Need help with fan layout for this case

[Lemonathor]

Hello, first let me introduce myself. I'm 22 years and this is the first mid-high end computer I build (I always made low-mid end computers and never cared about airflow), I have 0 experience with airflow (even tho I watched A LOT of videos, and read A LOT of explanations) because I never cared about it.

I know there is no "best fan setup", but as I have 0 knowledge, had 0 errors, 0 experience on this I wanted to hear what experienced people would do in my case.
My computer right now consists of:

• RTX 2080 Super
• i7 9700k <- Noctua NH-U14S (dual fan)

I have the following fans:

• 2x120mm that came with my Raidmax Monster II case

• 1x150mm Noctua NF-A15

• 1x120mm old papst fan

• 2x80mm generic fans

• 1x120mm Kexiang Hardware fan

• 1x120mm Young Lin Tech co

I want Positive Pressure to avoid air being sucked from all those tiny holes in the case. So my setup would be [ 3 in / 2 out ].

The thing is that (check the screenshot) fans 1, 2, 4 and 5 have dust filters. 3 Doesn't have any. So 3 should be exhaust.
I went with the normal "front = intake" so now I have only slots 1 and 2, and I need one of those to be intake and the other to be exhaust. Because they are together I thought this was a bad Idea, but I'm not sure.

What would you guys do? What fans would you place on each slot (considering that the Noctua is the best one, the Raidmax the 2nd and 3rd best and the others are "generic")?

Edited May 29, 2020 by Lemonathor
Changed title to something better

[3|iTe--_--Mr_Te3]

ive done exactly what you're looking at and its works fine, thing is you have to look at fan size and its cfm and you make adjustments in bios or app, say if you're doing a 3 fan set up of a 150mm noctua exhaust and 2 80mm intake you'll most likely have neg presure but if you ramp up the intake and slow the exhaust down you'll probably get  positive pressure so calculate it like that if you can and make adjustments where necessary.  

[Lemonathor]

10 hours ago, 3|iTe--_--Mr_Te3 said:

ive done exactly what you're looking at and its works fine, thing is you have to look at fan size and its cfm and you make adjustments in bios or app, say if you're doing a 3 fan set up of a 150mm noctua exhaust and 2 80mm intake you'll most likely have neg presure but if you ramp up the intake and slow the exhaust down you'll probably get  positive pressure so calculate it like that if you can and make adjustments where necessary.  

Hi thank you for the reply. The problem is that I have 0 information about the fans. The only one that has info is the Noctua. Also my main problem is that I would have to put intake and exhaust together on slots 1 and 2.
If I put exhaust on 1 and intake on 2, the fan 2 will be working against the fans 4 and 5.

If I put exhaust on 2 and intake on 1, the air from 4 and 5 won't reach the back of the case leaving around 50% of the motherboard without cool air.

[Lemonathor]

Well I tested all my fans (placed a paper towel on top with it falling in front of the fan and measured how high each fan would lift the paper) and got the following results:

From best to worse

1. 150mm Noctua
2. 120mm Kexiang
3. 120mm papst / 120mm Young Lin Tech co
4. 120mm that came with Raidmax Monster II
5. 80mm generic fans

[Lemonathor]

bump

[LogicalDrm]

First things first. A15 is the problem fan in here. Because 1) it uses 120mm mounting holes, and 2) most cases don't have room for wider frame of 150mm fan.

 

Have the two 120mm's at front. Have single fan at rear. Boom, you have positive pressure and good flow. You could have rear as intake and use top fans as exhaust, but if you are after "pressure", having air going directly from fan-to-fan eliminates those two fans from total as they cancel each other out.

[Lemonathor]

8 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

First things first. A15 is the problem fan in here. Because 1) it uses 120mm mounting holes, and 2) most cases don't have room for wider frame of 150mm fan.

 

Have the two 120mm's at front. Have single fan at rear. Boom, you have positive pressure and good flow. You could have rear as intake and use top fans as exhaust, but if you are after "pressure", having air going directly from fan-to-fan eliminates those two fans from total as they cancel each other out.

Hi, this case is amazing I can mount 120 and 140mm fans on all those slots on the screenshot.
Ye, I was thinking of using only 2 intake 1 exhaust but the idea of wasting 2 fans didn't sound good to me. That's what led me to being lost about what to do because I can't think of a layout where the fans don't cancel each other.

[LogicalDrm]

17 minutes ago, Lemonathor said:

Hi, this case is amazing I can mount 120 and 140mm fans on all those slots on the screenshot.

 

Thats rather common with cases that have 140mm mounting overall. I'm saying that 150mm width might be problem. Some cases are very tight with space.

 

17 minutes ago, Lemonathor said:

Ye, I was thinking of using only 2 intake 1 exhaust but the idea of wasting 2 fans didn't sound good to me. That's what led me to being lost about what to do because I can't think of a layout where the fans don't cancel each other.

Do you have to use fans which don't move much air anyway? Seems like you are adding more noise to very slim effectiveness. My opinion only. I have not had case with more than 3 fans. Ever. Current has 2x140mm intake, 1x140mm exhaust. Previous had 1x200mm intake, 2x120mm exhaust (upgraded to 2x140mm). The one before has 1x80mm+1x120mm intake, 1x120mm exhaust.

[Lemonathor]

1 hour ago, LogicalDrm said:

 

Thats rather common with cases that have 140mm mounting overall. I'm saying that 150mm width might be problem. Some cases are very tight with space.

 

Do you have to use fans which don't move much air anyway? Seems like you are adding more noise to very slim effectiveness. My opinion only. I have not had case with more than 3 fans. Ever. Current has 2x140mm intake, 1x140mm exhaust. Previous had 1x200mm intake, 2x120mm exhaust (upgraded to 2x140mm). The one before has 1x80mm+1x120mm intake, 1x120mm exhaust.

Oh nono, 150mm fits perfect on all slots.

 

Yeah you are right, it's pointless to add more fans and make things complicated without any benefit. I will add them all and connect only 3, perform some tests and then do the same with 4 and 5 to see if there is any difference in temps.

Thank you for the help.