Questions about air flow and the fan hub in EVOLV ATX

[FourBitty]

Hello,

 

I'm wondering if there's a way to get better air flow/better GPU temperatures with my setup. The specs and configuration can be seen here:
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/b/2Td6Mp

 

I have:

2x 140mm Corsair Air Series in the front as intakes

1x 140mm Corsair Air Series in the rear as exhaust

2x 140mm Phanteks whatever-the-fans-are-that-come-with-the-EVOLV in a pull configuration above the rad, drawing air upward, I don't remember the model but they are SP fans and I preferred them over the NZXT ones that were included with this AIO

 

So there's two things I'd like to know: One, is there any other possible configuration with these two GPUs and the 280mm radiator that might offer positive airflow, and maybe some better GPU temperatures? Consider that noise is not an issue, and you could add/remove as many fans as you wanted.

 

Two, is there any way of controlling the intake and exhaust fans? They are connected to the fan hub included with the case, which is connected to the CPU_OPT header on my motherboard. The fans on the radiator are connected to the included plugs on the X61 and can therefore be adjusted via CAM software, and the X61 itself is connected to the CPU_FAN header as it's supposed to be.

 

As it stands, the GPUs will usually get as warm as the temperature target as set in Precision X OC allows, I usually leave it at 85 or 90. I also have a custom aggressive fan curve set for both GPUs as well as the AIO fans. But I have no way that I know of to control the fan speed of those connected to the hub. I've dabbled with Speedfan, but I don't think that it can find these fans appropriately as they are connected to the hub. Either that or I just haven't been able to configure it correctly.

 

I've also considered swapping out the 2x140mm intakes for 3x120mm, but I'm not sure if this will make a significant difference if at all. I have also considered relocating the AIO to the front - this would get me my positive air pressure but as it stands my CPU temps aren't a concern (65 degrees max under load, 4.6GHz @ 1.3V) and this may cause the GPU temperatures to rise ever so slightly, which is the opposite of what I'd like.

 

So if anyone can offer some insight to achieve positive airflow and more air flow at that with this case, either by changing fans or controlling the intake/exhaust fan speed, or both, please let me know. I would consider any new fans and configuration, feel free to ask if more information is needed.

[jello77]

 

 

The point? The law of diminishing returns.

 

You can add as many fans as you like in whatever configuration you please. If temperatures are a major concern for you then maybe you need to consider water cooling.

[FourBitty]

I've seen both of those, but I'd still like to know how to control fan speed through the hub included with the EVOLV ATX case. Temperatures are more of a concern with Pascal GPUs since they constantly regulate their voltage and core clock speed according to the temperature.

[jello77]

1 minute ago, FourBitty said:

I've seen both of those, but I'd still like to know how to control fan speed through the hub included with the EVOLV ATX case. Temperatures are more of a concern with Pascal GPUs since they constantly regulate their voltage and core clock speed according to the temperature.

 

Fair enough. I don't know if someone could tell you how to eaxctly control your fans though. Surely everyone's setup would be different?

I guess you need to go trial and error. Or if you want to go full hightech, get one of those smoke machine thingies so you can visually see the fan's performance. 

[FourBitty]

1 minute ago, jello77 said:

 

Fair enough. I don't know if someone could tell you how to eaxctly control your fans though. Surely everyone's setup would be different?

I guess you need to go trial and error. Or if you want to go full hightech, get one of those smoke machine thingies so you can visually see the fan's performance. 

It's a popular case, hopefully someone will have a solution. There's a good chance that the widely popular SpeedFan can, but it's not as simple as point-and-click and I probably just can't figure out how to use it properly (yes, I've seen JayzTwoCents video about it). I've used smoke to visualize air flow, the answer is 'negative air pressure' as it stands but I cannot see how fast the three Corsair fans are running at idle or under load.

[LogicalDrm]

If you can, leave one empty PCIe slot between the cards. They biggest issue is that fans (both are pushing air towards GPU) aren't getting enough air. Or rather top card isn't.

[FourBitty]

12 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

If you can, leave one empty PCIe slot between the cards. They biggest issue is that fans (both are pushing air towards GPU) aren't getting enough air. Or rather top card isn't.

There is a 1 slot gap between the GPUs, you can see this from the pictures in the PcPartPicker link. I bought a new motherboard for this reason.