Case's fan grills

[Imago]

Hello everyone!

Just a quick thought I had while testing some new fans today... Before mounting them, I connected them to the motherboard and set them to go full speed for a short while to see how much air they were able to move.

I noticed they were incredibly silent and moved a large amount of air, compared of when I mounted them into their spots inside the case.

So, if I remove the grills from the case and have the fan "uncovered", could I have more cooling and less noise?

[Mumintroll]

But then the pc would get more dusty inside when having no dustcover, no filter.

[TVwazhere]

19 minutes ago, Imago said:

So, if I remove the grills from the case and have the fan "uncovered", could I have more cooling and less noise?

7 minutes ago, Mumintroll said:

But then the pc would get more dusty inside when having no dustcover, no filter.

This is the tradeoff.

 

The nose and loss in airflow is generated primarily by the obstructions of the case's panels. Ideally, a case is designed to minimally impede airflow, but that isnt always the case. 

 

Removing them can increase your airflow, reduce noise and improve temperatures. But if removing the panels also means removing filters, as noted above it will get dustier much faster, and therefore require frequent cleaning unless you live in a hospital-like HVAC room. 

 

[TPCEA]

1 more thing: mounting it on your case, with and without any barriers, is likely to change how the noise is perceived vs when not in your case. 

[thrasher_565]

ya the fan gets 100% air with to obstructions on it. the less air the more nose it has like a vacume being restricted. but you also get dust in the case. there are case with fine mesh that blocks less air and also blocks some dust. the smaller the hole the more dust it stops but also less air so...

 

slower the fan the less air it needs well faster need a bigger gap.

Edited November 2, 2024 by thrasher_565

[freeagent]

I use a duster and live a filter free lifestyle.

[Imago]

Dust isn't a problem, I deep clean my pc every two weeks.

Anyway, my case doesn't have any filter mounted on since the beginning, so the dust situation will not change.

[Imago]

But, I just got a sudden thought: I meant the grill on the case itself (the small holes on the back of the case, where the exaust fan is placed just beside the MOBO I/O ports) not filters or another removable thing.

I meant to actually cut away that part of the case to have the fan free to push out the hot air without any obstacle.

The front part of the case already got completely free of any grill or filters.

[Imago]

4 hours ago, freeagent said:

I use a duster and live a filter free lifestyle.

That's my line! 

[TPCEA]

6 hours ago, Imago said:

Dust isn't a problem, I deep clean my pc every two weeks.

Anyway, my case doesn't have any filter mounted on since the beginning, so the dust situation will not change.

*imagines Imago putting on a hazmat suit, shrinking down and stepping deep inside their pc to clean it*

5 hours ago, Imago said:

But, I just got a sudden thought: I meant the grill on the case itself (the small holes on the back of the case, where the exaust fan is placed just beside the MOBO I/O ports) not filters or another removable thing.

I meant to actually cut away that part of the case to have the fan free to push out the hot air without any obstacle.

The front part of the case already got completely free of any grill or filters.

Yes, you can do that.

[freeagent]

For sure cut it out, it will be quieter while flowing much more.

[thrasher_565]

first mod i did back in the day was cut the grills out. but the honeycomb grill is like one of the best for airflow and most case come with it so i dont bother. well second best the wire grill is the best and well and open hole the best...

 

https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/tech-talk/wh_chessis?location=GB

Edited November 3, 2024 by thrasher_565

[Imago]

6 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

first mod i did back in the day was cut the grills out. but the honeycomb grill is like one of the best for airflow and most case come with it so i dont bother. well second best the wire grill is the best and well and open hole the best...

 

https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/tech-talk/wh_chessis?location=GB

I see it says "no grill, 100% airflow". Ok, I'll defintely cut away the grill and save my fingers applying something like this : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1972504

This way 100% airflow, air deflected upwards and no cut fingers.

[OhioYJ]

1 hour ago, Imago said:

I see it says "no grill, 100% airflow". Ok, I'll defintely cut away the grill and save my fingers applying something like this : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1972504

This way 100% airflow, air deflected upwards and no cut fingers.

That's going to impact air flow as well. You're still creating a "restriction", even if it's minimal.

 

Tested a bunch of these types of grilles, for noise and air flow.

 

I'd just keep it simple and use the traditional wire fan grills

[TPCEA]

2 hours ago, OhioYJ said:

That's going to impact air flow as well. You're still creating a "restriction", even if it's minimal.

 

Tested a bunch of these types of grilles, for noise and air flow.

 

I'd just keep it simple and use the traditional wire fan grills

Imago appears to mean that they will not use that thingiverse filter...

[Tridefender]

Obviously your fans do not have much static pressure and is blocked by the filter, but then there's dust and stuff

[Imago]

On 11/5/2024 at 2:59 PM, Tridefender said:

Obviously your fans do not have much static pressure and is blocked by the filter, but then there's dust and stuff

No dust. As I said I clean my pc very often. I need to keep it clean and fully operational for my job.

And, no, I'm not going to use fancy grills, just that 3D printed deviation, that I already modified to have less restrictions.

Also, I got high pressure fans in my system, thinking they could help more cooling, but just got more noise.

[TPCEA]

5 hours ago, Imago said:

Also, I got high pressure fans in my system, thinking they could help more cooling, but just got more noise.

Either you've reached max potential, or you haven't got the fans situated optimally...