Dugimodo :
You're not offering evidence either. If you are going to require it of me do it yourself. Given your certainty you obviously must have some expertise and qualification into cooling systems yes? No harm in having two fans and I'm not disputing that it's better so if you wan't to state that as a Need go ahead, better to err on the side of caution, but consider this.
1 exhaust fan moving 40CFM would empty a 4 CFT case 10 times a minute
1 exhaust and 1 intake fan moving 40CFM will do exactly the same, 40 in, 40 out. All you have done is controlled where the air comes from.
Up until not many years ago many cases only had a single exhaust fan as standard and generally speaking worked just fine.
A good friend of mine has rebuilt every gaming PC he's owned since the 90's into the same tiny little beige box with a single 80mm exhaust fan and it runs a little hot, but not excessivley so
Removing hot air from the places it accumulates is far more important in cooling than pumping cool air in (provided the case is not sealed).
Industrial cooling for large scale rectifier systems before the days of air conditioning used the same principle - large exhaust fan high in the room and passive filtered vent low on the wall. You suck the hot air out and cool air naturally comes in to replace it.
It is 100% factual that using only exhaust fans can and does work, it's called negative pressure and is a well established cooling method.
Making a pretty graph of my results doesn't alter them or give them any more or less credence. But if it'll make you happy I'll stay out of discussions about intake fans in future, you seem quite triggered by it.
Please post as though you are talking to somebody who has been building systems for over 30 years when responding to me, since I have. Ok? Thanks.
Yes, I realize that negative pressure works well, it is the BEST configuration for optimal cooling performance, however, a single exhaust fan in a negative pressure situation is NOT going to cut it for a gaming system, like I said.
Now, if the OP is ONLY using integrated graphics, no discreet card, no high TDP processor, no overclocking of anything and minimal number of mechanical drives, then yes, it MIGHT be fine. It is STILL not a recommendable configuration even though some OEMs do this, but it can work ok. I would personally not want to subject all my hardware to higher thermal condititions unnecessarily when another fan can be had for maybe 8 bucks for a cheap one good enough to recommend and no more than 25 bucks max for an extremely excellent one, but whatever, I agree it can get by that way if absolutely necessary.
Would I EVER tell somebody that is a desirable configuration. No, I would not. And neither should you.
There is a reason why OEM systems fail earlier and more frequently than home brewed ones and that is not just due to the use of lower quality hardware. It's also due to the fact that those systems are exposed to higher thermal conditions over the entire life of the hardware, and higher thermal conditions USUALLY results in a decreased lifespan, especially the kind of thermal conditions we're talking about with this build even though I agree that the issue is probably NOT due to the lack of case fans. It's certainly NOT helping it either.
Honestly, my recommendation would be to put TWO exhaust fans in there, and at least one intake fan.
Here is my standard spiel on fans.
High static pressure fans are desirable for all intake fans, radiator fans or heatsink fans. All of those types of fans will usually encounter significant resistance to airflow, so having fans with higher static pressure is desirable in those applications.
Exhaust fans do not face much resistance, so using fans with high static pressure is not necessary in those locations, however, USING them will not hurt anything either. Technically, you generally want fans with the highest CFM and highest static pressure you can reasonably afford to purchase for intakes, heatsinks or radiators. Exhaust fans, the static pressure is not very important but high airflow (CFM) is generally desirable.
For most configurations 2 x120mm, 2 x140mm or some combination of the two for both intake and exhaust are sufficient. WHEN possible, using a 140mm fan is much preferred as you are able to move an equivalent amount of air as a 120mm fan at a lower RPM resulting in a lower overal noise level.
Negative pressure configurations offer the BEST cooling performance. Positive pressure configurations offer dust suppression. Neutral pressure, with an equal, or nearly equal amount of airflow coming in as what is going out, offers a good solution that meets both types halfway. This is the MOST recommended configuration. If you want the best cooling performance, then you might not only add another exhaust fan to that top rear position like I said, but make sure it is a high CFM model AND also maybe replace the current rear exhaust fan with a model that has a higher CFM rating as well.
BeQuiet fans are only good in regard to noise levels, and that is only because they tend to run their fans at a maximum RPM that is significantly lower than most other comparably sized fans. They are good for systems that don't need great cooling and silence is more important, although you can technically do that with any fan by adjusting the fan curve in the bios and capping it at a speed that is acceptable.
If performance is more important, I would stick to fans by Noctua (And yes, they have black models now so you are not stuck with baby poop brown), Thermalright (Not to be confused with Thermaltake) or even possibly the EVGA FX 140 or 120m fans which move a lot of air but are a bit noisier than these others. Corsair Maglev fans are also fairly good.
And yes, I can provide you page after page of empirical evidence that will demonstrate how a single exhaust fan is not going to be sufficient for the kinds of builds we're talking about, but not here. If you want to start a discussion about it I'd be happy to continue the conversation there where it doesn't continue to take the OPs thread off track.
Thanks.
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