How many case fans is too many?

[MonkeyFaces]

Would 6 total casefans consume more power than a water cooling setup?

How is this casefan setup?
120mm:cpu
120mm:rear
120mm:HDS
80mm:top of video card
80mm:top of memory
80mm:side case (top of cpu)
What's the best way to secure case fans on top of components?

 

[Zepper]

I'd consider any more fans than 4 or 5 (plus the ones in the PSU) to be excessive. Power usage depends on the fans. Ten of the Jamicon 120mm fans I have here would only use about 17 total watts at full speed. But I have other fans, ten of which could use more than my PSU can put out on the 12V rail - of course they aren't practical for PC use. Unless you want to make a hovercraft out of your case...

There is the Zalman bracket (usually comes with a 92mm fan) and Sunbeam sells a multi-purpose bracket (called the "Wherever PCI bracket") that can be used for mounting lots of things in unusual places around the inside of any case (includes bracket and mounting hardware only). You don't have to limit yourself to mounting it to the top of the PCI slot bracket.

.bh.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Don't forget that air FLOW is what is imortant. If flow is imbalanced as in more air entering the box than is exhausted, you will be worse off than with fewer fans. Also complex patterns of turbulance can actually isolate pockets within the case allowing significant variance in localized temps. This is clearly a case of more is not better.

 

[MonkeyFaces]

Revised setup
120mm rear exhast
120mm hd intake
120mm intake psu
120mm intake cpu
80mm exhaust pci cards
My case is a pretty generic TT mambo, so how well will this setup do in regards to airflow?

 

[0roo0roo]

fog machine
plexiglass
have fun