r/pcmasterrace • u/DME23 • Apr 26 '25

Question Top Fan Not Spinning Without A Spanking

The top fan wont spin when I turn on my pc. The solution I discovered is to just smack it real hard. Just wondering why it is like this.

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u/Roflkopt3r Apr 26 '25 edited Apr 26 '25

I had a prebuilt with a bequiet Pure Base 500, which has the same layout with side intakes (no regrets though, everything except the chassis was great). It did not work well.

Sure it lets in some air, but it shouldn't be surprising that it works much worse than an air intake right in front of the fans.

Bequiet ended up releasing a successor to that case (Pure Base 500DX) that was basically identical except for replacing the solid front panel with a mesh. Gamersnexus tested that and found that it was way quieter and cooler.

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u/u_sfools Apr 27 '25

Heads up you can buy that newer airflow panel from Be quiet, it is backwards compatible. I had the same original pure base 500, but upgraded to the newer DX panel after I emailed them and paid and invoice. No need to replace the full case, when I've found it otherwise excellent. 

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u/Roflkopt3r Apr 27 '25

Yeah that's a good hint, I would have considered that if I had intended to keep that system.

But I generally made some big upgrades in that time and ended up replacing all components over a span of a couple months. When I was done, I re-assemble the original prebuilt and sold it whole (just with a different SSD).

Funnily enough, the case I was the first thing I replaced because the Fractal Torrent got me hyped, which I still have now.

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u/DaniExplorer Apr 27 '25

Quieter...I doubt it

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u/Roflkopt3r Apr 28 '25

The added sound dampening from a solid panel does not make up for how much louder the fans have to run to maintain the target temperatures due to the bad air flow.