Front Panel Fan, Without A Vent...?

[xGuyFawkes]

So my problem is that the front of my case does not have any slotting for air intake, though the actual chassis does have a grill for a fan to be installed. I'll post what I mean down below as pictures and a link to my current set up. I need to know if I can install a case fan in the front of this and it actually be effective/not harm my computer (I hear the negative effects of having a pressure build up and such). I'm not against altering the front panel but I would like to save it as the second to last resort (the last being a new case altogether). Any help is greatly appreciated.

-Current set up. http://i.imgur.com/T1vKBQY.jpg

Case with front panel attached.

 

[getochkn]

It probably pulls in from the bottom and thats the "intake". Really, if it's blowing into your case, it will pull air in from anywhere it can, cracks, bottom, top. The case is not air tight and therefore air will get into to it.

 

[geofelt]

No big problem, but not very effective.

Just take the case side covers off and you will do better.
Not such a hot idea if cats or kids are around though.

Look at the bottom of your case and see if there is a place where you can dremel out a hole large enough for a 120 or i40mm intake fan.

Unless your motherboard is one of those unfortunate BTX formats, I would buy a inexpensive case and move your parts.

Something like this perhaps:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353046

 

[ssddx]

you have two options...

you could put a 3.5 inch front bay squirrel cage blower in one of your hard drive bays and cut a hole in the front of your case http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/ProductImageCompressAll300/17-122-110-02.jpg but i'd suggest the second option instead.

the other option is to measure the size of that open area in the case where a fan could go. if it is a bit less than 4.75 inches (120mm) then a 120mm fan should fit fine (would require drilling holes in metal to mount. if the hard drive cage interferes inside the case you could always trim it back in a worst case scenario.

i'm not sure if the front of that case has vents to allow for airflow (i'm guessing it does) in the plastic but you would get better airflow by having a larger hole. perhaps putting a metal fan grill on it to keep prying fingers out (or animals).

my guess is that your case already has one fan in the rear pulling air out. adding a fan in the front pushing air in is fine. positive air pressure (slightly more air going in than out) is ideal. negative air pressure would result in more dust being sucked into the system. none of these situations is going to hurt the pc though.

 

[xGuyFawkes]

The front panel has no vents.

I would go the route of an inexpensive case, but the majority of them, my GPU does not fit very well or it is a very tight squeeze.

And there is no fan in the back sadly, which is why I am buying up some fans. The front fan mount will take a 90mm (its about 85mm from screw hole to scre hole). And I think the easiest thing is to dremel out a front spot and get a fan grill as suggested..

 

[xGuyFawkes]

No big problem, but not very effective.

Just take the case side covers off and you will do better.
Not such a hot idea if cats or kids are around though.

Look at the bottom of your case and see if there is a place where you can dremel out a hole large enough for a 120 or i40mm intake fan.

Unless your motherboard is one of those unfortunate BTX formats, I would buy a inexpensive case and move your parts.

Something like this perhaps:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353046

Wouldn't taking the sides off allow for more dust though? I'm not against this as I dont have any threats to the harming of my computer.

 

[getochkn]

So where the arrow is, there is no gap there that your hand or finger can fit through. Normally cases with no grill have some sort of gap here and this allows air to be pulled in.

 

[ssddx]

if you live in the usa the $38 cougar solution fits ATX sized boards (not sure what size board is in that asus you need to check) and you can add one or two more 120mm fans to it for a few dollars each. it will support most graphic cards.

i'm sure you can probably also find a case under $45-50 which has 2-3 fans already in it.

if it is an odd sized motherboard such as BTX though, you dont have many options.

of course yes you can always get out the dremel and mod the case to how you want.

 

[hwc1954]

I would be more focused on adding a rear exhaust fan than a front intake fan. Having an exhaust fan is the single most important thing for overall cooling as it will find a path to draw air into the case. The exhaust fan will dump hot air out of the case, which is the whole idea of case cooling. Intake fans will be a nice extra, but all the intake in the world won't cool very effectively without exhaust fans.

If you case has a spot for an exhaust fan on the back, that would be my first cooling upgrade.

 

[xGuyFawkes]

So where the arrow is, there is no gap there that your hand or finger can fit through. Normally cases with no grill have some sort of gap here and this allows air to be pulled in.

There is nothing there which really surprised me. I may just alter that spot on the case to allow for air flow from there.

 

[xGuyFawkes]

if you live in the usa the $38 cougar solution fits ATX sized boards (not sure what size board is in that asus you need to check) and you can add one or two more 120mm fans to it for a few dollars each. it will support most graphic cards.

i'm sure you can probably also find a case under $45-50 which has 2-3 fans already in it.

if it is an odd sized motherboard such as BTX though, you dont have many options.

of course yes you can always get out the dremel and mod the case to how you want.

Its MicroATX. And now that I'm looking at the Cougar cases, they have some really good ones for cheap.

 

[ssddx]

if its microatx you may like the cougar spike (matx size case). if you add a front 120mm its a nice little case. i had the chance to build a low power system in one and for the $20 paid its pretty rock solid. not sure if it will handle the largest graphics cards though but it worked for the use i needed. the cougar solution is a larger case with more room.

honestly given the price i was surprised how sturdy they were. they certainly earned a few nice words from me.

i know most gpus will fit in the larger solution. cant say about the spike.

in case you were interested... some photos of the cougar spike MATX build if you were interested in that case http://postimg.org/gallery/78slmoca/