Table of Contents
Introduction
The fan is an important part of any electric system with moving parts. Gaming PCs dissipate a lot of heat and need fans to cool down and prevent overheating. In this article, we are going to discuss the importance of the fan in a gaming PC.
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The fan is housed in the case of the PC. The case is the CPU tower that houses the most important components of the PC such as the motherboard, GPU and memory. This parts release a lot of heat when working and need a cooling system of fans to prevent overheating.
This is the case is such an important part of the system. Depending on the PC’s gaming features, the PC case can vary in size. This is why there are different sized cases in the market today. The general rule of thumb is that the larger the case, the more powerful the PC is.
Choosing A Gaming PC Case
When choosing a case, there are a few factors to consider. The primary ones include: cooling system, for which the fan is responsible for, airflow, general aesthetic and of course, size. There are also types of tower cases, categorized by size. The size of the tower depends on the size of the motherboard.
Types of Gaming PC Case
The types of cases include:
- Full Tower Case: An ATX standard size motherboard is about 9.6 inches while its enhanced version, EATX, is 13inches. To accommodate these large motherboards, a full tower case is needed. This however does not mean that you cannot use smaller motherboards inside it.
- Mid Tower Case: This is the most common tower as it offers a nice blend of a small size and adequate internal volumes to house all the components. It can house the ATX and MATX motherboards while some compact ATX cases are built to support EATX motherboards.
- Mini Tower Case: Here, accommodating all the internal components becomes a problem. It however offers the benefit of portability and compactness. Due to its size, it cannot house any motherboards larger than the MATX form factor.
- Mini-ITX Case: These have serious place limitations. Cases of this size can only house mini-ITX motherboards and its components. It is however a great choice if you have a small workstation or prefer portability.
Factors You Should Consider While Looking for a PC Case
A gaming PC has powerful components that all use lots of power and release a lot of heat. A lot goes into incorporating all the components in the case. The following are some of the factors you should always consider when looking for a case.
Airflow
Some cases might look amazing at first glance because of nice aesthetic and glowing LEDs, but this should not fool you. The cases should have breathing airways to provide smooth airflow especially since gaming PCs are always being pushed to their limits. Lack of airflow leads to overheating which can be quite an expensive problem to fix. The case should have enough room for additional fans if need be. A good case should have space for at least three extra fans.
Price
Cases are not that expensive compared to other PC gaming accessories. They range between $50 and $150. The cheaper ones are bare minimum with just a few extra features. As we said earlier, choose a case that can accommodate up to three fans. This costs about $120. Such high end ones also have many additional features.
Cooling System
A cooling system is critical in the life of a gaming PC. If you’re planning on using liquid coolers or put cooling fluid through the GPU and CPU, you must have a case for liquid cooling. In fact, not all cases can accommodate liquid cooling systems. For liquid coolants, you need necessary spaces and openings to house liquid coolant radiators of any size. Be sure to check whether the case can support the radiators you want.
There is also the fact that large CPU air cooler are huge and bulky. Ensure you know the dimensions of your air cooler, especially the width, before buying a case. The dimensions can be found on the PC’s specification pages. This will guide you on what case to buy.
Length of graphics card
Fortunately, the length of graphics cards is becoming shorter and shorter. It is possible however that it can be too long to fit the case you bought. To check the compatibility of the case, check the case’s specification page for the maximum length allowed for the graphics card. Match this dimensions with length of your graphics card and you’re good to go.
Cable Management System
Cables can be a nuisance when it comes to PC gaming. A case with a cable management feature will help sort this problem out. Your internals will be kept clean while easing up the process of enhancing installation and modification. A good case should have the routes and removable back plate for protection and easy access to the cables.
RGB Lighting
You might have realized almost all gaming PC components have an LED RGB lighting as an aesthetic feature (there are even RGB SSD hard drives!). These lights add a nice ambience to the gaming atmosphere and workstation. A computer case with built-in lights can add a nice touch and mood to your gaming area.
Drive Bays and Mounting Points
The PC case should have 2.5 and 3.5 inch drive bay areas to shelter your storage drives (the HDD and SDD). Larger cases have a 5 inch bay area in front of the PC to shelter an optical or CD drive and fan. However, more and more case designers are abandoning this bays to improve airflow from the front. An example of such a case is the Corsair case. Other cases have SSD mounting ports at the back which is a nice extra feature.
Front Panel Connectivity
Front panel creativity is a feature in cases that allows ports on the case’s front panel. These ports include the USB port and audio ports.
Conclusion
In summary, yes, PC cases do have fans in them. But fans are not the only important thing to look out for when buying a case. By observing these factors, you will get the right case for you and your PC.
