GFX and case fan clearance specifications
GFX and case fan clearance specifications
I recently assembled a new PC in the Fractal Designs Torrent Nano Case and want to enhance its airflow. It supports two 120/140mm fans at the bottom, but my graphics card is already occupying about two slots. I’m considering slim fans around 15mm height—would that affect airflow to the GPU? Maybe skipping PWM control and running fans at full speed would help. Also, my ASUS ROG Strix B760-I motherboard only provides one port for CPU fans and one for case fans. Would it be beneficial to purchase a fan controller hub?
Regular fans are typically around 25 mm tall, which should provide enough space to fit one or two under the GPU. It's hard to say exactly how it will affect performance, but it shouldn't cause any issues. Your board likely needs a third PWM header—perhaps a pump header works too. You could also use a splitter and link two fans through a single connector. Just make sure they're identical to avoid strange control behavior.
The clearance is in the picture, I should have made the red lines a bit thicker, but there's actually only 20/21mm of clearance between the fan mounting area and the bottom of the GPU. I'll look at connecting these to the AIO Pump header, currently all my case fans (180mm front case fan, 120mm rear case fan) are connected to the CHA_FAN header, 2 CPU cooler fans connected to CPU_FAN header and nothing connected to the AIO_PUMP header. Any recommendations on fan control software? I have NZXT Cam already installed (just for checking temps) and have looked at https://getfancontrol.com/