Case cooling with 1 fan

[Philippine Mango]

Do you guys think it's possible to cool a case with 1 really powerful case fan like a 4800RPM fan? I have my dell case (different mobo and drives of course) out fitted with a Thermaltake smart fan 2 and when ever the temps rise in the case, I just put the fan on full blast until all the heat leave (goes ambient temps) and then set the fan at some low speed (fan runs on slowest speed when idle). I'm asking this question because I see you guys with 5 case fans and I'm very surpised to see that since I only have 1 case fan. Could it be my case is smaller? Like if you have a large tower then you really need more fans?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I've had Smart Fan II's. At the top rpms, they are extremely noisy.

It works this way. If you want to cut noise and increase airflow (and therefore improve cooling), it can be done by adding more fans -- in strategic locations, that is. You then run the increased number of fans at lower rpms, and the noise level is lower because decibels are not linearly cumulative, but logarithmic.

Too many fans may consume too much power. If not that, then the additional fan at the margin may not add significantly to improved cooling. so there is a balance and trade-off.

If you could effectively cool a system with a single fan and keep the noise level down, I'd say "more power to ya." And if you're comfortable with the Smart Fan II's noise level, that's your business. All I can say is that I had been too "noise-tolerant" when I was experimenting with that particular model fan, and I am now a mild advocate of noise-reduction without sacrificing CFMs of air-throughput.

And also -- I would say you might be better served by the same manufacture of fans by replacing the Smart Fan II with something like a 92mm Blue LED fan -- also made by ThermalTake. But again, some people here absolutely abhore ANY product made by that company.

 

[Tiamat]

it is possible if you have a 120mm fan. Because it takes hot air with a larger area. 80mm fans are only good for spot cooling IMHO. THe only problem with 1 fan or 2 fan (inclu psu) setups is the front harddrive gets a bit warm.

 

[Kninetik]

I run on 1 case fan (120mm at <1000rpm) and its working very well. However, my graphics card has been refitted with the NV Silencer so that instead of releasing hot air into the system, it exhausts it out.