What will be the best fan configuration for the Phanteks P360a?

[pgLANG]

The Phanteks P360a comes with 2 front 120mm fans and I decided to purchase an additional 3 120mm fans for the case. The Dilemma I know face is that the total fans will be 5 but I don't know the proper configuration to use. I have 1 on the rear acting as an exhaust and previously placed two on the top as exhaust as well. While the top fan near the rear managed to exhaust hot air out, the top fan closer to the front of the case exhausted air that was significantly cooler. I decided to turn it upside down to an intake instead, but after doing some research I have heard people say that this positive configuration can be disruptive to the air being flown in from the front. So I was wondering what would be considered the perfect configuration for the case and whether positive/negative/neutral airflow affects temperature all that much (P.S. this is for fan configuration only, I have no interest placing a radiator into the case).

[Livin]

6 minutes ago, pgLANG said:

The Phanteks P360a comes with 2 front 120mm fans and I decided to purchase an additional 3 120mm fans for the case. The Dilemma I know face is that the total fans will be 5 but I don't know the proper configuration to use. I have 1 on the rear acting as an exhaust and previously placed two on the top as exhaust as well. While the top fan near the rear managed to exhaust hot air out, the top fan closer to the front of the case exhausted air that was significantly cooler. I decided to turn it upside down to an intake instead, but after doing some research I have heard people say that this positive configuration can be disruptive to the air being flown in from the front. So I was wondering what would be considered the perfect configuration for the case and whether positive/negative/neutral airflow affects temperature all that much (P.S. this is for fan configuration only, I have no interest placing a radiator into the case).

You can either run all 5 and do 3x exhaust (top x2 and rear x1) and 2x intake (x2 front), but you'll have a slightly negative pressure setup which can potentially bring in more dust from cracks in the case.  To be clear, this is a very minor concern, it will perform fine.  You could play with fan curves and ramp the front ones higher to make up for it, but really not worth it in my opinion.

 

The other option is really dropping the front top fan and running 4 with the same configuration otherwise.

[Ralphred]

28 minutes ago, Livin said:

Stuff

What I'd like to see is a "2 pci case slot" filtered intake fan so you can offset this "potentially bringing in more dust from cracks in the case" and OP could use 2 traditional intake and 3 traditional exhaust fans, whilst keeping a balanced or positive pressure system.

Maybe I should invent one; who here has cash to waste on prototype R&D before we sell it to Noctua or BeQuiet?

[Livin]

5 minutes ago, Ralphred said:

What I'd like to see is a "2 pci case slot" filtered intake fan so you can offset this "potentially bringing in more dust from cracks in the case" and OP could use 2 traditional intake and 3 traditional exhaust fans, whilst keeping a balanced or positive pressure system.

Maybe I should invent one; who here has cash to waste on prototype R&D before we sell it to Noctua or BeQuiet?

You mean like this but an intake (and 2 slot)?
https://www.startech.com/en-ca/computer-parts/fancase

[Ralphred]

14 minutes ago, Livin said:

You mean like this but an intake (and 2 slot)?

But 2 slots yes, and a filter on the outside, so it's easy to clean, and 3-4 pins so it's controllable, and made by someone better than startech - so like proper bearings, no noise and a 5yr warranty.

 

Edit: And an XL version with an "output area" that matches the size of an average 2 fan GPU card, and an XXL version that takes 3 pci slots and has an "output area" that matches the size of an average 3 fan GPU card, and the fan section is reversible on the mount so you could (in theory) cool the back of a card installed below it.

[Ralfi]

2 hours ago, pgLANG said:

While the top fan near the rear managed to exhaust hot air out, the top fan closer to the front of the case exhausted air that was significantly cooler.

That’d be because it was ‘stealing’ the cool air from the front fans.

 

Most of the hot air would’ve been pushed back & upwards, hence why exhausts at the rear & top-rear are recommended…that corner of the case + any open slots at the back are where a majority of the hot air will be exhausted in an ideal, air-cooled setup.

 

So with 5 fans, (hopefully all identical models), I’d have 3 intakes at the front, 1 rear exhaust & 1 top-rear exhaust.

 

The more intakes at the front, the better it is for cooling across your whole motherboard - your motherboard temp sensors will show lower temps as you increase the number of front intake fans…

 

From my own testing…

1 Front Fan - 2 Front Fans - 3 Front Fans

PCH: 43° - 41° - 37°… = -6° (From 1 to 3 fans)
PCIEX16: 47° - 46° - 44°… = -3°
PCIEX4: 43° - 41° - 38°…  = -5°
System 1: 41° - 38° - 35°… = -6°
System 2: 43° - 41° - 38°… = -5°
VRM MOS: 51° - 48° - 48°… = -3°
 

So a fair difference when going from 1 to 3 fans (averaging ~ -5° across the motherboard). Even 2 to 3 fans made an average difference of -2.5° across the motherboard.

 

Above-Ambient system temps...

 

[thrasher_565]

3 hours ago, Livin said:

You can either run all 5 and do 3x exhaust (top x2 and rear x1) and 2x intake (x2 front), but you'll have a slightly negative pressure setup which can potentially bring in more dust from cracks in the case.  To be clear, this is a very minor concern, it will perform fine.  You could play with fan curves and ramp the front ones higher to make up for it, but really not worth it in my opinion.

 

The other option is really dropping the front top fan and running 4 with the same configuration otherwise.

assuming all intakes and exhaust are crated equally manning same mesh, grill, filter. and intake on the front will be different then say an intake on the back.

[thrasher_565]

2 hours ago, Ralphred said:

What I'd like to see is a "2 pci case slot" filtered intake fan so you can offset this "potentially bringing in more dust from cracks in the case" and OP could use 2 traditional intake and 3 traditional exhaust fans, whilst keeping a balanced or positive pressure system.

Maybe I should invent one; who here has cash to waste on prototype R&D before we sell it to Noctua or BeQuiet?

pci slot fan is a thing... for case that dont have bottom intake and not enough air from front fans it make a huge improvement. althow compared to a gpu fan swap i dont no probly about the same but some people wont want to do that. more air more better... demishing returns of cores

 

i want to see a test were the side of the gpu is blocked so the gpu exhaust can only do a 90degree up and not down and block off the mb side.  just maybe can improve things on the cheap...

Edited June 4, 2022 by thrasher_565

[pgLANG]

3 hours ago, Ralfi said:

So with 5 fans, (hopefully all identical models), I’d have 3 intakes at the front, 1 rear exhaust & 1 top-rear exhaust.

The only issue with that for this case is that to make this cheaper from the P400a, Phanteks only supports 2 front fans (120mm or 140mm).

[Ralfi]

16 minutes ago, pgLANG said:

The only issue with that for this case is that to make this cheaper from the P400a, Phanteks only supports 2 front fans (120mm or 140mm).

Sorry, I missed that. 

 

Ok in that case, i'd try 2 intakes on front, 1 rear exhaust, 1 top-rear exhaust & then use the 5th fan as either;

 

1 top-front intake

(I tested this & it only made a significant difference to my PCH temp. This is in Winter. It may be more useful in Summer, but I won't know that until 6 months time )...

or

a 2nd CPU fan

(I only say this to make use of that last fan. 2 CPU fans didn't improve things for me, they actually made things worse, but the fans I used were different, so you may have better luck with identical fans. May be worth a try).