Which case fans should I buy?

[SimoneP]

I have a Phanteks Eclipse P400S case, it comes with 2 fans pre-installed. One at the front (120mm) and one at the rear (120mm). I assume one is intake and one is exhaust. I want to add 2 more fans, one at the top (exhaust) and one more at the front (intake). Would this be a good idea to better the airflow in my case?

My case allows for 140mm fans, I assume that these would be better than 120mm fans right? As far as performance and sound go.

So now my question is, which fans should I buy.

I've did some research and I'm deciding between the Noctua NF-14 Chromax (I assume they have the same performance as the non-chromax ones right?) and the bequiet! Silent Wings 3. They're both around the same price here. Which of those would be better performance and sound wise?

I'm also wondering if I need to buy some sort of splitter to connect the two new fans, and if yes which one should I buy?

 

Specs:

i7-6700K (with Scythe Mugen 5 cpu cooler)

MSI GTX 1080Ti Gaming X

16 GB DDR4 RAM

Asus Z170 Pro Gaming

EVGA SuperNova 650 G3

Phanteks Eclipse P400S

[Agonizel]

I don't think there is much of a difference between the BeQuiet and Noctua fans, just take the ones you feel you prefer.
I'd put 2x 140mm on the front and 120mm at rear and rear-top

As for fan control, you can get a PWM Splitter, you can buy Noctua splitters for PWM and quality guarantee.
I myself am not a real fan of splitters: for $15 you can buy the SATA-powered Thermaltake Commander FP which is a Fan Hub for PWM fans that plugs into a Sys_Fan header on your motherboard.

If you prefer software control which is more expensive you get either get:
- the NZXT Grid V3 which is compatible with all PWM fans that you'll control trough the CAM software
- The Corsair Commander Pro, but it's compatible with Corsair Fans only (3 or 4-pin)

[SimoneP]

Okay but as far as I can see the Noctua is a bit more powerful but the Bequiet is more silent right?

 

I was already thinking of moving the 120mm fan in the front that came pre-installed to the top and then adding the two new 140mm fans in the front. Also I have one hdd in front of the front fan right now, so I'm wondering if I should get a static pressure fan to place there but I don't know if that's necessary?

 

I'm just wondering if I need a splitter to be able to connect all of the fans (4 in total then), I have never placed case fans myself before so I'm not sure if there are enough fan headers or something like that, so I thought I would need a splitter to be able to connect them all.

 

I don't need any fancy software control, I just want to be able to connect all of the fans and preferably connect them with PWM so that I can control them in the BIOS.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

19 minutes ago, SimoneP said:

 

My case allows for 140mm fans, I assume that these would be better than 120mm fans right? As far as performance and sound go.

Not necessarily. It's typically easier to get higher air flow with 140mm fans, and high pressure with 120mm fans, but the difference isn't that big, and which specific fan you get can more than offset any difference coming from size.

The common argument is that bigger fans can turn at lower rpm and move the same air, leading to lower noise levels. However, that arguments omits the fixed 25mm depth of most fans - fans are 3D objects, but when going from 120 to 140 you are only expanding two dimensions. The constant 25mm depth implies that either the size/shape of the blade or its angle must change (that's also why those 38mm thick fans are turbines ). The result can be a quiet fan that theoretically moves a decent amount of air, but in practice can't overcome the slightest resistance and contributes little to airflow. 

 

More generally, I'd say that when comparing fan models, based on my totally made-up numbers, 10% of the difference is based on fan design, and 90% is based on whether it was tuned for silence or airflow, but adjusting the speed would switch from one to the other

[EsaT]

9 minutes ago, SimoneP said:

Also I have one hdd in front of the front fan right now, so I'm wondering if I should get a static pressure fan to place there but I don't know if that's necessary?

HDDs don't need much any cooling, it's CPU and GPU where you want huge majority on airflow going.

Even PSU's heat output is insignificant, unless you use some medieval PSU.

If you need more cooling better to add that fan so that most of its airflow goes to CPU and GPU.

 

 

7 minutes ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

More generally, I'd say that when comparing fan models, based on my totally made-up numbers, 10% of the difference is based on fan design, and 90% is based on whether it was tuned for silence or airflow, but adjusting the speed would switch from one to the other

Bad fans are noisy no matter what you do.

Well, maybe except smacking it with "fine adjuster"...

[SimoneP]

8 minutes ago, EsaT said:

HDDs don't need much any cooling, it's CPU and GPU where you want huge majority on airflow going.

Even PSU's heat output is insignificant, unless you use some medieval PSU.

If you need more cooling better to add that fan so that most of its airflow goes to CPU and GPU.

I understand but I mean that the HDD might be obstructing the airflow of the fan there. I read that static pressure fans are better at pushing air when obstructed by something than high airflow fans. But I don't know if it's necessary.

 

 

 

[SimoneP]

I just looked in my case and saw that CHA_FAN1, CHA_FAN2 and CHA_FAN3 are all still available so I wouldn't need a splitter I suppose. I have no idea how I connected the 2 pre-installed fans then, I remember connecting them with a splitter but I don't know where I connected the splitter then. But as long as it works.

 

Maybe I should just buy one Bequiet! Silent Wings 3 and one Noctua NF-14 Chromax. Having different case fans doesn't really matter right?

[EsaT]

1 hour ago, SimoneP said:

I understand but I mean that the HDD might be obstructing the airflow of the fan there. I read that static pressure fans are better at pushing air when obstructed by something than high airflow fans. But I don't know if it's necessary.

That HDD doesn't need lots of airflow.

You can move those front intake fans quite freely, so put lower fan so that only its lower edge gives some airflow to HDD and most airflow goes directly for CPU/GPU without obstructions.

 

[WoodenMarker]

5 hours ago, SimoneP said:

Okay but as far as I can see the Noctua is a bit more powerful but the Bequiet is more silent right?

I was already thinking of moving the 120mm fan in the front that came pre-installed to the top and then adding the two new 140mm fans in the front. Also I have one hdd in front of the front fan right now, so I'm wondering if I should get a static pressure fan to place there but I don't know if that's necessary?

 

I'm just wondering if I need a splitter to be able to connect all of the fans (4 in total then), I have never placed case fans myself before so I'm not sure if there are enough fan headers or something like that, so I thought I would need a splitter to be able to connect them all.

I don't need any fancy software control, I just want to be able to connect all of the fans and preferably connect them with PWM so that I can control them in the BIOS.

Chromax fans are just black versions of the standard line of Noctuas with no other changes.

NF-A14's perform better than SW3's especially at lower rpm whereas SW3's are quieter. 

Having different fans isn't necessarily bad although either having a mix or the same fans may be noisier due to resonance or having more different noises that may stick out from the background. My guess is that it's better to use similar fans. 

 

140mm's aren't necessarily better. If cost isn't an issue, NF-A12x25's are 120mm fans that perform better than many 140mm's and it's likely better than both SW3's or NF-A14's. 

That being said, these are all excellent fans and you'd probably get a better value just going with the cheapest of the lot.

 

The stock case fan isn't that good but you can use it as a rear exhaust to see how it performs before deciding on whether or not to replace it. 

2 front intakes and 1 rear exhaust should be good. Adding another top exhaust might help a bit.

Your motherboard has 5 fan headers that each offer pwm / dc control options and has pretty good fan control options. You don't need any splitters unless you want to use more fans.

 

[SimoneP]

22 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

Chromax fans are just black versions of the standard line of Noctuas with no other changes.

NF-A14's perform better than SW3's especially at lower rpm whereas SW3's are quieter. 

Having different fans isn't necessarily bad although either having a mix or the same fans may be noisier due to resonance or having more different noises that may stick out from the background. My guess is that it's better to use similar fans. 

 

140mm's aren't necessarily better. If cost isn't an issue, NF-A12x25's are 120mm fans that perform better than many 140mm's and it's likely better than both SW3's or NF-A14's. 

That being said, these are all excellent fans and you'd probably get a better value just going with the cheapest of the lot.

 

The stock case fan isn't that good but you can use it as a rear exhaust to see how it performs before deciding on whether or not to replace it. 

2 front intakes and 1 rear exhaust should be good. Adding another top exhaust might help a bit.

Your motherboard has 5 fan headers that each offer pwm / dc control options and has pretty good fan control options. You don't need any splitters unless you want to use more fans.

 

Thanks for the elaborate explanation.

 

I ordered 2 bequiet! silent wings 3 fans yesterday and I installed them in the front today. I put them as intake (I hope I did it right, the serial number side is faced towards the case). And I put the stock fan that was in the front, into the top and put it as an exhaust. So now I have two front intake, one top exhaust and one rear exhaust.