Optimizing air flow

[code99]

Hello, 

 

 I want to optimize the airflow in my case for better, more efficient cooling and I need some help in that regard.

 

The case in question is the "Corsair Carbide SPEC-03" (link) which has the following fan slots:

- 2x120/140 slots at the front 

- 2x120 slots at the top

- 1x120 slot at the back 

- 1x120 slot at the bottom

 

Currently, my rig has the following setup:

 

- 2x120 fans at the front blowing air into the case(Corsair stock fans that came with the case)

- 2x120 silent high airflow fans from Enermax at the top blowing air out of the case

- 1x120 stock corsair fan that came with the case blowing air out of the case

 

The bottom slot is sadly blocked by the larger than expected PSU. The PSU has its 120mm fan blowing air downwards, out of the case.

 

So, i have more air going out than going in creating a negative air pressure inside the case (i've watched the LTT vid about air pressure). Im however still not clear as to what is best, having positive or negative air pressure and also how to balance this for best cooling and as little dust as possible. 

All air intakes and outakes are filtered (except the one at the back for some reason).

 

I plan to replace all my fans since the current ones started to make all sort of noises so this is the best time to do it right.

 

Reduced noise from fans is a plus but not a requirement. All i want is to keep everything inside the case as cool as possible.

I dont really care about the brands per se, price being the decisive factor. I dont really want to pay that much for fans so premium brands are out of the question (see Noctua)

 

If this was you, how would you setup your fans on this case? 

 

Thank you in advance.

 

[m0k]

i would just have 3 case fans

2 intake at the front

1 exhaust at the rear

 

and i would go further and get a black piece of cardboard and stick it onto the roof of the Case on the inside - to cover up the fan slots on the top.

 

 

and i would invest in good quality fractal or noctua fans (non rgb, my preference)

 

[m0k]

actually i take that back the bottom front intake is kind of pointless and just adds turbelence and nosie - HDD dont need cooling in modern cases imo

 

and that fan is just blowing directly at a flat piece of steel - therefore useless

 

at the very least i would get a PWM fan and make sure it spins very slowly 

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

or "yolo" it... 2x front intake + 2x top intake + 1x rear exhaust + psu fan down

 

basicaly 4x intake 1x exhaust (PSU fan doesn'T matter anyway).

get good fans (I always go with noctua), make sure you can control them and have the intakes spin rather slow but steady and the exhaust rather fast but also steady. will create a lot of positive pressure which is a good thing in that case, since there is plenty of room for the air to escape.

[WoodenMarker]

What are your specs and temps?

Have you tried lowering fan speeds to see if that solves your noise problem?

[code99]

My specs are as follows:

 

CPU: i7 4970 with stock intel cooler

GPU: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 OC 4GB GDDR5 512bit Tri-X Vapor-X

RAM: 16 GB DDR3 1600Mhz

Mobo: Asus Maximus VII Ranger

PSU: EVGA Supernova B2 750W

Storage: 1x Samsung EVO 850 512GB SSD, 1x Corsair ForceGT 120GB SSD, 1x Seagate 1TB HDD, 1x WD 512GB HDD

OS: Win 10 Pro

 

As for the temps, i dont know exactly, i  havent checked them in a while (will do later today tho) but last time i checked things were like this (as far as i can remember):

 

(Higher value indicating high load such as gaming)

CPU: 65-80 °C 

GPU: 70-85 °C (i've heard this card likes to run hot so high temps are "normal")

System temp (inside the case) ... i dont recall this one, i'll have to check.

 

The noise i mentioned in my OP are similar to rattling sounds and such. Currently its one of the front fans  thats making this noise and one at the top (i mostly run with one of the fans in front completely stopped, the rattling sound is really annoying). I think the one at the back is also starting to show its age.

Also, i'd rather have more noise and cooler components than less noise and hotter components.

 

The system is a couple of years old so keep that in mind.

I also regularly clean it of dust which accumulates really fast but luckly most of it is blocked by the filters.

[LogicalDrm]

Stock cooler on CPU is probably one source of noise. Temps aren't that bad, though I would get some cheap aftermarket cooler for CPU anyway. Imo Intels stock coolers can't quite handle i7s.

 

Other than that, there's no need to change layout. While you have so-called negative pressure with more fans exhausting than intaking, I don't think dust build-up in normal, regularly cleaned room is that big deal.

[WoodenMarker]

12 hours ago, code99 said:

The noise i mentioned in my OP are similar to rattling sounds and such. Currently its one of the front fans  thats making this noise and one at the top (i mostly run with one of the fans in front completely stopped, the rattling sound is really annoying). I think the one at the back is also starting to show its age.

Also, i'd rather have more noise and cooler components than less noise and hotter components.

Your temps are fine.

Have you tried remounting the case fans? They could be a bit loose.

[code99]

On 10/4/2017 at 5:50 PM, LoGiCalDrm said:

Stock cooler on CPU is probably one source of noise. Temps aren't that bad, though I would get some cheap aftermarket cooler for CPU anyway. Imo Intels stock coolers can't quite handle i7s.

 

Other than that, there's no need to change layout. While you have so-called negative pressure with more fans exhausting than intaking, I don't think dust build-up in normal, regularly cleaned room is that big deal.

Well since its not a K CPU, so no overclocking i just stuck with the stock cooler. I was however looking at the Cooler Master 212 EVO to replace the stock cooler ...

 

As for the dust thing ... I guess ... 

On 10/5/2017 at 12:06 AM, WoodenMarker said:

Your temps are fine.

Have you tried remounting the case fans? They could be a bit loose.

Thats a good idea, i never thought of remounting them, thanks, ill check that today.