Noctis 450 Fan Setup

[Arvizal]

I've been running a rig inside my Noctis 450 for about a week now. Initially I thought having 3 intakes (120mm) and 1 exhaust (140mm) fan would be fine, which it apparently is, according to the people I talked to. Now, so far, most games have my GPU, the Asus R9 390, running at sub 75 degrees temps, which is fine, but there are a few games that make it run HOT, like 85 to 90 degrees hot. Some next gen games like TW3 do this, but most, even next gen, don't. Should I be getting another exhaust / intake fan for my case, and if so, which, exhaust or intake? Keep in mind I only have the top 2 140/120mm fan slots available.

 

Thanks!

[xTrekStorex]

you should use all fanslots and control their speed with a controller, either hardware- or software-based.

in general more intake than exhause but not too much, you want somewhat the 60:40 scenario.

 

how fast are your fans running? do you have GPU-overdrive enabled? because then the R9 will OC itself when needed until it reaches it's max temp which by default is 90°C.

[Arvizal]

you should use all fanslots and control their speed with a controller, either hardware- or software-based.

in general more intake than exhause but not too much, you want somewhat the 60:40 scenario.

 

how fast are your fans running? do you have GPU-overdrive enabled? because then the R9 will OC itself when needed until it reaches it's max temp which by default is 90°C.

I just went in and disabled GPU-overdrive, I didn't know this was a feature, silly me. Also, with the 60:40 scenario, would it make sense for the top of the case to have an intake and exhaust? Here's the fan percentages according to afterburner: I'm not controlling the fan speed manually as far as I know, so yeah.

[xTrekStorex]

I just went in and disabled GPU-overdrive, I didn't know this was a feature, silly me. Also, with the 60:40 scenario, would it make sense for the top of the case to have an intake and exhaust? Here's the fan percentages according to afterburner: I'm not controlling the fan speed manually as far as I know, so yeah.

well with fan speed I meant the case fans. the fan curve of your GPU looks fine - 60-75°C should be the resulting load temp from that.

 

having intake and exhaust beside each other is a waste of space, power and creates noise because the air will just circle through it - in and out and in and out.

the best airflow is by taking fresh air in at the bottom and front and exhausting hot air the back and top. that way you make use of the natural flow of air which results in better cooling, less noise and, if done with slight positive pressure in the case, less dust.

[Arvizal]

well with fan speed I meant the case fans. the fan curve of your GPU looks fine - 60-75°C should be the resulting load temp from that.

 

having intake and exhaust beside each other is a waste of space, power and creates noise because the air will just circle through it - in and out and in and out.

the best airflow is by taking fresh air in at the bottom and front and exhaustung hot air the back and top. that way you make use of the natural flow of air which results in better cooling, less noise and, if done with slight positive pressure in the case, less dust.

Derp, that's my fault, I'll get back to you on the case fan speed when I get back home, hopefully soon. (Sorry)

 

That's what I thought, about having the exhaust and intake next to eachother. The thing with the Noctis 450 is that the back of the case only has one fan slot, and the side has none. This means the only free space I have are the two fan slots at the top. I made a quick "diagram" that hopefully makes sense. The black boxes are fans/fan slots, and the blue lines is the airflow. 

[xTrekStorex]

Derp, that's my fault, I'll get back to you on the case fan speed when I get back home, hopefully soon. (Sorry)

 

That's what I thought, about having the exhaust and intake next to eachother. The thing with the Noctis 450 is that the back of the case only has one fan slot, and the side has none. This means the only free space I have are the two fan slots at the top. I made a quick "diagram" that hopefully makes sense. The black boxes are fans/fan slots, and the blue lines is the airflow. 

I'd say either 2 140mm front intake, 2 140mm top exhaust and 120mm rear intake just for pressure and maybe VRMs

or 3 120mm front intake, 3 120mm top exhaust and again the 120mm rear intake for pressure and VRMs.

you could also leave the rear slot empty to have 50:50 intake/exhaust and just have that slot open to passively exhaust and intake air that is moved within the case etc

the CPU cooler will make the difference for airflow inside the case then.

 

It's kinda a thing of NZXT to do this asymetrical amount of fanslots and sizes..

[Arvizal]

I'd say either 2 140mm front intake, 2 140mm top exhaust and 120mm rear intake just for pressure and maybe VRMs

or 3 120mm front intake, 3 120mm top exhaust and again the 120mm rear intake for pressure and VRMs.

you could also leave the rear slot empty to have 50:50 intake/exhaust and just have that slot open to passively exhaust and intake air that is moved within the case etc

the CPU cooler will make the difference for airflow inside the case then.

 

It's kinda a thing of NZXT to do this asymetrical amount of fanslots and sizes..

Hmm, well with the diagram I made, the CPU cooler I have is actually in front of the exhaust, meaning that the hot air is pushed right into the exhaust and out of the case. If that same exhaust turns into an intake, I'm assuming they would cancel eachother out. Adapting from your idea, would it be okay if I had 3 front intakes, 2 top exhausts and the rear being empty, so the CPU cooler could push air out freely?

[xTrekStorex]

Hmm, well with the diagram I made, the CPU cooler I have is actually in front of the exhaust, meaning that the hot air is pushed right into the exhaust and out of the case. If that same exhaust turns into an intake, I'm assuming they would cancel eachother out. Adapting from your idea, would it be okay if I had 3 front intakes, 2 top exhausts and the rear being empty, so the CPU cooler could push air out freely?

3 front and 2 top sound to me like different fan sizes (120 and 140mm). the airflow from the CPU cooler doesnt necessarily reach the fanslot to act as a active exhaust. I'd rather have front and top balanced (same amount and same size of fans) and leave the rear slot empty.