Case & fan upgrade help, please?

[DaFees]

Dear smart people of the LTT forums,

 

For the last decade and a half, I’ve relied on the hand-me-downs of family and friends to occasionally upgrade my pc. I’m about to receive some fresh (for me) upgrades that’ll see me swapping out my motherboard. With that in mind, I’m not looking forward to tighter feel of my current case (Antec 902), so I’d rather just pick up a roomier case.

 

At present, I like the look and roominess of the Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2 ( https://phanteks.com/product/enthoo-pro-2-tg/ ). I don’t doubt it is overkill for my needs, but I view it as a case I can grow into over time. One big appealing factor to me is that the case has room enough I can fit my spinning rust below the motherboard and not directly block the intake fans at the front, unless y’all’ll tell me those drives being right behind the front intake fans is essential for their cooling and longevity.

 

The other appealing factor is the sheer number of fans I can potentially cram into this case and that’s where I’m outta my depth. This brings me to the other area I need help with. My understanding, from all the LTT I watch, is that Noctua fans are king (and have a price to match). I also know Corsair is another big player. Anyway, some basic questions I have at the moment:

 

I remember, about a decade ago, Corsair showed off new lighting effects with their new (at the time) light loop fans. Are these fancy effects (as shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ8acay59cY ) fairly standard now? Or do only certain fans have them?

Do fans that magnetically daisy chain together come with lighting effects like this?

Do I need special hubs or connectors to get these effects to all work, like in that video?

What’s the deal with reversible fans? If a particular style of fan comes in reversible, is it worth picking up versus just flipping a normal fan around?

I know the software to control such effects can tax a system slightly, but are a ton of fans with effects significantly draining on the PSU (not that I’m particularly worried on this front, just curious)? Like I know I don't NEED to fill every available fan slot in my chosen case, but would I need to worry about power consumption if I did?

If I'm given a CPU air-cooler with a non-RGB fan(s), could I swap in a new fan?

 

So, I’m willing to splurge a little for some rainbow vomit (something I've never had in my PC outside of a static blue LED or two), but I see prices range from a 5-pack of Rosewill RGB fans for $40 versus a 2 or 3 pack of fans from other makes for upwards of $100+. I assume pricier fans have better performance and/or better lighting effects?

 

I don’t know off hand what my next mobo will have but any potentially compatibility issues I should look out for? Also, I’m not strictly looking for other case recommendations unless y’all’ll tell me my choice has terrible thermals or otherwise bad performance. Just to add I will have some spinning rust drives, a 2.5” SSD and will continue to be air-cooling my system. 

 

Thanks in advance for y’all’s help!

[PDifolco]

If you don't have much money for your PC, why the hell spending it all in a ginormous case only useful if you need 10 drives, and super expensive fans?

And 1 motherboard that won't give you any more performance?

Doesn't make sense, won't your setup benefit more from a better CPU, GPU, etc?

[Why_Me]

28 minutes ago, DaFees said:

Dear smart people of the LTT forums,

 

For the last decade and a half, I’ve relied on the hand-me-downs of family and friends to occasionally upgrade my pc. I’m about to receive some fresh (for me) upgrades that’ll see me swapping out my motherboard. With that in mind, I’m not looking forward to tighter feel of my current case (Antec 902), so I’d rather just pick up a roomier case.

 

At present, I like the look and roominess of the Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2 ( https://phanteks.com/product/enthoo-pro-2-tg/ ). I don’t doubt it is overkill for my needs, but I view it as a case I can grow into over time. One big appealing factor to me is that the case has room enough I can fit my spinning rust below the motherboard and not directly block the intake fans at the front, unless y’all’ll tell me those drives being right behind the front intake fans is essential for their cooling and longevity.

 

The other appealing factor is the sheer number of fans I can potentially cram into this case and that’s where I’m outta my depth. This brings me to the other area I need help with. My understanding, from all the LTT I watch, is that Noctua fans are king (and have a price to match). I also know Corsair is another big player. Anyway, some basic questions I have at the moment:

 

I remember, about a decade ago, Corsair showed off new lighting effects with their new (at the time) light loop fans. Are these fancy effects (as shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ8acay59cY ) fairly standard now? Or do only certain fans have them?

Do fans that magnetically daisy chain together come with lighting effects like this?

Do I need special hubs or connectors to get these effects to all work, like in that video?

What’s the deal with reversible fans? If a particular style of fan comes in reversible, is it worth picking up versus just flipping a normal fan around?

I know the software to control such effects can tax a system slightly, but are a ton of fans with effects significantly draining on the PSU (not that I’m particularly worried on this front, just curious)? Like I know I don't NEED to fill every available fan slot in my chosen case, but would I need to worry about power consumption if I did?

If I'm given a CPU air-cooler with a non-RGB fan(s), could I swap in a new fan?

 

So, I’m willing to splurge a little for some rainbow vomit (something I've never had in my PC outside of a static blue LED or two), but I see prices range from a 5-pack of Rosewill RGB fans for $40 versus a 2 or 3 pack of fans from other makes for upwards of $100+. I assume pricier fans have better performance and/or better lighting effects?

 

I don’t know off hand what my next mobo will have but any potentially compatibility issues I should look out for? Also, I’m not strictly looking for other case recommendations unless y’all’ll tell me my choice has terrible thermals or otherwise bad performance. Just to add I will have some spinning rust drives, a 2.5” SSD and will continue to be air-cooling my system. 

 

Thanks in advance for y’all’s help!

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE ARGB 58 CFM CPU Cooler  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: *Lian Li LANCOOL 216 RGB ATX Mid Tower Case  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $149.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-22 02:33 EDT-0400 

 

https://lian-li.com/product/lancool-216/

 

https://www.amazon.com/Lian-Li-Lancool-Controller-Black/dp/B0BNGMFN9R 

Lian Li Lancool 216 RGB Controller & USB HUB Black $13.99   

 

https://www.amazon.com/Lian-li-Lan216-2x-Lancool-Filter-Retail/dp/B0C4VSN3DX/ 

Lian-li Lan216-2x Lancool 216 Dust Filter Kit Black $14.99

 

 

 

 

 

[DaFees]

21 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

If you don't have much money for your PC, why the hell spending it all in a ginormous case only useful if you need 10 drives, and super expensive fans?

And 1 motherboard that won't give you any more performance?

Doesn't make sense, won't your setup benefit more from a better CPU, GPU, etc?

 

As I tried to explain I've benefited from hand-me-downs and I've made it work. My current build handles most things I need it to, and the next set of parts I'm getting will continue to meet my needs. 

 

Now, I'm not sure how I feel about the hostility, but I wasn't asking about better parts I was asking questions about a new case and fans. Like I expressed I want a "ginormous" case for the roominess it'll have. I've grown tired of the mid-tower case I have and want something new, and that's the thing about cases, they should outlast most any other components you put in them, so why not just go for something big?

 

More than that though I was less asking about a case and more asking about fans. To be clear, I haven't committed to anything yet, I haven't said, yes, I wish to spend $100s on fans. I'm not necessarily looking to cram as many fans as I possibly can into the system. I'm just curious and want to know my options, hence the questions.

 

Speaking of, can you help me with any of my actual questions about fans, please?

[PDifolco]

1 hour ago, DaFees said:

 

As I tried to explain I've benefited from hand-me-downs and I've made it work. My current build handles most things I need it to, and the next set of parts I'm getting will continue to meet my needs. 

 

Now, I'm not sure how I feel about the hostility, but I wasn't asking about better parts I was asking questions about a new case and fans. Like I expressed I want a "ginormous" case for the roominess it'll have. I've grown tired of the mid-tower case I have and want something new, and that's the thing about cases, they should outlast most any other components you put in them, so why not just go for something big?

 

More than that though I was less asking about a case and more asking about fans. To be clear, I haven't committed to anything yet, I haven't said, yes, I wish to spend $100s on fans. I'm not necessarily looking to cram as many fans as I possibly can into the system. I'm just curious and want to know my options, hence the questions.

 

Speaking of, can you help me with any of my actual questions about fans, please?

Apologies, didn't want to sound aggressive, but was really wondering about what seems to me a waste of money...

The only reason to get a big case such as this one is to be able to put 10+ drives, so it's still kinda useless to get this if you don't need it, there are better (and smaller) very good cases 

But okay it's your choice and money!

Regarding fans the Noctua ones are the quietest, but if you have a bunch of fans at low speeds any cheaper ones (Arctic for example) will perform as well

Corsair fans only have looks for them, complete opposite to Noctua, so again it depends if you want a bling RGB case or an austere one  

[DaFees]

6 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Apologies, didn't want to sound aggressive, but was really wondering about what seems to me a waste of money...

The only reason to get a big case such as this one is to be able to put 10+ drives, so it's still kinda useless to get this if you don't need it, there are better (and smaller) very good cases 

But okay it's your choice and money!

Regarding fans the Noctua ones are the quietest, but if you have a bunch of fans at low speeds any cheaper ones (Arctic for example) will perform as well

Corsair fans only have looks for them, complete opposite to Noctua, so again it depends if you want a bling RGB case or an austere one  

I appreciate the feedback. I understand you think a big case is a waste, but to me, as I've stated already, I've grown tired of the mid-tower case I have and would prefer a bigger case. I have the room and budget for a bigger case, so why not. Plus, as I've already expressed, maybe I don't need all that room, right this second, but it is room I can grow into.

 

As for fans, I've been doing some research myself, and I guess a big question for me is connecting the fans to the motherboard. I understand I can daisy-chain groups of fans together leaving myself with only one cable to connect to the motherboard which can plug into one of the many fan headers. Does that take of the RGB as well though or do I need separate headers for the RGB or would all the fans plug into a hub that then plugs into an RGB header? I'm just trying to understand if there are any potential compatibility concerns I should look out for? 

[MrAxe]

2 hours ago, DaFees said:

 

As I tried to explain I've benefited from hand-me-downs and I've made it work. My current build handles most things I need it to, and the next set of parts I'm getting will continue to meet my needs. 

 

Now, I'm not sure how I feel about the hostility, but I wasn't asking about better parts I was asking questions about a new case and fans. Like I expressed I want a "ginormous" case for the roominess it'll have. I've grown tired of the mid-tower case I have and want something new, and that's the thing about cases, they should outlast most any other components you put in them, so why not just go for something big?

 

More than that though I was less asking about a case and more asking about fans. To be clear, I haven't committed to anything yet, I haven't said, yes, I wish to spend $100s on fans. I'm not necessarily looking to cram as many fans as I possibly can into the system. I'm just curious and want to know my options, hence the questions.

 

Speaking of, can you help me with any of my actual questions about fans, please?

I mean it's your money but I also don't see the point getting anything bigger than a normal sized atx tower at this kinda budget like it's gonna be pretty roomy even with a mid tower and I doubt you'll see any actual benefit. That's just my two cents, so get What YOU want because you are the one using it, not me. 

 

But if your asking if its a good case? Yeah it's pretty decent. 

 

For fans I recommend the these sets of 5. Thermalright also does rgb options for a little more and both of these will work with any cheap hub really. 

 

https://amzn.eu/d/3EnBf3w

 

https://amzn.eu/d/hBFFKYj

[DaFees]

13 minutes ago, MrAxe said:

I mean it's your money but I also don't see the point getting anything bigger than a normal sized atx tower at this kinda budget like it's gonna be pretty roomy even with a mid tower and I doubt you'll see any actual benefit. That's just my two cents, so get What YOU want because you are the one using it, not me. 

 

But if your asking if its a good case? Yeah it's pretty decent. 

 

For fans I recommend the these sets of 5. Thermalright also does rgb options for a little more and both of these will work with any cheap hub really. 

 

https://amzn.eu/d/3EnBf3w

 

https://amzn.eu/d/hBFFKYj

Thanks for the feedback, but I should add that my current case is a mid-tower and feels like anything but roomy. Also, I never specified any budget. My thinking is why not get a nice, roomy case now, while I have and will continue to have a PC that will meet my needs, then in the future if I ever decide my PC no longer fits my needs then a new case at that time will be one less concern.

Oh, and I guess I should've specified that I'm in the US / spending in USD.

[PDifolco]

24 minutes ago, DaFees said:

I appreciate the feedback. I understand you think a big case is a waste, but to me, as I've stated already, I've grown tired of the mid-tower case I have and would prefer a bigger case. I have the room and budget for a bigger case, so why not. Plus, as I've already expressed, maybe I don't need all that room, right this second, but it is room I can grow into.

 

As for fans, I've been doing some research myself, and I guess a big question for me is connecting the fans to the motherboard. I understand I can daisy-chain groups of fans together leaving myself with only one cable to connect to the motherboard which can plug into one of the many fan headers. Does that take of the RGB as well though or do I need separate headers for the RGB or would all the fans plug into a hub that then plugs into an RGB header? I'm just trying to understand if there are any potential compatibility concerns I should look out for? 

In a big case like that you may need Fan/RGB hubs - which are different things, but some have dual functionality

I use this one, but you may need a couple of them :