Good airflow choice or a bad one?

[That Random Spork]

So i plan on getting a FD Define R5 and it comes with 2 140mm fans so i plan to put those as top exhaust and 2 140 fans (Be Quiet silent wings 2) in the front. Is this a better choice then a rear fan as heat rises or does it not give a line of airflow through the case?

[GreenToxon]

You won't have any issues with that, there isn't too much of a difference when it comes to case airflow. Slick did a video where he jammed all sorts of stuff in a case and it didn't affect the airflow whatsoever. 

 

EDIT: This is the video

[Skiiwee29]

If you are using a tower style air cooler, this will be just fine. I have the Enthoo Evolv ATX and I have 2 front intake, 1 120mm intake at top feeding fresh directly into the intake fan of my R1 Ultimate and 1 140mm exhaust in the rear. 

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

I just happen to have 2 R5s, one of which runs the Fractal fans in the front and one that runs the SilentWings2 fans.

 

- -

Note to self, check the NAS' fan controller, there's no way that a 1200RPM fan is spinning at 4700 RPM with the dial set to 1/3

 

If you plan to put the SilentWings2 in the front, you'd better be prepared to drill out the original mounting holes.  Here's why :

 

The R5 comes with 8 long small-diameter screws to mount the fans, so you can screw them in from the front.  (the screw on the left of the pic below)

 

 

Detail of the screwed-in Fractal fans :

 

This photo of the inside shows the small threaded holes that the screws go into.  This is only for 140mm fans, the 120mm ones would go into the large slider cutouts and be screwed in from the inside with regular fan screws. 

 

 

 

In the middle of the pic with the screws is one of the plastic mounts that come with the SilentWings2 fans.  Those need a large screw, so they won't fit at all unless you really go to town with a 4.5mm drill.  You could use the long cutouts instead of the small holes to mount the fans, but then you can only mount a single 140mm. 

Those plastic mounts are junk anyway, they crack real easy at the slightest hint of tension.  Luckily each fan comes with 4 plastic and 4 rubber mounts.  Owning 14 of those fans with most mounted on rubber, I had enough spares to not get into trouble when I eventually had to mount 2 of them with plastic mounts.  Still, I'd suggest avoiding those mounts whenever possible.  They are among the worst I've ever encountered. 

 

 

 

On the right of that one pic are the rubber mounts and the pin that goes with them.

The tip of the pin is slightly too large for the threaded holes in the case, even with lots of force you won't push it through those holes.  You can drill the holes just a little so that some of the thread is still there, and then you can push the pins through.  Best to do that from the inside of the chassis, seeing as the fans are mounted on the outside.

This is the method that I used to mount the front fans on my NAS. 

 

Detail of the rubber mounts (not going to apologize for dust and dirt, it's a NAS so it's in a faraway corner and gets little maintenance)

The white discoloration on the rubber mounts is normal apparently.  All of mine turned that color once I installed and used them. 

No idea what causes it and to my knowledge nothing can be done against it.

 

 

My first thought was to use the rubber mounts and put the long screw through them.  However the screw's diameter is too large, causing the thread to grip into the rubber and potentially damage/tear it.  which is why I eventually decided to drill out the chassis' holes just enough to force the plastic pin through.

[That Random Spork]

8 minutes ago, Captain Chaos said:

I just happen to have 2 R5s, one of which runs the Fractal fans in the front and one that runs the SilentWings2 fans.

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

- -

Note to self, check the NAS' fan controller, there's no way that a 1200RPM fan is spinning at 4700 RPM with the dial set to 1/3

 

 

If you plan to put the SilentWings2 in the front, you'd better be prepared to drill out the original mounting holes.  Here's why :

 

The R5 comes with 8 long small-diameter screws to mount the fans, so you can screw them in from the front.  (the screw on the left of the pic below)

 

 

Detail of the screwed-in Fractal fans :

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

This photo of the inside shows the small threaded holes that the screws go into.  This is only for 140mm fans, the 120mm ones would go into the large slider cutouts and be screwed in from the inside with regular fan screws. 

 

 

 

In the middle of the pic with the screws is one of the plastic mounts that come with the SilentWings2 fans.  Those need a large screw, so they won't fit at all unless you really go to town with a 4.5mm drill.  You could use the long cutouts instead of the small holes to mount the fans, but then you can only mount a single 140mm. 

Those plastic mounts are junk anyway, they crack real easy at the slightest hint of tension.  Luckily each fan comes with 4 plastic and 4 rubber mounts.  Owning 14 of those fans with most mounted on rubber, I had enough spares to not get into trouble when I eventually had to mount 2 of them with plastic mounts.  Still, I'd suggest avoiding those mounts whenever possible.  They are among the worst I've ever encountered. 

 

 

 

On the right of that one pic are the rubber mounts and the pin that goes with them.

The tip of the pin is slightly too large for the threaded holes in the case, even with lots of force you won't push it through those holes.  You can drill the holes just a little so that some of the thread is still there, and then you can push the pins through.  Best to do that from the inside of the chassis, seeing as the fans are mounted on the outside.

This is the method that I used to mount the front fans on my NAS. 

 

Detail of the rubber mounts (not going to apologize for dust and dirt, it's a NAS so it's in a faraway corner and gets little maintenance)

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The white discoloration on the rubber mounts is normal apparently.  All of mine turned that color once I installed and used them. 

No idea what causes it and to my knowledge nothing can be done against it.

 

 

My first thought was to use the rubber mounts and put the long screw through them.  However the screw's diameter is too large, causing the thread to grip into the rubber and potentially damage/tear it.  which is why I eventually decided to drill out the chassis' holes just enough to force the plastic pin through.

wow i should just go with the FD define c case for convenience 

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

No experience with the C.  I do absolutely love the R5 though.  As long as you use normal fans with it, you should do fine. 

The 140mm Fractal GP14 fans that are included really aren't noticeably worse than the SilentWings2, but they are more optimized for static pressure which comes in handy if you need to draw air through a filter and/or push it through the HDD cages. 

 

My recommendation : put the default rear fan in the front so you have 2x 140mm there and get 2 more of the Fractal fans for your top-mounted radiator. 

[LogicalDrm]

What cooler are you using? Top exhausts aren't best idea unless your cooler is blowing towards them.

[That Random Spork]

6 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

What cooler are you using? Top exhausts aren't best idea unless your cooler is blowing towards them.

im using the 

ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2

[LogicalDrm]

3 minutes ago, That Random Spork said:

im using the ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2

Seems like you can use it pushing air towards top. The performance diference is minimal, maybe bit better like that since you can have 2 direct exhaust instead of one at rear.

 

PS. When you paste stuff, select to remove formatting. Makes things much nicer.

[That Random Spork]

 

1 minute ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Seems like you can use it pushing air towards top. The performance diference is minimal, maybe bit better like that since you can have 2 direct exhaust instead of one at rear.

 

PS. When you paste stuff, select to remove formatting. Makes things much nicer.

It will probally be fine as airflow doesnt matter too much as long as you have a reasonable placement of fans

[LogicalDrm]

21 minutes ago, That Random Spork said:

 

It will probally be fine as airflow doesnt matter too much as long as you have a reasonable placement of fans

I know I had U14S blowing towards 2x140mm top exhaust in previous case and now I have it blowing towards single rear 140mm fan. No really noticable difference in temps. The difference when I tested it in previous case was 3C for horizontal style.

[airdeano]

if using a HSF that is close to the top, will damage the airflow going to the HSF (since there is no direct fan for the HSF as an intake) with the proposed 2x140 fans in the roof. dual 140 intake and a single 120 exhaust would be the most beneficial.

[WoodenMarker]

13 hours ago, That Random Spork said:

wow i should just go with the FD define c case for convenience 

Sure, it's a better case imo.