Adding More Case/motherboard Fans To Atx Full Tower

Will a micro ATX case and motherboard fit a graphics card with 2 fans?

Sure. There are small graphics cards that have two fans just for purposes like this.Zotac makes a series of mini graphics cards designed for small cases. They make a Nvidia GTX1080Ti mini that has two 90mm fans, is only two slots wide and is a short PCIe card at only 8.5″ long. They also make 1080s and 1070s in this form factor.If you don’t need high-end performance, there are tons of short 1060 cards with two fans, and plenty of RX580’s with two fans and a short card length.

Will my Micro ATX motherboard look okay in an ATX case?

Thanks for the A2A!This is very dependent on opinion and what case you are planning on putting the Micro ATX board into.One example of that would be my case:Amazon.com: MasterCase Pro 5 Mid-Tower Case with FreeForm Modular System, Window Side Panel, Top Mesh Cover, and Watercooling Bracket: Computers & AccessoriesAs you can see the case has a power supply basement, so all of your power supply cables will be hidden but it also makes the case look less empty. Even more so if you leave in all of the front hard drive cages and 5.25′ bays. Also if you have a graphics card that is on the larger size and an air cooler it will fill the inside of the case a little bit to make it not look as strange.Another thing now with cases is tinted side panels, so if the window is tinted enough all you could really see out of it would be lights from any coolers or graphics cards so in that case you really wouldn’t notice that you didn’t have a larger board in the case unless you looked.I will admit that it will definitely look strange compared to having a full size ATX board in the case but it all depends on what you think looks good or acceptable and how the case handles side panel windows and having a basement and or hard drive cages that already fill the inside of the case.

My motherboard doesn't support as many fans as I have, because it sucks. Can I power my extra fans without connecting to the motherboard?

Yes, you can. In fact, there are a number of ways to do so.First, if you know the power ratings of your fans and of your motherboard, you may be able to use a splitter such as the Rosewill Case Fan PWM Cable Splitter.Such a splitter connects two or more fans to a single fan header on the motherboard. In order to use one, you must make certain that the total amount of current which a motherboard fan header can provide is greater than the sum of the currents needed for all of the fans you want to connect through a splitter. I am personally driving two sets of two 140mm Magnetic Levitation Bearing fans through splitters from my motherboard.Alternatively, you can connect a power adapter cable such as the Cables to Go 27078 3-Pin Fan to 4-Pin Pass-Through Power Adapter Cableor the CRJ SATA to 3 x 4-Pin PWM Sleeved Fan Power Adapter Cable.These cables connect to either a Molex or unused SATA power connector from your power supply. SATA cables can generally provide more current, so can generally power more fans.Another option is to use a USB power fan adapter such as this one: USB to 3/4-Pin PWM 5V USB Sleeved Fan Power Adapter Cable.The drawback to this device is that it only provides +5V instead of the +12V that fans normally use, making them run slower, move less air, but also be quieter than normal.You can also use an internal fan hub. This is a box that several fans can plug into which gets its power from either Molex or SATA cables connected to your power supply. An example would be the SilverStone PWM Fan Hub System.This one allows a total of eight fans to be plugged in.Finally, you could use any of several different fan controllers, such as the Kingwin 5 Channel Fan Controller w/ Individual LEDs.pr the Sentry 3 5.4'' Touch Screen Fan Controller.These type of devices usually go into either an otherwise empty 3.5″ or 5.25″ drive bay in your case, provide power to multiple fans, and let you individually vary the speed of each fan. There are also combination bay devices which have fan controllers, memory card readers, USB hubs, and other such things all in a single bay. such as the Kingwin Multi-Function Bay Controller.Which of these is more appropriate for you depends on your exact needs and desires. In general, though, they are all about equal in what they will provide you, so it ultimately becomes just a person choice of which solution you think is more elegant to you.

Will a GTX 1060 Graphics card work with a Mini-ITX motherboard or will the motherboard limit performance?

Well the connections on the motherboard will be the same as regular ATX (albeit reduced in number) so it can be done – but it begs the question of why you would want to?Mini-ATX motherboards are miniaturised for a reason. They are for small form factor/space saving PC’s where people want something reasonably powerful to use but, also want it to be discreet – a media HTPC for example. Plonking a 1060 onto a mini-ATX defeats the object because you’ll still need a bigger case - and a much better PSU - to accommodate the GPU! The only way around this is to purchase a 1060 Mini which, whilst solving your problem, can often create more problems via heat generation being in such a confined space!My advice is; if you want gaming power (and I can’t imagine why you’d want a 1060 for simply browsing or watching media), go for a regular ATX and mini-tower or some other sleek case that fits your needs but, which accommodates full size ATX and components. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, this gives you room to manoeuvre in the case whilst also offering more space for the all-important cooling. Secondly, your giving yourself scalability to upgrade down the line. With a small form factor PC, you’re immediately limiting yourself with what you can connect internally and sacrificing on connections externally.Weigh up the pro’s and con’s of what it’s going to be used for before you buy.