Ya that makes sense. That is why "Just enough" is not good with the speed of how fast tech grows and old computer components become obsolete.
Exactly! Back in the day, many, if not all computer cases had several drive bays in the front of the case. This gave users the option for countless storage options. Floppy drives. Tape drives. Optical drives. Of course, hard drives. And just about anything else that you could fit in those easy access front drive bays. But back then, CPU's and GPU's didn't require much power and didn't put off anywhere near as much heat as they do today. A lot of those cases did have some air flow options in the front of the case. But were limited and restricted by those front drive bays and restrictive front covers. But now, high air flow is becoming ever more important to help cool higher and higher wattage components. We are at a point now where massive heat syncs or water cooling are a necessity if you want to get every last drop of performance from your computer. Floppy, tape and optical drives or a thing of the past for PC's for many good reasons. And HDD's are going the same route. They are heavy, take up a lot of space, are fragile and are way too slow to keep up with modern tech.
There were even a number of cases over the decades that had side intake. At first, it was to help cool the CPU. But later, when CPU's got relocated to near the top of the mainboard, the side intake had benefits to cooling the GPU. And sometimes more than just one. But now, GPU coolers have grown so large that side intakes have become pointless. Mainly because there is not enough room for the GPU and side intake fan. And the fan shroud on most modern GPU's won't benefit much from side intakes anyway. Unless the GPU is vertically mounted in the case. So, my recommendation when shopping for a new case. Don't focus so much on legacy hardware that you may still have. Think more about where the technology is heading and what can suit your needs now. I will be very happy to help you pick out something.