Fan Filters? Are they more trouble than they're worth?

[True_Orb]

I was thinking about putting a fan filter instead of just a guard on my 80mm intake fan to avoid dust collection inside the computer.
However I also thought this might add to noise due to airflow restriction and if I have to clean it, it would be a huge hassle since it's behind a plastic cover that's a ***** to remove.

Is it effective or should I just throw a generic guard on there?

 

[LV38_Eagle]

I recently cut out, and installed a 120mm intake fan on the underside of my tower, it sits about 25 mm off the desk on ‘feet’, and you would not believe the state of the filter after only a month. I know that under the tower is ‘in harms way’ as far as dust is concerned, but it made up my mind as far as filters are concerned.

I now have them on all the intake fans, with no apparent detrimental effects (i.e. sound increase) and no increase in system temperature. Just be sure not to use any material that is so dense that it restricts the airflow discernibly.

 

[True_Orb]

Well thanks guys. Maybe in the future I will put a filter on my next comp, but I get a very small amount of dust on my parts and my compressed air bottle easily cleans my parts.
I have a pretty dust-free area so I will just take the side panel off once a month and take 1 minute to remove dust with my can.

Thanks for the info though!