Went from 'more fans = better' to proper airflow planning after a random comment

Was at a friend's place last month helping him rack a new switch, and he just casually said 'you know stacking fans in the back is just recycling hot air, right?' I had 6 Noctua fans crammed into a 12U rack thinking it was genius cooling. Actually measured temps after rearranging to a push-pull setup with proper gaps. Dropped my CPU idle temp by 8 degrees Celsius. Now I actually measure static pressure instead of just slapping fans everywhere. Anybody else fall for the 'more airflow' trap at first?

3 comments

3 Comments

paige42716d agoMost Upvoted

Ever check if your case panels are choking your intakes?

foster.charles16d ago

Tbh @paige427, I had the same issue with my glass front panel and temps dropped like 10C after I took it off.

the_pat16d ago

Guessing all the air was just bouncing off that glass straight back into the case, right? Reminds me of the time I built a PC in a cheap acrylic case back in the day and literally melted a zip tie inside because there was zero airflow. Took a saw to that front panel and temps dropped like a rock, felt like a genius for about five minutes until I realized I'd made a permanent mess of the thing. Point is, sometimes these cases look slick but they're basically just hot boxes with pretty faces.