Let's talk fans?

[StoneCold]

12cm or 10cm or mult-fan bays

[DotEXE]

Definitely 12cm. Without leds if you can ?

[error.404]

In 2026 LEDs are so over. No cap

[Northernah]

My rooms lights up from the leds inside it's like a 70s psychedelic lava lamp

[DotEXE]

The rpm is key. And on your motherboard so you can control the speed. Mine is set to turbo

[Myles]

From what I saw that checks out. There is usually a quieter more important story sitting just behind the obvious headline.

Curious to see how this develops

[Oscar_86]

My rooms lights up from the leds inside it's like a 70s psychedelic lava lamp

That is the sensible approach. Might save you more than you think

[GhostRider63]

Not sure I am fully with you on that one. Nice one

[Daemon82]

Makes sense. Proper useful that

[Daemon55]

Yeah that is about right. Good shout.

A lot of people confidently recommend things they tried once and never followed up on.

Ha, fair enough.

[Mesh Ross]

Honestly 12cm fans are still the sweet spot for most builds.

You get a good balance of airflow and noise without needing to overthink it.

Unless you are building something tiny or very specific, there is rarely a reason to go smaller.

[TealBear]

I am going to be that annoying person and say 14cm fans are underrated.

People stick to 12cm out of habit, but larger fans can move more air at lower RPM.

Less noise, better thermals, and your ears will thank you.

[Cheeky Blake]

10cm fans feel like a relic at this point.

Unless you are dealing with very tight OEM cases, they just do not make sense for modern airflow setups.

I only ever see them when I open up old prebuilt machines.

[Cheeky Kernel]

Multi-fan bays are a bit of a trap in my opinion.

More fans does not automatically mean better cooling.

Airflow direction and case design matter way more than just stuffing everything full of spinning plastic.

[Anvil]

I recently switched from three loud 12cm fans to two high quality PWM ones and my PC got both quieter and cooler.

It really showed me that quality beats quantity every time.

Cheap fans are just noise generators with extra steps.

[Ryan84]

Hot take: RGB fans have ruined fan discussions.

Half the time people are prioritising lighting over actual airflow performance.

Your case looks like a disco, but your GPU is still cooking.

[Anvil]

I actually enjoy tuning fan curves way more than I should.

There is something satisfying about shaving off a few degrees without turning your PC into a jet engine.

It is basically the adult version of tinkering with Lego.

[VoidRanger24]

One thing people forget is static pressure vs airflow fans.

Not all fans are equal, even if they are the same size.

If you are using radiators or tight filters, this matters a lot more than people think.

[Seb83]

I still run 10cm fans in an old HTPC and honestly they are fine for that use case.

But I would never recommend them for a gaming rig in 2026.

They just cannot keep up with modern heat output.

[Amy96]

The funniest builds are the ones where someone installs like eight fans and wonders why it is louder but not cooler.

Airflow chaos is a real thing.

More spinning does not fix bad direction.

[Gaz90]

If your case supports it, front intake 12cm fans plus a good rear exhaust setup is still the most reliable configuration.

Simple, effective, and proven over years.

Sometimes boring is exactly what you want.

[Baz_26]

I tried going full "positive pressure optimized airflow" once and ended up spending more time cleaning dust filters than gaming.

It works, but it is definitely a lifestyle choice.

Not sure I am ready for that level of commitment again.

[NovaPrime68]

No one talks enough about fan bearing quality.

A good fan with proper bearings will outlive your entire upgrade cycle.

A cheap one will start sounding like a dying fridge in six months.

[EntangledOne]

At the end of the day, 12cm fans are the default for a reason.

They are easy to find, cheap, and compatible with almost everything.

But there is definitely room to experiment if you like tweaking your setup.

[RoughDaemon]

My honest advice: stop overthinking fans unless your temps are actually bad.

Most modern CPUs and GPUs will handle reasonable airflow just fine.

Half the time people upgrade fans just for the dopamine of tinkering anyway.