Question Should i drill holes in my case's front for a better airflow?

[Lukakiller]

I was wondering if i should drill holes in my case at the front since its clear plastic and i will get a better airflow with that. Is that a good idea? I dont really care if there will be dust because i will clean it more often or i will just buy a dust filter and hotglue it.

 

[velocityg4]

Depending on the plastic used. It may not take too well to drilling and just crack. As it'll be uglified anyways. Why not just remove the plastic?

 

[AllanGH]

Well, if you really want to, but if you're going to do it, drill only 1 hole, and use the proper drill bit:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Diablo-4-in-Bi-Metal-Hole-Saw-DHS4000/301697712

 

[doolittle]

Depends on the case, I used a Zalman T2 plus on my son's game rig and since it had 2 x 120mm side intake mounts I just removed all fans, put 2 x Arctic F12s in there and the cooling capacity improved almost 100%.

So if you don't have any side panel intake that may also be an option instead of front, but if the case is not optimized for side intake for whatever reason no reason why a front panel mod will work just as well.

 

[Dugimodo]

Are you having overheating issues? If not why create problems for yourself.
It's really quite surprising how poorly cooled and airflow choked a case can be without causing issues, particularly at stock speeds.

On my main gaming PC I have 2 14cm intake fans, a mesh front, and two 12cm outlet fans, it runs nice and cool. On a friends PC that I help maintain he has no case fans, a case design that puts the PSU covering and almost touching half of the CPU stock cooling fan, and a system normally clogged with dust and fluff. And yet he ran his PC for 9 years like that as a gamer and has now shoehorned an i5 into the same case for the last year. It runs just fine, much to my amazement.

Good airflow and low temps are Ideal, but unless you are pushing for a maximum overclock or loading your CPU up to 100% regularly it's often not worth worrying about.

 

[Gam3r01]

Knowing your case would be helpful

 

[USAFRet]

I was wondering if i should drill holes in my case at the front ...

Probably not.

1. Pictures of your current case.
2. What fans do you have in there currently
3. Are you actually seeing any issues that new holes would fix?
4. Have you ever drilled holes in brittle plastic?

 

[Lukakiller]

My RX580 8GB runs at 68C avg on all low settings (1080P) CSGO, I have 2 fans 1 in and 1 out, I havent tried to drill holes into the plastic and the case isnt really expensive since if that doesnt help ill just buy another case.. So is it worth to try?And i wanna upgrade soon cuz of cable management is bad and etc.. So overall is it worth to try it?

 

[Gam3r01]

68C is quite low

 

[Lukakiller]

Erm? All low CSGO... Low?

 

[rubix_1011]

Simple test:

Remove the side panel from your case, turn on a desk fan or house fan to highest setting, blow into the case.

Repeat your testing.

If temps go down, you have an airflow issue. If temps remain relatively the same, you have a cooler or cooler mounting issue.

 

[Lukakiller]

Cool idea, Ill try that but should i try to remove the front panel and side panel too?

 

[rubix_1011]

No need to do that at this point. The side panel is large enough. The idea is that you are accounting for the best airflow you could possibly ever have and whether you need to take action for better airflow, or address a cooler. I've seen this be both, but it is a good indication of how to assess the issue.

 

[Lukakiller]

Im like 99% its airflow, since i only have 2 fans and the 1 fan which blows in doesnt have space to get air from so.. Its really low airflow but yeah ill try it thx again