When choosing fans for your case, you may have come across these two terms:static pressureandairflow.
They represent the two different types of fans based on how they work.
But what benefits do you get from using one over the other?
In a nutshell, one is good for large cases, while the other shines with miniature ones.
Want to dive deeper and learn more about them?
Then, this article is perfect for you.
I will explain their inner workings in great detail right in this piece.
What is Airflow and Static Pressure?
Airflow is associated with the volume of air your fan can move.
The more the fan can move air, the better.
Whereas static pressure indicates how much force a fan can use to move out air.
Lets take a more detailed look at them now.
Think of a fan pushing out hot air from the back of your case.
To facilitate this, you would keep the case free from any obstruction preventing the airs movement nearby.
This is so that the fans can move out as much air as possible.
The fans also need to spin at high speeds.
Thats why there are more blades in the airflow fan to achieve this.
This scenario will help you understand how they work.
You have a mini ITX case, and it is in a cramped space.
There is no way hot air can ventilate out of the case.
A static pressure fan works by pushing air out at a high force.
Think of a heatsink with tiny fins, radiators, or a dust filter in front of the case.
you could identify theAirflowby looking at a particular fans cfm (cubic feet per meter) values.
The more this value, the better the air movement through your case.
Static pressure is denoted in mm H2O.
A higher value means a more capable fan optimized for a particular use case in both cases.
When to Buy a Static Pressure Vs. An Airflow Fan?
Airflow fans tend to move out air in a steady stream.
On the other hand, a static pressure fan blows the air out in a random fashion.
That is why many people use a combination of both these fans in their case.
You may plan the airflow route in your case depending on its form factor.
High static pressure fans are ideal for small cases or those having a small mesh.
you’re free to use them with CPU heatsinks and closed-loopliquid coolingradiators.
Use high static pressure fans where the air is blocked and has no way to move out.
When you have a nice airflow stream around your PC, getting a high-airflow fan makes sense.
Large ATX cases are ideal candidates for airflow fans.
With a spacious case, you could use these fans as air intake and exhaust.
The blades are large and pretty close to one another.
This prevents any air from moving backward when they experience an obstruction.
Fans optimized for airflow will have smaller blades but are larger in number.
They will also be far apart to facilitate moving the air through them.
They are quite small and have patterns on their blades.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is airflow better than static pressure?
These are also great for cooling heatsinks and radiators.
Are static pressure fans louder?
Normally you would assume that a high static pressure fan will be loud.
But manufacturers design this specifically so that they cut down on noise while removing heat efficiently.
Does static pressure change with fan speed?
Static pressure depends on the speed of a fans rotation.
So, if you double the speed, the static pressure is quadrupled.
Can I use static pressure fans as case fans?
Yes, you could if you have a small case with minimal airflow.
That will mainly depend on the size of your PCs case and the airflow around it.
Thats all the info we have to uncover for today.
Hope you had a great time going through it.
Do comment below and let us know the arrangement of fans that you went with.
