Cooling, side panel fan?

[Turkeyscore.com]

A friend of mine seems to think that putting a side panel fan in a case would ruin airflow. Is that true?

[aviationwiz]

Aboslutely not, it would help, because in just about all cases, the side panel would have the fan putting cool air right down the video card.

[David]

A side fan can also help blow more air on to the CPU cooling fan heatsink to help keep it a little cooler such as on my case.

[tazdevl]

Actually there are two schools of thought on that.

It might actually increase overall ambient temps in the case. Main reason being is that it introduces turbulence that can interrupt the airflow which runs from the front and out the back.

However, CPU and GPU temps will probably benefit from the direct airflow, but other components can run warmer.

The other consideration to take into account, if it's an issue, is the added noise. Ended up going back to stock airflow, unless you're adding a 50+CFM fan, the decrease in temps isn't worth the added noise.

I've modded 15 or so cases in the last 3 years. Let's just say I went out and bought 60MM, 80MM, 92MM, 120MM hole saws and made sure I used all of them more than once.

[CDRecorder]

How many case fans does your case support in the front and back? My case temp is about the same as the ambient room temp because I have two intake fans in the front of the case and one exhaust fan (not counting the PSU exhaust fan) in the back of the case.