Fans and AiO setup in Enthoo Pro M

[Chaoson]

Hey guys,

 

I've finally decided to upgrade my PC to something newer. I went with Enthoo Pro M as my case of choice, and I transferred my old system just to check the temps and, no surprise there, they went down a couple of degrees (two 140mm fans that come with the case as intake and two 140mm as exhaust). 

Here's my problem, I want to cool my new CPU (on a side note: I'm getting 8600K and GTX 1080 or something similiar from the next gen, this might be important for airflow and/or cooling) with an AiO, but it would be my first time using it. Normally I would get 2 intake and 2 exhaust high quality fans and call it a day, but radiator adds some resistance, and thus I hope someone smarter than me can help

 

So, I came up with two possibilities myself:

a) 280 front rad (H115i/Kraken X62 V2) with two 140mm Silent Wings 3 Hi-Speed fans and three 120mm SW3 fans as exhaust set to lower speeds

b 240 front rad ( H100i/Kraken X52 V2) with three 120mm SW3 Hi-Speed fans (all connected to CPU_FAN) and two 140mm SW3 or three 120mm SW3 as exhaust set to lower speeds 

 

Option A is what I would do without a radiator, because like I said I'm pretty much running it right now and my MSi 280X stays at ~77C under load, but I believe better thermals could be achieved considering that this case is quite spacious compared to ones I've built in in the past. Be Quiet! fans are pretty much a lock because of the noise levels (case intake is exactly 50cm from my ear and is definitely audible even at idle) and same goes for front-mounted AiO. I forgot to add that I'm going for slightly positive airflow. Of course I'm open to any suggestions. The case is equipped with DEMCiflex set and PWM Fan Hub, so dust and fan headers are not a problem. I will be overclocking the new system.

What option should I go with? Maybe something else entirely? Sorry for the long post, but I wanted you guys to get a clear picture

 

Thanks in advance!

 

P.S. Sorry if my English is bad, not my first language.

[WoodenMarker]

Why an AIO as opposed to a traditional air cooling heatsink?

The graphics card is generally more sensitive to temps so I'd recommend prioritizing cooling for that and use any rads as exhaust instead of intake if possible. 

Since the bottom fan at the front is below the shroud, it probably won't make as much of a difference to cooling as a larger 280mm rad would make over a 240mm for the cpu. 

[Chaoson]

Honestly I want an AiO for the looks, and because I never used one. That's pretty much it. I know it's a stupid reason  But I might reconsider, depending on how the build will go.

I can open a part of the shroud, so rads can fit at the front, that makes the airflow somewhat better. Regarding rad placement, what about that one video on BitWit's channel? That's pretty much what influenced me to think front is the best. Well, the more opinions, the better.

I'm now also considering Noctua's Redux series - should I go with them or Be Quiet! fans for best silence/perfomance? 

[WoodenMarker]

14 hours ago, Striffer said:

Honestly I want an AiO for the looks, and because I never used one. That's pretty much it. I know it's a stupid reason  But I might reconsider, depending on how the build will go.

I can open a part of the shroud, so rads can fit at the front, that makes the airflow somewhat better. Regarding rad placement, what about that one video on BitWit's channel? That's pretty much what influenced me to think front is the best. Well, the more opinions, the better.

I'm now also considering Noctua's Redux series - should I go with them or Be Quiet! fans for best silence/perfomance? 

If you add a custom shroud / ramp, that might help a bit more. If it's a decision between a 240mm and 280mm, go with the 280mm. 

I'm not sure which video you're referring to but a front rad intake is a good and balanced approach whereas having just fans at the front should favor the graphics card for cooling. Either are fine.

NF-P14S would perform better but SW3's would be quieter. They're both excellent options. If money isn't an issue, you could go with a 240mm rad and NF-A12x25's in push which would be the best of both worlds. 

 

Make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

[aezakmi]

I'd go for the front 115i on push config and a single rear fan

 

As for the fans I'd keep the stock for the rad and maybe a silent wings for exhaust, remember the best choice for your AIO would be static pressure fans that can suck fresh air through the case mesh and also be able to push that air through the metal fins, I wouldn't use "silent" fans for that simply because the air volume they move isn't enough to keep the rad cool

If your exhaust fan is enough, the graphics card won't overheat at all.

 

I had the 290X in a similar config and it went up to 85C while gaming and there was a lot of hot air coming out the case

[Chaoson]

9 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

NF-P14S would perform better but SW3's would be quieter. They're both excellent options. If money isn't an issue, you could go with a 240mm rad and NF-A12x25's in push which would be the best of both worlds. 

 

7 hours ago, aezakmi said:

As for the fans I'd keep the stock for the rad and maybe a silent wings for exhaust, remember the best choice for your AIO would be static pressure fans that can suck fresh air through the case mesh and also be able to push that air through the metal fins, I wouldn't use "silent" fans for that simply because the air volume they move isn't enough to keep the rad cool

Thanks for your replies (and thanks for the tip about quoting). Remember I wanted to use SW3 Hi-Speed fans for the rad, which has almost exactly the same specs (dBa, CFM, RPM) as Noctua's. I have no problem with running radiator fans <30 dBa if it means shoving more cold air into the case. Considering they're almost exactly the same, I'm curious, what would you guys go with? SW3 Hi-Speed seem like a better option, coming out of the box with rubber corners and all. Is there something I'm missing? Also, if the thermals prove to be bad, I can always switch up my fans, and put 3x120mm at the front and the rad with it's fans as an exhaust. 

I know how good A12's are, but I'm going with same fans for the whole case, and it's hard to find brown-beige PC hardware.   

[WoodenMarker]

1 hour ago, Striffer said:

Remember I wanted to use SW3 Hi-Speed fans for the rad, which has almost exactly the same specs (dBa, CFM, RPM) as Noctua's. I have no problem with running radiator fans <30 dBa if it means shoving more cold air into the case. Considering they're almost exactly the same, I'm curious, what would you guys go with? SW3 Hi-Speed seem like a better option, coming out of the box with rubber corners and all. Is there something I'm missing? Also, if the thermals prove to be bad, I can always switch up my fans, and put 3x120mm at the front and the rad with it's fans as an exhaust. 

There's little to no regulation on how fan specs are measured between manufacturers so it isn't very reliable to use them for comparisons. Look at reviews and benchmarks that use the same testing methodology across different fans instead. 

 

You can see how SW3's compare on a 30 fpi rad to NF-A14's which are similar to NF-P14S here: http://www.overclockers.com/silent-wings-3-case-fan-review/

Thermalbench is a good reference with fans on a MCR140QP which is 34mm thick with 12fpi. 

http://thermalbench.com/2016/10/31/be-quiet-silent-wings-3-140-mm-high-speed-fan/3/

http://thermalbench.com/2016/09/22/be-quiet-silent-wings-3-140-mm-fan/3/

 

The H115i's 20 fpi and X62's 16 fpi are somewhere in between the two results and it's hard to know which would be better. High-Speed SW3's at 1600rpm should match a 1200rpm NF-P14S but be outperformed by the 1500rpm variant. Considering that the fans also have to pull through a front filter and from reading about SW3's bought for AIO's being returned, NF-P14S are probably better overall. 

[Chaoson]

17 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

There's little to no regulation on how fan specs are measured between manufacturers so it isn't very reliable to use them for comparisons.

 

The H115i's 20 fpi and X62's 16 fpi are somewhere in between the two results and it's hard to know which would be better. High-Speed SW3's at 1600rpm should match a 1200rpm NF-P14S but be outperformed by the 1500rpm variant. Considering that the fans also have to pull through a front filter and from reading about SW3's bought for AIO's being returned, NF-P14S are probably better overall. 

Well, I've learned something new today. Seems like I'm going with Noctua this time around. Thanks for the help!