Cooling questions.

[Sacrinyellow5]

I have been kicking around the idea of installing a couple fans to help out with system cooling. I have a couple questions about doing so.
I have a stock Dell Dimension case, so I’m not completely sure if there are any additional areas in the case where I could install fans? The case is pretty enclosed, so even if I could install 1-2 additional fans, would it help out with cooling?. Has anyone ever installed a dell mobo in a custom case? I was thinking about buying a new case, which would help out with my cooling upgrade and power upgrade.
I do not want to spend a ton of money on cooling, but I would like to improve it.
Any suggestions are welcome!

 

[PC eye]

I'll answer this with a question on the duplicate thread here. Adding fans will depend on how much available space is there for it. If you are running 80mm fans included by Dell you could see if a 120mm fan adapter would work. I am beginning to think that water cooling or a refrigerated case would be ordered here on the next build. The case here has an opening in the top for one fan while the second was added later at the rear. Adding an intake fan at the front will depend if there is venting there. I don't think you would want to cut an opening to put a fan in.

Some newer styled cases see side cover fans mounted there for blowing air right on the board itself. The problem there would be more with mounting the Dell model board there if not an atx but AT type board. Then you would have to custom align the mounts. If you added an intake fan to rear of the case while an exhaust was already there it would have to be at the bottom for this. Installing larger fans to move more air around would probably be the option if you have both space for the larger size and even an adapter for the usual 80mm opening. A custom case with the larger 120mm openings would be the winner while still seeing the mounting problem? A few 120mm fans will get the air moving. The two blue led 80mm fans here give you a nice show but don't move much air around.

 

[ReverseFluxx]

You'll get the best cooling results if your case fans are blowing out of the case rather than in. This forces air to come through the ventilation holes in your case, effectively cooling every component.

 

[PC eye]

If your exhaust fan is typically located at the mid to upper portion at the rear of the case many will place an intake at the lower front if the room is there in order to draw cooler air in faster. The option to invest in one of the newer cpu coolers with large copper based sinks and a 92mm fan can help more air around inside as well as bring cpu temps down lower. That often sees lower temps on other hardwares at times. The main problem moving the Dell board out into a case in order to use larger fans will be custom mounting if the present case is a proprietary fit where both board and supply would need this.