Aio fan replacement

[Attis]

I have a 360 artic freezer ii and the current stock fans with the aio is too big to where it won't fit because there is not enough headroom for the ram. What are some good fans I can replace the aio fans with?

[_Omega_]

11 minutes ago, Attis said:

I have a 360 artic freezer ii and the current stock fans with the aio is too big to where it won't fit because there is not enough headroom for the ram. What are some good fans I can replace the aio fans with?

That's quite a problem, because the slimmer fans don't really have the same static pressure so you going to loose some cooling performance. However any fan is better than no fan... The best option would be the Noctua NF-A12x15, a cheap option would be the artic p12 slim but it has significantly less performance...

 

[Dukesilver27-]

Oof, I'd like to say that you messed up, but that's somewhat mean.

If your CPU runs hot, like 150W+ power draw, replacing the fans with low profile fans might cause some cooling issue.

Have you tried placing the AIO on the front panel or side panel if you have that kind of case? It does not have to be at the top, also this is why posting full spec is necessary.

[Attis]

29 minutes ago, _Omega_ said:

That's quite a problem, because the slimmer fans don't really have the same static pressure so you going to loose some cooling performance. However any fan is better than no fan... The best option would be the Noctua NF-A12x15, a cheap option would be the artic p12 slim but it has significantly less performance...

 

 

5 minutes ago, Dukesilver27- said:

Oof, I'd like to say that you messed up, but that's somewhat mean.

If your CPU runs hot, like 150W+ power draw, replacing the fans with low profile fans might cause some cooling issue.

Have you tried placing the AIO on the front panel or side panel if you have that kind of case? It does not have to be at the top, also this is why posting full spec is necessary.

im currently running the two fans that came with the aio and left the middle empty lol. Is it fine if i just keep the 2 fans that came with the aio and add a smaller one for the third?

[TylerD321]

4 minutes ago, Attis said:

 

im currently running the two fans that came with the aio and left the middle empty lol. Is it fine if i just keep the 2 fans that came with the aio and add a smaller one for the third?

I mean it’s better than running just two fans. I’d imagine that if your case supports it top mounted then it would likely support front mounted aio. Don’t know why you wouldn’t just do that.

[Dukesilver27-]

Well, it would be better than nothing, but it would look weird. And the fan speed control can't be exactly the same, after all 1 of the fans is different.

[TylerD321]

2 minutes ago, Dukesilver27- said:

Well, it would be better than nothing, but it would look weird. And the fan speed control can't be exactly the same, after all 1 of the fans is different.

What if they just went crazy and mounted the three fans on the outside of the case? Assuming it is exhaust it would be similar static pressure just have more of a dust issue.

[Dukesilver27-]

3 minutes ago, TylerD321 said:

What if they just went crazy and mounted the three fans on the outside of the case? Assuming it is exhaust it would be similar static pressure just have more of a dust issue.

Even perforated panels would obstruct air movement, even slightly, so performance would not be as good, maybe some minor difference, but difference none the less.

[Alex Atkin UK]

4 minutes ago, Dukesilver27- said:

Even perforated panels would obstruct air movement, even slightly, so performance would not be as good, maybe some minor difference, but difference none the less.

Surely that's not much different to the restrictions the perforation has on the air getting out also?  Its basically restricting on either the incoming side of the fan or the outgoing side of the radiator, so a restriction either way.

Also why its a good idea to remove any filters off side panels that are exhausting as they add even more restriction to the airflow.

[Dukesilver27-]

23 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Its basically restricting on either the incoming side of the fan or the outgoing side of the radiator, so a restriction either way.

My thinking was the fans and the radiator are separated by the perforated case panel, because you can't put the rad outside of the case but you could put the fans outside. So it will be a sandwich. which means some amount of air would hit the perforated panel and create minor turbulence.

The air the fans pushed would directly hit the case panel which causes turbulence, whereas when air gets pulled, it will pull from all directions which does not create turbulence.

 

[TylerD321]

1 minute ago, Dukesilver27- said:

My thinking was the fans and the radiator are separated by the perforated case panel, because you can't put the rad outside of the case but you could put the fans outside. So it will be a sandwich. which means some amount of air would hit the perforated panel and create minor turbulence.

The air the fans pushed would directly hit the case panel which causes turbulence, whereas when air gets pulled, it will pull from all directions which does not create turbulence.

 

I think that this might be a concept worth exploring with one of those smoke airflow videos that people do for cases. Could even measure cfm of airflow potentially.

[Alex Atkin UK]

1 hour ago, TylerD321 said:

I think that this might be a concept worth exploring with one of those smoke airflow videos that people do for cases. Could even measure cfm of airflow potentially.

Agreed, I mean there has to be turbulence either way, the air is still hitting that panel its just how does push vs pull impact that?

I mean from the inside the air would deflect off the side panel vs from the outside it would just put more pressure on the fans, not sure if either way makes a difference to cooling, its still a restriction to airflow either way.

 

I've just reversed the fans on my AIO as the air it was pulling out of the case was heating the radiator too much from the GPU, so now pulling into the case which dropped CPU temp by 10C and seemed to have no real difference on GPU temp.  Likely as my case has lots of places air can leak out so its now a positive pressure system.  I did add a 120mm exhaust, didn't think that would be enough but it does seem to have made a big difference.  Its all trial and error.