Hi y’all. My model is Gateway GM5076E with a BTX case. Is
it unnecessary for me to buy a harddrive cooling fan? It would be for a 500GB SATA II. I was thinking a cooling fan may actually get in the way of the BTX case’s proposed airflow.
In case you need to know my total components http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2466413&CatId=2237
Thank you
It shouldn’t be necessary. But if you’re adding an extra drive, cooling should be looked at. Your case has a fresh air intake in the front at the bottom. Air should directed from there over the hard drive cage. Exhaust is via the fan in the rear, and via the power supply. If the case has a mount for a fan in the front intake, and no fan is present then you can add one there as long as you replace the rear fan with an appropriately higher-CFM fan. Air flow through a case is not as straightforward as it seems, and as often as not, fiddling with fans can worsen heat problems as easily as fixing them.
A lot depends on what cooling is present, and whether the air flow is being directed across the hard drives correctly.
Hi 
If you look at the airflow diagram. As I understand it the HD will be below this point. A fan assisting the warm air up from the HD into the airflow should not be a problem.