Building my First PC, Question about fans and airflow

[Person74]

Hello, I'm going to be be building my first pc soon and I've already ordered all the parts (they'll be here tomorrow). Unfortunately I've learned that the case (Thermaltake V200 RGB) I ordered appears to have poor airflow. The V200 comes with 3 front intake fans, however reviews are saying that they don't work well due to them being covered by an acrylic glass panel, with only a small gap at the bottom. Luckily, the case has support for two top fans. Should I buy two top fans and use them as intake fans or will that not improve the airflow situation. The case also comes with one fan in the back for exhaust.

 

Build specs if that matters:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/QzpWf9

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($34.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF B450-Pro Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 5700 8 GB DD Ultra Video Card  ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake V200 RGB ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $991.38

 

[Fasauceome]

12 minutes ago, Person74 said:

Luckily, the case has support for two top fans. Should I buy two top fans and use them as intake fans or will that not improve the airflow situation. The case also comes with one fan in the back for exhaust.

Tbh, I'd start with 2 fans at the top as exhaust, imo pretty good for dust prevention and you can see if that delivers satisfactory thermal results first.

[Person74]

2 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

Tbh, I'd start with 2 fans at the top as exhaust, imo pretty good for dust prevention and you can see if that delivers satisfactory thermal results first.

Do you think the narrow area for intake will be a problem?

[Fasauceome]

Just now, Person74 said:

Do you think the narrow area for intake will be a problem?

Yes, but more airflow overall will help overcome that. In fact, if you just wanted to use the front fans at a super low rpm just for show, you could see if negative pressure does the job for you.

[Person74]

2 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

Yes, but more airflow overall will help overcome that. In fact, if you just wanted to use the front fans at a super low rpm just for show, you could see if negative pressure does the job for you.

Alright I’ll have to experiment with it.

[Anomnomnomaly]

22 minutes ago, Person74 said:

Hello, I'm going to be be building my first pc soon and I've already ordered all the parts (they'll be here tomorrow). Unfortunately I've learned that the case (Thermaltake V200 RGB) I ordered appears to have poor airflow. The V200 comes with 3 front intake fans, however reviews are saying that they don't work well due to them being covered by an acrylic glass panel, with only a small gap at the bottom. Luckily, the case has support for two top fans. Should I buy two top fans and use them as intake fans or will that not improve the airflow situation. The case also comes with one fan in the back for exhaust.

 

Build specs if that matters:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/QzpWf9

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($34.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF B450-Pro Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 5700 8 GB DD Ultra Video Card  ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake V200 RGB ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $991.38

 

Can you not just send the case back and get something decent instead?  It'll delay the build a few days... but you'll be happier in the long run... and it's Amazon so you've got a decent returns policy at least.

[Bombastinator]

2 hours ago, Person74 said:

Hello, I'm going to be be building my first pc soon and I've already ordered all the parts (they'll be here tomorrow). Unfortunately I've learned that the case (Thermaltake V200 RGB) I ordered appears to have poor airflow. The V200 comes with 3 front intake fans, however reviews are saying that they don't work well due to them being covered by an acrylic glass panel, with only a small gap at the bottom. Luckily, the case has support for two top fans. Should I buy two top fans and use them as intake fans or will that not improve the airflow situation. The case also comes with one fan in the back for exhaust.

 

Build specs if that matters:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/QzpWf9

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($34.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF B450-Pro Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 5700 8 GB DD Ultra Video Card  ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake V200 RGB ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $991.38

 

It’s not that they won’t work, they just won’t work as well as they might.  Those three fans might translate to two or perhaps even less in a case with more straight forward airflow.  It should probably still be enough though.  I’d hold off on the extra fans until you know you need them.  Your cpu doesn’t produce a ton of heat.  Your gpu will produce a lot more, but it’s still not far out of the 300w range going all out.  Get the thing going, run some stress tests for a while to get the case heat up and see where you are.  A lot will depend on what kind of fans those included fans are.  If they’ve got enough static pressure to pull air through the hole there won’t be an issue.  They’re rgb though so it’s not impossible marketing over ruled engineering and did something stupid.

 

if case temps are high add fans. (They probably won’t help CPU temps all that much but you never know)  If they’re still high different case.  It would also mean that no one should EVER buy that case until they put the old fan blades back or do something about that glass plate.  Moving it forward to allow a crack around the edge is probably enough.  Not sure how much would be needed.  Maybe as little as a quarter inch.

[Fasauceome]

1 hour ago, Person74 said:

Alright I’ll have to experiment with it.

Just a note, the motherboard you have selected, the b450 tuf, only has five fan headers. Consider the B450 tomahawk Max, as it has 6.