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Fan selection and placement in Fractal Design Define R5

cpugeek21

So, I have had a Fractal Design Define R5 for a couple years, and recently upgraded my components. However, my CPU crashed on me two times, and I realised that it's (most likely) because of my temps. They are bad, like really bad. AMD tends to run higher at idle, but I didn't expect CS:GO to push my temps to 90+ degree Celcius when I'm running 1280 x 960 stretched. Is this normal, considering the restrictive nature of airflow of the R5?

 

So anyway, I made up my mind to get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo for the air cooler. But I would like some recommendations for the fans and fan placement. I currently have the 2 included 140mm fans in the front and a 120mm Bitfenix fan from eons ago in the back. I'm thinking of doing a fan placement like this.

 

image.thumb.png.05acecfbc8d88e63e970a523f1d1c287.png

 

2 intake at the front (removing the HDD cages), 1 intake at the bottom (in front of the PSU) and 1 exhaust at the back, along with the CPU air cooler. I'm thinking of swapping the 2 front fans to put at the bottom and at the back, and then get 2 new ones for the front intake. Would this be recommended? 

 

Also, what fans would be appropriate? I have a feeling the answer is going to be the noctua a14s, but they seem to be a little expensive where I'm from, so I wonder if there are any comparable ones.

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More fans is good, and nice fans are better than bad fans. However, you will get the most benefit by removing the drive cages and opening the front door. 

You didn't say where you're from and where you're shopping, so i have no idea what pricing is like there. But there are many fan roundup test articles/videos online which compare tons of fans, and you can use that and cross-reference with prices in your region to find good ones that meet your budget. In Canada, where I am, Arctic F12 and P12 fans are often great value. But ofc, that may be different where you are, so I won't claim to know the pricing where you are and just tell you what to get.

 

2 front intakes and a bottom intake, plus a rear exhaust is a good setup though, yes. however, i would probably go 2 front intake (or 3 if you can fit them), and exhuast on the top and back (with priority given to the top since the CPU cooler will push air out the back naturally). bottom intake is the lowest priority since the case is fairly low to the floor, and there isn't much room for air to come in the bottom. it'll do something, but not that much, so i'd prioritize doing that last

Main Rig: R9 5950X @ PBO, RTX 3090, 64 GB DDR4 3666, InWin 101, Full Hardline Watercooling

Server: R7 1700X @ 4.0 GHz, GTX 1080 Ti, 32GB DDR4 3000, Cooler Master NR200P, Full Soft Watercooling

LAN Rig: R5 3600X @ PBO, RTX 2070, 32 GB DDR4 3200, Dan Case A4-SFV V4, 120mm AIO for the CPU

HTPC: i7-7700K @ 4.6 GHz, GTX 1050 Ti, 16 GB DDR4 3200, AliExpress K39, IS-47K Cooler

Router: R3 2200G @ stock, 4GB DDR4 2400, what are cases, stock cooler
 

I don't have a problem...

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37 minutes ago, tarfeef101 said:

More fans is good, and nice fans are better than bad fans. However, you will get the most benefit by removing the drive cages and opening the front door. 

You didn't say where you're from and where you're shopping, so i have no idea what pricing is like there. But there are many fan roundup test articles/videos online which compare tons of fans, and you can use that and cross-reference with prices in your region to find good ones that meet your budget. In Canada, where I am, Arctic F12 and P12 fans are often great value. But ofc, that may be different where you are, so I won't claim to know the pricing where you are and just tell you what to get.

 

2 front intakes and a bottom intake, plus a rear exhaust is a good setup though, yes. however, i would probably go 2 front intake (or 3 if you can fit them), and exhuast on the top and back (with priority given to the top since the CPU cooler will push air out the back naturally). bottom intake is the lowest priority since the case is fairly low to the floor, and there isn't much room for air to come in the bottom. it'll do something, but not that much, so i'd prioritize doing that last

Just gave the Arctic fans a look, and wow they do look pretty good for the price point. Think I'll grab a couple of them. Thanks!

 

With that being said, should I buy enough to complement my Fractal fans, or buy enough to complement them?

 

This are the specs I got from the Fractal Design website regarding the included fans:

Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 fan @ 1000 RPM

 

I don't have much experience with fans, but I'm guessing 1000RPM is pretty bad and can't push much air?

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The FD fans are better than nothing most of the time.. I would replace them all.

AMD R9 5900X @ Booost | Thermalright Aqua Elite 360, 3x TL- C12 Pro, 2x TL-K12, SYY-157
Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero | 4 x 8GB G.Skill Trident Z Mix @ 3800 14-15-15-35 1.575v
Zotac 4070 Ti Trinity OC @ 3045/1495 | WD SN850, SN850X, 2x SN770, Asus Hyper M.2
EVGA SuperNova 750w | Fractal Torrent Compact RGB |1x Phanteks T30, 1x TL-B12, 1x TY-143

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4 hours ago, cpugeek21 said:

Just gave the Arctic fans a look, and wow they do look pretty good for the price point. Think I'll grab a couple of them. Thanks!

 

With that being said, should I buy enough to complement my Fractal fans, or buy enough to complement them?

 

This are the specs I got from the Fractal Design website regarding the included fans:

Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 fan @ 1000 RPM

 

I don't have much experience with fans, but I'm guessing 1000RPM is pretty bad and can't push much air?

I would rather buy a better cpu cooler than 2 extra fans to replace the fractal ones

Main Rig: R9 5950X @ PBO, RTX 3090, 64 GB DDR4 3666, InWin 101, Full Hardline Watercooling

Server: R7 1700X @ 4.0 GHz, GTX 1080 Ti, 32GB DDR4 3000, Cooler Master NR200P, Full Soft Watercooling

LAN Rig: R5 3600X @ PBO, RTX 2070, 32 GB DDR4 3200, Dan Case A4-SFV V4, 120mm AIO for the CPU

HTPC: i7-7700K @ 4.6 GHz, GTX 1050 Ti, 16 GB DDR4 3200, AliExpress K39, IS-47K Cooler

Router: R3 2200G @ stock, 4GB DDR4 2400, what are cases, stock cooler
 

I don't have a problem...

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A lot of people love that cooler, those feelings are misplaced though because really the Hyper 212 is an overhyped POS. 

 

I feel better now.

 

Sorry if you like it, I've got one too. Luckily I didn't pay for it lol 🙃

AMD R9 5900X @ Booost | Thermalright Aqua Elite 360, 3x TL- C12 Pro, 2x TL-K12, SYY-157
Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero | 4 x 8GB G.Skill Trident Z Mix @ 3800 14-15-15-35 1.575v
Zotac 4070 Ti Trinity OC @ 3045/1495 | WD SN850, SN850X, 2x SN770, Asus Hyper M.2
EVGA SuperNova 750w | Fractal Torrent Compact RGB |1x Phanteks T30, 1x TL-B12, 1x TY-143

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Adding bottom intake won't change anything for CPU if thats where you issues are. Getting better cooler for it will.

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On 23/01/2021 at 9:45 PM, freeagent said:

A lot of people love that cooler, those feelings are misplaced though because really the Hyper 212 is an overhyped POS. 

 

I feel better now.

 

Sorry if you like it, I've got one too. Luckily I didn't pay for it lol 🙃

Interesting... Many ranking sites do crown it as the best budget air cooler though. The only thing that sucks is their am4 mounting upgrade kit is basically non-existent. I do have an older 212 lying around but can't use it.

 

With that said, what other coolers would you recommend? 

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On 23/01/2021 at 9:32 PM, tarfeef101 said:

I would rather buy a better cpu cooler than 2 extra fans to replace the fractal ones

I see... Got it. Again, understand that prices are different where you're from, but i guess we can do some cross-country relative comparison. 

 

What higher-end cooler would you recommend? Looking for air only though. I was actually thinking of noctua d15 but not sure if it would be overkill. 

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7 minutes ago, cpugeek21 said:

Interesting... Many ranking sites do crown it as the best budget air cooler though. The only thing that sucks is their am4 mounting upgrade kit is basically non-existent. I do have an older 212 lying around but can't use it.

 

With that said, what other coolers would you recommend? 

 

I'm always hard on the 212, I made a promise that I wouldn't bash it anymore. Its better than a stock cooler.. most of the time.

 

What would I recommend?

 

Unfortunately I am a massive Thermalright fanboy.

 

So probably something from them..

 

I own right now Le Grand Macho RT, True Spirit 140 Power, and Ultra 120 Extreme.. I also own H100 and 212 Evo and stock box 😄

 

I like LGMRT. FWIW that cooler can be used passively up to 90w TDP.

AMD R9 5900X @ Booost | Thermalright Aqua Elite 360, 3x TL- C12 Pro, 2x TL-K12, SYY-157
Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero | 4 x 8GB G.Skill Trident Z Mix @ 3800 14-15-15-35 1.575v
Zotac 4070 Ti Trinity OC @ 3045/1495 | WD SN850, SN850X, 2x SN770, Asus Hyper M.2
EVGA SuperNova 750w | Fractal Torrent Compact RGB |1x Phanteks T30, 1x TL-B12, 1x TY-143

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On 26/01/2021 at 8:31 AM, cpugeek21 said:

I see... Got it. Again, understand that prices are different where you're from, but i guess we can do some cross-country relative comparison. 

 

What higher-end cooler would you recommend? Looking for air only though. I was actually thinking of noctua d15 but not sure if it would be overkill. 

Idk I'm honestly not a big air cooling guy, I like custom loops a lot. But I know there's a ton of scythe fanboys around, presumably for a reason. Bequiet dark rock, Noctua's tower coolers, and some others (check reviews, is really the answer) should all give improvements

Main Rig: R9 5950X @ PBO, RTX 3090, 64 GB DDR4 3666, InWin 101, Full Hardline Watercooling

Server: R7 1700X @ 4.0 GHz, GTX 1080 Ti, 32GB DDR4 3000, Cooler Master NR200P, Full Soft Watercooling

LAN Rig: R5 3600X @ PBO, RTX 2070, 32 GB DDR4 3200, Dan Case A4-SFV V4, 120mm AIO for the CPU

HTPC: i7-7700K @ 4.6 GHz, GTX 1050 Ti, 16 GB DDR4 3200, AliExpress K39, IS-47K Cooler

Router: R3 2200G @ stock, 4GB DDR4 2400, what are cases, stock cooler
 

I don't have a problem...

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