It’s easy to think that the CPU or graphics card are the beating heart of your gaming PC, but they wouldn’t get very far without sufficient cooling – unless you want a very expensive and ineffective toaster oven. This is where your PC fans come in, creating enough ventilation to keep your system’s temperature low and your frame rate high. Unfortunately, not all fans are built equally and it can be a delicate balance between airflow, noise, and aesthetics, so we’re here to help you get your bearings.
Fans are fundamental in preventing your hardware from overheating, blowing cool air over your hardworking components before chucking it out of your PC case. If you’ve ever wondered why your room gets hotter after gaming, that’s because your fans are doing a good job.
Don’t worry if your rig gets a little too hot and exceeds its ‘shut down temperature’, as modern safety measures will kick in and switch your system off before any damage is done. This limit differs per configuration, but usually sits around the 100°C (212°F) mark for the processor. Even if you don’t reach this magic number, hovering anywhere near it will see your processor and GPU performance throttled, often resulting in stutters and lag. So it’s not exactly harmful to your components if you don’t get things right the first time around, but we can’t say it’s very practical to have your PC struggling to run.
Don’t let the jargon fool you. Once you cut through the CFM, dB, RPM, and know your air pressure from your static pressure, it’s pretty simple to create a good airflow throughout your PC case. You just need to consider these factors first:
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Choose the right size fan
While 120mm and 140mm are the two most common sizes, fans can range from as small as 40mm to a chonky 200mm. You’ll need to check compatibility with your PC case and CPU cooler before purchasing one.
The size of your fan is directly tied to the amount of air it can push (measured in cubic feet per minute; CFM), the noise it produces (measured in decibels; dB), and the speed at which the blades spin (measured in rotations per minute; RPM). Larger fans have a bigger surface area, meaning they can push more air while spinning at a lower speed than their tiny counterparts, which also makes them quieter. Of course, this comes with the caveat that you’ll need a bigger chassis or cooler to attach them to, making them unsuitable for small form factor systems. If you can go big, however, we recommend it.
Speed vs noise
You might be faced with the choice between a silent system or an effective one when selecting your PC fans. Faster fans push more air, helping you cool your rig better, but this sometimes makes them more audible as fans rotate faster and the electric motors work harder. Thankfully, several manufacturers dedicate themselves to crafting performance-driven fans that aim to balance both elements – it’s even in the name when it comes to be quiet!
And if this doesn’t cut it, you can have the best of both worlds with a fan controller.
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PWM fans and fan controllers
Unlike your regular three-pin fans that are stuck at a fixed RPM – unless you’re fortunate enough to have a motherboard that supports voltage-based regulation – PWM fans come with an extra fourth pin that sends and receives signals to control the speed of rotation. Pairing this with a fan controller lets you manually adjust the speed of your fans or set certain parameters so that the PWM fan will change its speed automatically based on the temperature of your hardware. This keeps things slow when you’re browsing the web and faster when you boot the latest game.
Note: You can plug a three-pin fan into a four-pin slot and vice versa, but you won’t get the added PWM benefits unless you connect all four pins into a compatible fan.
Most modern motherboards support PWM fans right out of the box and let you change the fan curves from within the BIOS. Some PC cases even feature built-in fan controllers. Generally speaking, PWM fans are quieter because they scale their speed depending on your PC usage, but there’s a chance you might be able to hear the PWM signal itself.
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Arrange your fans
There are two ways you can position your fans: as an intake to pull air into the case, or as an exhaust to push air out. Since air travels one way through a fan, it’s important to mount them correctly in order to direct airflow seamlessly.
Note: Look at the shape of the blades to see which way your fans will push air. It travels in from the rounded side of the blades and out through the concave part. You might even find a sticker to indicate the direction of airflow depending on the brand.
It’s generally best to place your intake fans at the front and bottom of your case, and the exhaust fans at the rear and top. This is because hot air rises, leaving a more natural airflow. Side-mounted fans aren’t as common, but should be used as an intake if used at all.
Any intake fan, no matter where they’re positioned, should be accompanied by a filter to prevent dust from building up. Dust insulates heat and makes it far difficult to shed those degrees – plus no one likes having to maintain their PC more frequently.
Positive, neutral, and negative airflow
Airflow can be split up into three types that depend on the CFM of your intake fans compared to your exhaust fans:
- Positive pressure – your fans pull more air into the case than they push out.
- Neutral pressure – your fans pull the same amount of air into the case as they push out. You can only achieve this when the total CFM of your intake fans is equal to the CFM of all your exhausts.
- Negative pressure – your fans pull less air into the case than they push out, which creates a vacuum.
It’s almost always worth avoiding any type of negative pressure because it attracts more dust, and more dust means more cleaning to avoid temperatures rising. Neutral or a slightly positive pressure is ideal to avoid dust gathering.
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Airflow vs static pressure
Surprisingly, the fans that sit on your AIO cooler’s radiator aren’t actually the same as the ones designed to attach to your case. These are known as high static pressure fans but go by many different names out in the wild, such as be quiet! high-speed fans.
Fans that are designed for static pressure come packed with extra force so they can better pull or push air through restricted surfaces, like your water cooler’s radiator. Although they tend to spin faster, they don’t always have a better CFM than your standard fan built for airflow and probably aren’t worth the noise tax they come with in purely air-cooled builds.
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RGB LED lighting
Most fans are bog standard black, brown, or grey squares that aim to sit inconspicuously in your system, but occasionally you’ll find some designed to draw attention with light-up LEDs. It’s safe to say that these lights don’t affect your PC’s performance, but they often come with a premium price tag, so it’s up to you what you think a little added flair is worth.
These come in three variants: single colour, RGB, and addressable RGB. Regular RGB leaves millions of colours at your fingertips, but you’ll only be able to choose one colour at a time. ARGB is the best of the bunch, as it allows you to mix and match to make multi-coloured patterns throughout your case whenever the mood takes you.
You’ll need to be mindful of different ecosystems if you want to synchronise your lights with your RAM, CPU cooler, and peripherals, however, as not all RGB components play nicely with other equipment. It’s best to go for something that’s system-agnostic in its approach, like be quiet’s Light Wings, as these fans aren’t locked into a walled garden and will work with most other brands.
