Probably....
It's not 'just' the thick bits...cat hair etc that clogs the airways....it's the really fine 'house dust' [mostly flakes of your skin] that can settle over everything.....and just add humidity changes and you can have a short.
With older cases I've used...that had gauze mesh over the intake fans I'd add a sheet of toilet paper as a dust particle filter, and put up with the increased fan loading/noise.
The current Level 10 case is its own heat-sink so the fans are only on/noticable during boot. Normally the only way you know it's on is to look at the lights...
