 PM, IAmAndre said:

So which version do you think I should get?

That depends on what the rest of your system build is. There's no question. even with a fully removed front panel, side fans will ALWAYS be a better option for more direct cooling of GPU's (just ask Project ITNOS and it's multi slot GPU's running 24/7 at 53ºC ;)) 

 

That's not to say it's always necessary to run a system with side fans to get good temps. Part of it has to do with the level of hardware you're running (so a 570 would be perfectly fine either way, but you might start running into hot GPU temps with a RTX2080 without those side fans due to the front panel not providing significant airflow options)

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

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CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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2 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

That depends on what the rest of your system build is. There's no question. even with a fully removed front panel, side fans will ALWAYS be a better option for more direct cooling of GPU's (just ask Project ITNOS and it's multi slot GPU's running 24/7 at 53ºC ;)) 

 

That's not to say it's always necessary to run a system with side fans to get good temps. Part of it has to do with the level of hardware you're running (so a 570 would be perfectly fine either way, but you might start running into hot GPU temps with a RTX2080 without those side fans due to the front panel not providing significant airflow options)

I'll be using a 2600X and a Vega 56 as I mentioned in the original post. I ended picking up this one: https://www.aerocool.com.tw/us/chssis/pgs-v/shard

I hope it'll do it.

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15 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

I'll be using a 2600X and a Vega 56 as I mentioned in the original post.

Image result for doh png

16 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

I ended picking up this one: https://www.aerocool.com.tw/us/chssis/pgs-v/shard I hope it'll do it.

Side panels are pretty thin on that, but you shouldn't be too bad. It definitely wouldnt be my go-to recommendation though

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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2 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

Image result for doh png

Side panels are pretty thin on that, but you shouldn't be too bad. It definitely wouldnt be my go-to recommendation though

What aspects should I check next time?

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4 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

What aspects should I check next time?

If the front isnt some sort of mesh, I generally look for approximately 1"/25cm of vents on the sides like you might find on the Fractal Design Define C, Coolermaster MB510L or Corsair 460x. Some cases like Corsair 275r's vents are a bit thin, or cases like the NZXT H500 only have one side vent, but their still okay enough for mid level builds. 

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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38 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

If the front isnt some sort of mesh, I generally look for approximately 1"/25cm of vents on the sides like you might find on the Fractal Design Define C, Coolermaster MB510L or Corsair 460x. Some cases like Corsair 275r's vents are a bit thin, or cases like the NZXT H500 only have one side vent, but their still okay enough for mid level builds. 

Hmmokay... I'm not sure about the bottom fans though. I saw that they are supposed to blow cold air on the GPU but then they are right above the PSU and the hard drives. Wouldn't the air be hot?

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6 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

Hmmokay... I'm not sure about the bottom fans though. I saw that they are supposed to blow cold air on the GPU but then they are right above the PSU and the hard drives. Wouldn't the air be hot?

Most likely. Bottom fans aernt very useful anymore with the implementation of PSU shrouds, and the one directly over the PSU would either be completely blocked off by the body of the PSU, or be physically fighting the PSU fan which is trying to intake air. The more forward fan would theoretically be pulling in warmer air from hard drives, but I can say from experience it doesnt make a significant difference. So you should be good to use that one, especially since you have a blower style card and it's better pointed at the only entrance of air to your card.

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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58 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

The more forward fan would theoretically be pulling in warmer air from hard drives, but I can say from experience it doesnt make a significant difference. So you should be good to use that one, especially since you have a blower style card and it's better pointed at the only entrance of air to your card.

Wouldn't it be fighting against the bottom front fan?

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14 hours ago, IAmAndre said:

Wouldn't it be fighting against the bottom front fan?

Ideally they would be sorta working together since the bottom front fan would draw air in through those (tiny) vents at the front, and the PSU shroud fan would help push that air into the GPU. How that works in practice is hard to say until someone tests it. 

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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Me: Always go for function over form, my 2 cents.  Id rather have the additional fan mounts than to see my PCBs, again my opinion.

 

My favorite case in the world is front 200mm intake side 200mm intake.  Crossfiring in this case was a dream for temps, and single GPU with a R9 Fury stays around 43c while under normal gaming loads.

Workstation Laptop: Dell Precision 7540, Xeon E-2276M, 32gb DDR4, Quadro T2000 GPU, 4k display

Wifes Rig: ASRock B550m Riptide, Ryzen 5 5600X, Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6700 XT, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz V-Color Skywalker RAM, ARESGAME AGS 850w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750, 500gb Crucial m.2, DIYPC MA01-G case

My Rig: ASRock B450m Pro4, Ryzen 5 3600, ARESGAME River 5 CPU cooler, EVGA RTX 2060 KO, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz TeamGroup T-Force RAM, ARESGAME AGV750w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750 NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 3tb Hitachi 7200 RPM HDD, Fractal Design Focus G Mini custom painted.  

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 video card benchmark result - AMD Ryzen 5 3600,ASRock B450M Pro4 (3dmark.com)

Daughter 1 Rig: ASrock B450 Pro4, Ryzen 7 1700 @ 4.2ghz all core 1.4vCore, AMD R9 Fury X w/ Swiftech KOMODO waterblock, Custom Loop 2x240mm + 1x120mm radiators in push/pull 16gb (2x8) Patriot Viper CL14 2666mhz RAM, Corsair HX850 PSU, 250gb Samsun 960 EVO NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 500gb Samsung 840 EVO SSD, 512GB TeamGroup MP30 M.2 SATA III SSD, SuperTalent 512gb SATA III SSD, CoolerMaster HAF XM Case. 

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/37004594?

Daughter 2 Rig: ASUS B350-PRIME ATX, Ryzen 7 1700, Sapphire Nitro+ R9 Fury Tri-X, 16gb (2x8) 3200mhz V-Color Skywalker, ANTEC Earthwatts 750w PSU, MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO cooler in Push/Pull config as rear exhaust, 250gb Samsung 850 Evo SSD, Patriot Burst 240gb SSD, Cougar MX330-X Case

 

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5 hours ago, Tristerin said:

Always go for function over form, my 2 cents.  Id rather have the additional fan mounts than to see my PCBs, again my opinion.

That's how I used to think but I saw the RGB stuff and thought it would be cool...

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10 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

That's how I used to think but I saw the RGB stuff and thought it would be cool...

To each their own!   If you like it, and it makes you happy - RGB it should be!

 

I do have one RGB PC...flies the old Red White and Blue theme, cause 'Merica

Workstation Laptop: Dell Precision 7540, Xeon E-2276M, 32gb DDR4, Quadro T2000 GPU, 4k display

Wifes Rig: ASRock B550m Riptide, Ryzen 5 5600X, Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6700 XT, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz V-Color Skywalker RAM, ARESGAME AGS 850w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750, 500gb Crucial m.2, DIYPC MA01-G case

My Rig: ASRock B450m Pro4, Ryzen 5 3600, ARESGAME River 5 CPU cooler, EVGA RTX 2060 KO, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz TeamGroup T-Force RAM, ARESGAME AGV750w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750 NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 3tb Hitachi 7200 RPM HDD, Fractal Design Focus G Mini custom painted.  

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 video card benchmark result - AMD Ryzen 5 3600,ASRock B450M Pro4 (3dmark.com)

Daughter 1 Rig: ASrock B450 Pro4, Ryzen 7 1700 @ 4.2ghz all core 1.4vCore, AMD R9 Fury X w/ Swiftech KOMODO waterblock, Custom Loop 2x240mm + 1x120mm radiators in push/pull 16gb (2x8) Patriot Viper CL14 2666mhz RAM, Corsair HX850 PSU, 250gb Samsun 960 EVO NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 500gb Samsung 840 EVO SSD, 512GB TeamGroup MP30 M.2 SATA III SSD, SuperTalent 512gb SATA III SSD, CoolerMaster HAF XM Case. 

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/37004594?

Daughter 2 Rig: ASUS B350-PRIME ATX, Ryzen 7 1700, Sapphire Nitro+ R9 Fury Tri-X, 16gb (2x8) 3200mhz V-Color Skywalker, ANTEC Earthwatts 750w PSU, MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO cooler in Push/Pull config as rear exhaust, 250gb Samsung 850 Evo SSD, Patriot Burst 240gb SSD, Cougar MX330-X Case

 

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