Airflow Question. Anti-Dust. Cornered GPU. (with pic)

[benitiv]

Dear Forums,

 

I am looking for your expertise to get this fan setup right.

 

I recently had to upgrade my Workstation PC and while I am on it i figured that some new case fans would be a good investment.

 

Problem:

・the old hardware was a little dusty, tough "just" on the GPU and around that area

・the new motherboard and GPU combination gives little room for the graphics card to breathe

・new GPU needs like 6-7 minutes after a benchmark (nothing to worry?)

◆　I really feel the need to install a PCI WiFi Card (under the GPU), which would basically block the left GPU fan completly

 

What I have:

・2 PWM connections on the motherboard (1 rear, 1 front)

・a 4 pin PWM Y-splitter

 

What I want:

・slight positive air pressure to keep the PC as dust-free as possible while not generating more noise than needed

 

What I need:

・advice on what FAN RPM to take for each location ①, ②, ③ 

 

Wrap-up :

What fans (RPM) should I choose in order to keep the PC dust free for a longer period (I consider my room as "clean"  ) and keep the noise levels as low as possible. Also, should the RPM speed differ depending on the location and why?  

Bonus Question: Connecting the two front fans to one Y-Splitter. → Will this effect the BIOS fan speed control? (like, will the power be split in half, or will it be impossible to control control both fans through one PWM connector?)

 

Note: Most of the time I will not even play games. - But don't want to be worried about my components overheating when I do.

 

Current - temporary - Setup is in the image attached.

 

Let's get the most out of this old CoolerMaster N200 Case.

 

EDIT: I should have been more precise, knowing that rather than the RPM the actual air moved is more important. I really would like to choose a fan from the brand I trust, and my wallet loves:

(picture 2; taken from: https://www.scytheus.com/casefan-kazeflex120 ) Would be nice if a fan from their 120mm fan lineup would cover my needs.

 

 

Thank you in advance,

Greetings from Japan.

Benitiv

Edited April 21, 2020 by benitiv
Added info about fan model

[Mamonos]

17 minutes ago, benitiv said:

What I need:

・advice on what FAN RPM to take for each location ①, ②, ③ 

 

Wrap-up :

What fans (RPM) should I choose in order to keep the PC dust free for a longer period (I consider my room as "clean"  ) and keep the noise levels as low as possible. Also, should the RPM speed differ depending on the location and why?  

Bonus Question: Connecting the two front fans to one Y-Splitter. → Will this effect the BIOS fan speed control? (like, will the power be split in half, or will it be impossible to control control both fans through one PWM connector?

 

Hello, thanks for the detailed post and the pictures!

 

Excellent case fan I work with for this purpose

-Be quiet! Silentwings 3 PWM.

-Noctua NF-S12A PWM.

 

The RPM can be kept the same for all fans; since you will have 2 intake fan and 1 exhaust fan you will anyway get some positive pressure.

In case you don't (GPU sucking in a lot of air) you can have the rear fan spin lower than the front ones.

 

Connecting the two front fans to the Y-Splitter means that those fans will run at the same speed (which is not a problem at all).

It won't cause any issues: your motherboard, which looks like Asus Prime (B450M?), usually is able to provide up to 1A on those PWM fan headers. At 12V that means 12W of power which is enough for even six or more traditional fans under the same header.

 

To avoid installing a PCIe Wireless Network Card in that already saturated area you could also look for an USB adapter.

[benitiv]

Dear Mamonos,

 

thank you for the quick and detailed response. 

 

What I understood is that I should keep the same RPM for all fans, or, to be safe on the 'positive pressure' side of things, take a slower rotating fan on the back.

4 hours ago, Mamonos said:

To avoid installing a PCIe Wireless Network Card in that already saturated area you could also look for an USB adapter.

I'm afraid you are right, a USB adapter solution seems to be the most sensible.

 

Thank you also for the PWM header / Y-Splitter explanation - that really cleared it up for me.

 

Regarding the cornered GPU:

Is there any other way (except getting the mentioned front fans) to keep her cool and safe?

I haven't build a PC in like 10 years: does it occure quite often that the card is as close to other parts in the PC, without much room to breathe?

 

Thanks a lot.

(p.s.:

4 hours ago, Mamonos said:

which looks like Asus Prime (B450M?)

Yes, well done! It's indeed a Asus B450M-A! )

Edited April 21, 2020 by benitiv
Quotes

[LogicalDrm]

1 hour ago, benitiv said:

Regarding the cornered GPU:

Is there any other way (except getting the mentioned front fans) to keep her cool and safe?

I haven't build a PC in like 10 years: does it occure quite often that the card is as close to other parts in the PC, without much room to breathe?

First of all, what are your actual temps like when running benchmarks and the workloads you mostly do?

 

Looking at case and form factor, the motherboard+case combo is causing issue that you might not get otherwise. You don't have "top" PCIe slot which would raise GPU and give it more room with front fans, and the bottom HDD cage can't be moved to another place.

 

About front fans. I would move them another side of that honeycomb mesh. And make sure their dust filters are good and working. That is your main way to keep dust out. Also check that bottom dust filters are good. You can also add side fan as exhaust, I think that is best for keeping GPU cool.

 

As for RPM. And actually many other numbers related to fans. Most of those numbers are taken way too seriously. Be it rpm, CFM or dbA. RPM isn't equivalent to CFM nor to dbA. If you are looking for new fans, I wouldn't pick those Scythe fans. On paper at least they look like lower midrange. Not moving much air with more noise than needed. The two reviews I checked back this up. Just for controlling and maybe dust control perspective, easy method is to use same fans overall and keeping intake fans about 30% faster rpm than exhausts.

 

Last note, you should tag or quote member if you want to respond directly to them. You can remove contents of quote, or split it up (double-tap enter). This way they get notifications.

[benitiv]

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Quote

First of all, what are your actual temps like when running benchmarks and the workloads you mostly do?

Benchmark: +54.0 C

Idle:             +30.0 C

 

Are these average numbers?

 

25 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

bottom HDD cage can't be moved to another place.

Glad that you mentioned! Since my DVD-Drive isn't working anyway, and I only need 1 HDD, I will move the remaining HDD and SDD to the 5.25" cage. The HDD cage can be removed to make a clear path -> That way I can move the front fans to the other side as you stated.

 

29 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

You can also add side fan as exhaust, I think that is best for keeping GPU cool.

Awesome Idea! That might actually fix the problem. However, there is no mount for a side fan..

(maybe just buy another case what would defeat the whole purpose of this thread  )

 

Thanks for the usage insights! Will do my best.

[LogicalDrm]

1 minute ago, benitiv said:

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Benchmark: +54.0 C

Idle:             +30.0 C

 

Are these average numbers?

Those are really low. For example my 780 Founders card is at 78C when gaming and maxes at 83C under full stress. The previous GPU was bit cooler, with max temp at 76C. Both are using limited fan speeds as I don't like the noise they would otherwise make.

 

So in that sense, you don't really need more cooling. Just check those dust filters.

[benitiv]

26 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

So in that sense, you don't really need more cooling. Just check those dust filters.

Thank you LogicalDrm and Mamonos. 

I think everything I wanted to know got answered in a very satisfiying way.

Guess this is case closed.

 

Will keep the thread open for another couple of hours, just in case somebody else has some ideas / additions etc. or just wants to roast my build.  

[LogicalDrm]

3 minutes ago, benitiv said:

Thank you LogicalDrm and Mamonos. 

I think everything I wanted to know got answered in a very satisfiying way.

Guess this is case closed.

 

You're welcome.

 

3 minutes ago, benitiv said:

Will keep the thread open for another couple of hours, just in case somebody else has some ideas / additions etc. or just wants to roast my build.  

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[benitiv]

Even though this is considered to be solved, just a update to give this thread a clean finish.

 

I took some advice from @LogicalDrm and re-arranged the inner of my case so that the graphics card gets more fresh air blown in by removing the HDD cage.

Yes, I still went with the "lower midrange" Fans because

a) since the temperatures are pretty low anyway I figured I won't need super high performance fans

b) overall matched look and

c) for 3 of those I can't even buy one BeQuiet! or Noctua -> I rather put the money elsewhere

I took the 1200rpm versions and got them spinning at around 400RPM in idle / office work. The exhausted air from the graphics cards seems much cooler now too.

 

Anyhow, I really appreciate your help and that's how it looks now: