Case Fans - How many do you need?

[Stefan1024]

To be fair he does live in Switzerland. I'm not sure how effective that would be in the Australian summer.

With all components stress to 100% of their rated TDP it works up to ~30-35℃ ambient temperature.

So yes, in australia you shoudn't use it for foling 24/7 during summer time.

It is designed for my area, not for your

But cooling can be expanded with more heat sinks.

[TheProfosist]

you may want to take a peek at his sig

Can't really see those when using tapatalk...

[DXMember]

so you didn't report the case temperature or room temperature?

[Stefan1024]

Can't really see those when using tapatalk...

Here you are:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/351134-finished-the-silent-cube-pushing-passive-cooling-to-the-limit

[TheProfosist]

Here you are:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/351134-finished-the-silent-cube-pushing-passive-cooling-to-the-limit

That's pretty cool actually

[fishy]

didn't even watch it since i saw at the beginning that it wont be relevant for me

imo 24% and 27% at straw poll should indicate that you should do it with AIO cooler also

[The Knome]

HOLY CRAP!
Am I the only one who notices Nick has a halo?
HAIL St Nick!!!!

Holy CRAP!

HE'S SANTA!!!!

mind > blown.

[BlackMarch]

Awesome test but you really should've turned the PSU around to see how much of an effect having both an exhaust fan at the top of the case as well as the bottom of the case would have.

 

Since a single case in the front gives more of an effect on the GPU then a single one in the back, and top fans don't give much effect on GPU. That might mean that you can get significantly better GPU temperatures by using PSU as an exhaust fan because it balances the airflow between top and bottom. Especially on a cooler that doesn't use it's own exhaust. As it would mean that the air would be less stale at the bottom of the case.

[Constantine]

Who started that style of case, Nanoxia or Fractal? Their products look identical.

 

Their cases both come from the same factory.

[TheProfosist]

Who started that style of case, Nanoxia or Fractal? Their products look identical.

umm theyre in the same category but by no means identical. Nanoxia would be close to like a R3 or older and they tweaked it from there. I would say Antec probably started the sleek silent cases.

didn't even watch it since i saw at the beginning that it wont be relevant for me

imo 24% and 27% at straw poll should indicate that you should do it with AIO cooler also

Yep a stupid amount of H100i's have been sold.

Awesome test but you really should've turned the PSU around to see how much of an effect having both an exhaust fan at the top of the case as well as the bottom of the case would have.

 

Since a single case in the front gives more of an effect on the GPU then a single one in the back, and top fans don't give much effect on GPU. That might mean that you can get significantly better GPU temperatures by using PSU as an exhaust fan because it balances the airflow between top and bottom. Especially on a cooler that doesn't use it's own exhaust. As it would mean that the air would be less stale at the bottom of the case.

PSU draws air towards it so it would draw air away from the gpu when in the bottom I dont know if this would be beneficial. This also means the PSU would likely run hotter.

Their cases both come from the same factory.

A lot of cases come from the same OEM's...

[jimithebear]

I was hoping for a more difinitive guide but I understand the severe time constrants.

 

I referred to this guide when deciding on my fan setup last year;

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/02/10/the-big-cooling-investigation/

 

The guide's a bit old and uses a Fractal Design Define R3. Everything was tested though including fans on the side, bottom, top (exhaust) etc. Temperatures on the motherboard chipset were also monitored.

[Samfisher]

Came here expecting someone to post this, nobody did.  Disappointed!

 

[JebKerman]

Came here expecting someone to post this, nobody did.  Disappointed!

well that's AIO fans

[Samfisher]

well that's AIO fans

Those are Corsair SP120's

[JebKerman]

Those are Corsair SP120's

on an AIO

[gonvres]

Their cases both come from the same factory.

 

Who is the OEM for their cases?

[mao91]

Amazon: http://geni.us/iM9

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1P79oNI

 

When you're planning out your next build, how should you determine the number of case fans you will need, and what should their orientation be?

 

 

 

I am super, super grateful for this video. It seemed fairly commonsense to me that at least having an intake and an exhaust would dramatically improve temperatures. This helps to solidify what I believed, and also helps to clarify to me whether more than 2-3 fans is actually worthwhile. 

I run a Fractal Design Define R5 (no window), which many of us know comes with one 140mm GP-14 fan in the front, and another in the back. While people normally tend to ditch the stock fans, I knew that going aftermarket wouldn't provide enough performance increase to justify the cost; I ended up purchasing a third stock GP-14 to have two fans in the front of the case. For $15, it was cheaper than spending $60+ on three NF-A14s, and thus offered a much greater performance-per-dollar option for my build. The fans perform perfectly well and are just as quiet as their Noctua counterparts. 

It would have been nice to see a bottom or side intake configuration factored into this experiment, but I do understand time constraints.

I also understand that airflow direction the case is important for temperature regulation. I think adding a bottom intake to the editing machine (a Define R4 case) at my workplace has actually hurt airflow; prior to installing it, I could feel warm air being blow out of the rear exhaust. Now I mostly feel cool air being expelled. This means that either a bottom intake fan has so dramatically cooled things down within the case that there is no longer warm air (which is physically impossible) or that it is somehow trapping the warm air within the case. I may move it to the side to see if it can better help GPU temps without interfering with front-back airflow in the case.

[pk-man]

lol looks like the editor ran out of time too just like Luke did at the 12:25 mark haha

 

I wish this test also go more depth and consider things like acoustics. Obviously, the more fans you add, the louder it'll get. A comparison between stock fans and premium fans like noctua would've been nice too.

[SomeGreekGuy]

-snip-

I want to see you guys tackle a different delema:

3x 120mm fans or 2x 140mm fans

[TheProfosist]

I want to see you guys tackle a different delema:

3x 120mm fans or 2x 140mm fans

Are we talking radiators?

360mm rad = 43200 sq mm

280mm rad = 39200 sq mm

360 has more cooling potential. Also likely quieter since more fans thus can run at slower speeds.

[SomeGreekGuy]

Are we talking radiators?

360mm rad = 43200 sq mm

280mm rad = 39200 sq mm

360 has more cooling potential. Also likely quieter since more fans thus can run at slower speeds.

No (well, I'm planning on upgrading to either a 240 or 280 in the future, when I have some spare money again), what I mean is just fans.

Like, should I install 2x 140mm fans, or should I go with 3x 120mm fans

[TheProfosist]

No (well, I'm planning on upgrading to either a 240 or 280 in the future, when I have some spare money again), what I mean is just fans.

Like, should I install 2x 140mm fans, or should I go with 3x 120mm fans

What is the layout of the fans in the rest of the case?

[SRT10]

I don't skimp on air movement.  I've utilized everything from 220cfm Delta's, Panaflo's (during my silly OC'ing days prior water cooling) to Noctua, SilenX, few others from endpcnoise.com.  Most are now Noctua's and I'm even moving my HT cabinet cooling from CabCool 2 120mm intakes and 2 120mm exhausts to Noctua's as well  I'll gladly pay for quiet performance.

[SomeGreekGuy]

What is the layout of the fans in the rest of the case?

Back:120 or 140

Front: 3x 120 or 2x 140

Top: 3x 120 or 2x 140

What I would consider pretty standard for cases these days

[Bhav]

I have 3 intake fans, 3 exhaust fans, 3 fans on my CPU cooler, and 3 fans per GPU.