What Is a Case Fan? Your Guide to Computer Cooling
PC Case fans are a cornerstone of high-performance and gaming PCs. They ensure that your PC runs safely at maximum performance. Imagine playing an intense game or running high-performance computing, and suddenly your game becomes laggy or your processing speed drops because your hardware overheats. If you want to avoid this from happening to your PC, here is a guide to keep it cool and ready for maximum performance.
In this article, we will start with a basic understanding of case fans, learn about their implementation, and examine their impact on PC performance. Moreover, we will provide a guide to valuing and selecting the ideal PC case fan. Continue reading to learn key aspects of PC case fans.
What is a Case Fan
A case fan is a variable or fixed-speed fan that cools the internal cavity of a PC case. Depending upon configuration and performance, there may be more than one Case fan installed. A PC case fan keeps the hardware cool and maintains operating temperatures within allowable limits.
PC hardware, such as processors, graphics cards, SSDs, RAM modules, and PSUs, generates heat when in use. This heat needs to be dissipated from the PC case to maintain the inner cavity temperature and keep the hardware safe.
Air and Liquid Cooled Systems
Usually, PCs employ two types of cooling systems: air-based and liquid-based. Both these systems ultimately required a fan to dissipate the heat.
Air Cooled Systems
Air-cooled systems use PC case fans to create airflow within the system, keeping fresh, cool air circulating through the PC case. The cool air absorbs heat from the hardware and is expelled out of the case, keeping the PC internals cool.
Liquid Cooled Systems
Liquid-cooled systems use a radiator-like heat exchanger to transfer heat from the hardware components to a liquid cooling medium. Then a radiator equipped with fans transfers the heat from the cooling liquid to the atmosphere.
Impacts of Degraded Cooling
Degraded cooling results in reduced performance and endangers the hardware installed in a PC. Here are three things you should consider as impacts of low cooling:
- Thermal Throttling: Thermal throttling is a hardware protection mechanism that reduces the speed of the process to lower its operating temperature and heat generation. If cooling is not proper as per design, it will lead to laggy performance.
- Shortening of Hardware Life: Improper cooling can raise the operating temperatures of critical components like CPUs, GPUs, and RAM, potentially shortening their lifespans.
- Low Overclocking: Poor cooling can lead to lower clock speeds on high-end processors. Overclockable processors usually require larger heat sinks or liquid cooling.
How to Evaluate a Case Fan
Metrics like RPM, airflow, pressure, noise, and size measure the performance of a PC case fan. Here are some specifications that you need to carefully evaluate before making a purchase decision:
RPM
Stands for rotation per minute. In layperson's terms, it is the speed of the fan. The higher the speed, the better the cooling performance. The average limit for a PC fan's RPM is around 4000 RPM. Above this, the fan becomes too noisy, and running it at high speed may damage the fan.
AirFlow and Pressure
Airflow is measured in CFM, while pressure is usually given in mmH2O or Pascals (PA). Let's understand the terms and their relation to cooling:
- CFM: Stands for cubic feet per minute. It is the amount of air the fan can blow through the PC case in a given time. Average case fans provide 50-90 CFM of airflow for cooling. At the same time, performance-level fans deliver up to 120 CFM.
- Pressure: Pressure dictates how many obstacles the air can bypass. Low-pressure fans are sufficient for cooling a relatively open PC build, while high-pressure fans provide good cooling in tight or small cases or with liquid radiators.
Noise
dB is decibels, which is the unit in which sound or noise is measured. Noise is generated when a fan spins fast and air flows over objects. High-flow fans generate significant noise, which may not be acceptable to many users. To counter this, fans with better bearings and blade designs are available to lower noise levels while providing the required airflow.
Bearing Type
Sleeve-bearing fans are cheaper than hydraulic-bearing fans. Hydraulic bearing fans are quiet, while sleeve bearing fans are noisy at high speeds. Rifle bearings fans offer a balance between durability and noise.
Aesthetics & Lighting
Case fans come with or without lighting to suit your aesthetic needs. RGB fans may feature fixed-color or flashing lights. Some models are available with variable color LEDs to adjust as needed.
Size
Last but not least, cooling fans come in different sizes. 120mm or 140mm are standard sizes. Usually, a bigger fan means a better airflow, but depending upon design parameters, a high airflow can be achieved with small fans, too. The decision relies on the type of case arrangement of the fans.
Selecting a Case Fan for Your Needs
A wide range of fans is available in the market to cater to the needs of different users. Knowing what suits you best will allow you to make an informed decision and maximize your PC performance.
Thermal Design Power
The number of fans required is proportional to the TDP of the system components. The higher the TDP, the more fans you will need to keep your system cool.
- Every Day: A basic office or home-use PC with integrated graphics has a low TDP and needs only two PC fans—one for intake air and one for exhaust.
- High Performance/Gaming: These PCs fall in the mid- to high-TDP range. They usually employ dedicated graphics cards and high-speed processors. 3-5 fans may do the trick, use multiple intakes and multiple exhausts.
- Overclocking and Workstations: They usually employ high-end overclocked processors, or sometimes multiple processors, which results in very high TDPs. More than 6 fans will be required to achieve the required air flow at a low noise level. Also, these systems may employ liquid cooling.
Case Airflow Design
A PC case may be under, neutral, or over pressure. The choice depends on the PC application and atmospheric conditions:
Neutral Pressure
A neutral-pressure case operates at the same pressure as the environment. The amount of air inflow equals the outflow. This setup works fine for everyday use systems that do not have hotspots or air-stagnation areas within the PC case.
Positive Pressure
A positive-pressure case operates at a slightly higher pressure than the environment. This is achieved by using more high-CFM intake fans and fewer, lower-CFM exhaust fans. Positive-pressure cases provided a steady flow of cool air into the case and also kept dust particles out.
Negative Pressure
A negative-pressure case operates at a pressure below the ambient pressure. This is achieved by more exhaust flow and less intake flow. They are better for systems with hot spots and air-stagnation regions, as hot air spends less time in the case. They have high heat extraction but may require a cleaner or controlled environment, as they tend to pull dust inside the case.
Fan Placement
Front to Back
Intake fans are placed at the front of the case, while exhaust fans are at the back. This provides a uniform flow in and out of the case, with air flowing through most components. This is better for everyday systems with integrated graphics.
Bottom to Top
With dedicated GPUs mounted in standard orientation, this is an effective way to cool the case. Air is blown from the bottom, exhausted from the top of the case. The GPU and CPU also complement the air flow in this configuration.
Combined
A combination requires more fans but also reduces the hotspot and the air-stagnation zone inside the PC case. Locations are selected based on the mounting of high TDP components.
Conclusion
PC Case cooling fans enable users to achieve maximum performance and ensure safe, reliable operation of the hardware at its maximum output. Users may favor PC case fans based on noise, aesthetics, and performance requirements. A variety of fans from ESGAMING is available to meet your cooling needs.