Bad to have case fan slots that you are not using?

carrierPigeon

Limp Gawd
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Sep 22, 2017
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Since I think I need a new power supply, I am planning to upgrade my case, too (I have some need for an additional bay, too).

My computer is an HP with a 4th gen i3, I upgraded the ram to 8gb, and the graphics card to MSI R7 240. Maybe I will upgrade the graphics card again to help support a large monitor for productivity. In a nutshell, it's a "budget" or slightly above budget computer (meaning it doesn't need a lot of cooling).

I have found a couple of inexpensive computer cases but some of them support many case fans. HP shipped this computer with 1 case fan (although I realize that maybe I have "grown" into two), so I am concerned about not being able to just ignore the case fan slots as that will have a negative effect on the airflow. Is this a valid concern to have?

I don't have experience with building computers and I am not going to be able to afford much downtime. Will it likely be a smooth process to move my computer to a new case?
 
Put it together as is. If it starts to get too warm, add more fans. That’s the easiest/cheapest path and odds are you won’t need any more anyway.

The safe bet is just load it up. It will be louder, but there is no requirement that you put a fan in just because there is a spot for it. If it makes you feel better it won’t hurt anything.

Being a prebuilt HP you may run into some nonstandard components (screw pattern on motherboard, etc). But for the most part migrating a computer between cases is just an exercise in redoing cable management and making sure you plug the cables back into the correct spots.
 
Since I think I need a new power supply, I am planning to upgrade my case, too (I have some need for an additional bay, too).

My computer is an HP with a 4th gen i3, I upgraded the ram to 8gb, and the graphics card to MSI R7 240. Maybe I will upgrade the graphics card again to help support a large monitor for productivity. In a nutshell, it's a "budget" or slightly above budget computer (meaning it doesn't need a lot of cooling).

I have found a couple of inexpensive computer cases but some of them support many case fans. HP shipped this computer with 1 case fan (although I realize that maybe I have "grown" into two), so I am concerned about not being able to just ignore the case fan slots as that will have a negative effect on the airflow. Is this a valid concern to have?

I don't have experience with building computers and I am not going to be able to afford much downtime. Will it likely be a smooth process to move my computer to a new case?

If you have no experience with building computer just take your time, first make sure you turn off the computer and unplug the power cable, then just use a pen & paper when you unplug the cables one by one on the motherboard then you will know where they plug into when you install it in another case, your new tower case will have a few small little cables they are for your power switch, HDD light , reset button, and Speaker look at your old HP case and see where they go into your motherboard because you will need to reinstall them again they might be labelled.

If you have any problems or questions I and other members here will try and help you. don't worry it gets easy over time we all make mistakes :)

For you to make it easy to understand with the Front panel
 
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You should put effort and planning in the Airflow. For instance, my case has fans in the front the pull the air in. Fans in the back push the air out. Just put a little thought into it besides buying 100 fans blowing in every crazy direction or all the fans pushing the air in and none out. The right case will naturally have this built into the design as long as the fans are facing the right direction. I use Lian-Li, a bit more expensive but last a long time and are built fairly well.
 
Thanks, guys.
I plan to buy this case:
https://www.staples.com/Enermax-Fulmo-Q-ECA3361-Computer-Case/product_IM19D1601

I hope that my motherboard fits in there pretty smoothly. It's a Pegatron Memphis-S motherboard 9.6" x 9.6," specs are attached.
I also hope that you can comfortably move the drives in and out even if I have to put a full sized ATX motherboard in there down the road (right now I have a micro).

I have 2 new 120mm fans ready to put in.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200050

I also have the case fan that's in my old computer, but that looks smaller (are the smaller sizes 80 mm?). I don't think this case will support the smaller one.

I guess I will have one intake fan at the front, right around or above the HDD. I will have the other exhaust fan at the top back.
 

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