Fan Strategy for first time build

[JonDoh]

I am hoping to get some feedback on what I am thinking in terms of my cooling strategy for a new build. I am also trying to double check if I will need any additional power adapters or extensions, so I can make sure to order all the parts that I will need. It would be very valuable to me if anyone wants to walk me through specifically how you would expect to  power the fans, either through the motherboard or directly off the power supply. I am interested in what connections, extensions, or adapters you would need to do that which I will need to order. I am new to building PCs so this is as much about learning how to do it as it is about getting better performance. I understand that some of what I am doing may be over-thinking a fairly basic build but I want to learn what I can at the same time as I try to make things a little bit better. 

 

I value silence highly, though I understand that I will need to put up with more noise than I would wish. I also value performance. I do plan to learn to overclock with this machine so that may factor in as well. I do not care at all about RGB lighting and would prefer not to deal with it. A matching color scheme to the components is also irrelevant to me.

 

The new build I am working on is here:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qRHgVY

 

I already have the Case, Power Supply, Optical Drive, and Keyboard. I have already placed an order for the GPU, RAM, and Motherboard. I am in the process of building my final orders with retailers trying to make sure I get the number of fans and any additional wires I need correct to save on headaches and shipping.

 

I am new to shopping for parts, so am not very familiar with brands or the level of quality they represent. A lot of the reviewers I have been watching seem to favor Noctua for performance, but I am open to other brands as well.

 

I have been watching some videos to become familiar with concepts like positive pressure, and static pressure vs airflow. I am going to shoot for positive pressure in my system. The case I picked out has 2x 120mm fans that came with it; one is on the front as an intake, the other at the rear as exhaust. I was planning to leave them in place. The front panel has filtering on it, so I was going to add another 120mm fan with good static pressure on the front even though it will be somewhat obstructed by the drive shelves behind it. So that would be 2x 120mm fans on the front for intake. Then the open side panel has ventilation and places to install fans so I was going to install 2 more fans (140mm) there as intake with a filter in front of them. I was thinking going for static pressure fans for those as well. Then the top of the case has a lot of ventilation cut into it with room for more fans. I was thinking of just using one 140mm high-airflow fan on top at the rear without a filter for exhaust. So I would end up getting 3x 140mm and 1x 120mm fans, plus the 2x 120mm fans the case came with. I would be pulling air in from the side and from the front, and pushing out the back and top. There is more ventilation on the top, back, and bottom where I hope the positive pressure will be pushing air out.

 

The fans from the GPU seem a little odd to work around without creating a bunch of turbulence but it seems to me like the GPU fans won't conflict with the setup and will help push some air out the bottom of the case. The PSU is on the bottom but seems isolated by the walls of the PSU, except for what may come back in through the bottom of the case; but I think the positive pressure with some help from the GPU fans should take care of that.

 

The ventilation in the side panel starts near the top. It looks like it would set the intake fans next to the CPU cooler. I am not 100% sure the top one would fit with the CPU cooler installed. Another thing I may consider is trying to rotate the CPU cooler to push air up instead of towards the back of the case, if the mounting system will allow for that.

 

With all of these fans (I realize it may be a bit overkill) I will expect to have the 2x 3pin connectors from the fans that came with the case, plus another 4x 4pin connectors from the additional fans to plug in. I am having trouble telling exactly how many fan connectors there are on the Asus motherboard. I also don't know if I will need anything extra to plug some of the fans into the PSU. There is a "Peripheral" cable that came with the PSU which has 4pin connections that seems promising, but that seems like it would be female to female connections, unless the needed parts are included with the fans. Obviously I don't know what that cable is really supposed to be used with.

 

Any help or insight is appreciated. I will continue doing research into the fans and trying to figure out the pins, cables, and connections.

 

-JD

 

[Thermosman]

8 minutes ago, JonDoh said:

I am hoping to get some feedback on what I am thinking in terms of my cooling strategy for a new build. I am also trying to double check if I will need any additional power adapters or extensions, so I can make sure to order all the parts that I will need. It would be very valuable to me if anyone wants to walk me through specifically how you would expect to  power the fans, either through the motherboard or directly off the power supply. I am interested in what connections, extensions, or adapters you would need to do that which I will need to order. I am new to building PCs so this is as much about learning how to do it as it is about getting better performance. I understand that some of what I am doing may be over-thinking a fairly basic build but I want to learn what I can at the same time as I try to make things a little bit better. 

 

I value silence highly, though I understand that I will need to put up with more noise than I would wish. I also value performance. I do plan to learn to overclock with this machine so that may factor in as well. I do not care at all about RGB lighting and would prefer not to deal with it. A matching color scheme to the components is also irrelevant to me.

 

The new build I am working on is here:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qRHgVY

 

I already have the Case, Power Supply, Optical Drive, and Keyboard. I have already placed an order for the GPU, RAM, and Motherboard. I am in the process of building my final orders with retailers trying to make sure I get the number of fans and any additional wires I need correct to save on headaches and shipping.

 

I am new to shopping for parts, so am not very familiar with brands or the level of quality they represent. A lot of the reviewers I have been watching seem to favor Noctua for performance, but I am open to other brands as well.

 

I have been watching some videos to become familiar with concepts like positive pressure, and static pressure vs airflow. I am going to shoot for positive pressure in my system. The case I picked out has 2x 120mm fans that came with it; one is on the front as an intake, the other at the rear as exhaust. I was planning to leave them in place. The front panel has filtering on it, so I was going to add another 120mm fan with good static pressure on the front even though it will be somewhat obstructed by the drive shelves behind it. So that would be 2x 120mm fans on the front for intake. Then the open side panel has ventilation and places to install fans so I was going to install 2 more fans (140mm) there as intake with a filter in front of them. I was thinking going for static pressure fans for those as well. Then the top of the case has a lot of ventilation cut into it with room for more fans. I was thinking of just using one 140mm high-airflow fan on top at the rear without a filter for exhaust. So I would end up getting 3x 140mm and 1x 120mm fans, plus the 2x 120mm fans the case came with. I would be pulling air in from the side and from the front, and pushing out the back and top. There is more ventilation on the top, back, and bottom where I hope the positive pressure will be pushing air out.

 

The fans from the GPU seem a little odd to work around without creating a bunch of turbulence but it seems to me like the GPU fans won't conflict with the setup and will help push some air out the bottom of the case. The PSU is on the bottom but seems isolated by the walls of the PSU, except for what may come back in through the bottom of the case; but I think the positive pressure with some help from the GPU fans should take care of that.

 

The ventilation in the side panel starts near the top. It looks like it would set the intake fans next to the CPU cooler. I am not 100% sure the top one would fit with the CPU cooler installed. Another thing I may consider is trying to rotate the CPU cooler to push air up instead of towards the back of the case, if the mounting system will allow for that.

 

With all of these fans (I realize it may be a bit overkill) I will expect to have the 2x 3pin connectors from the fans that came with the case, plus another 4x 4pin connectors from the additional fans to plug in. I am having trouble telling exactly how many fan connectors there are on the Asus motherboard. I also don't know if I will need anything extra to plug some of the fans into the PSU. There is a "Peripheral" cable that came with the PSU which has 4pin connections that seems promising, but that seems like it would be female to female connections, unless the needed parts are included with the fans. Obviously I don't know what that cable is really supposed to be used with.

 

Any help or insight is appreciated. I will continue doing research into the fans and trying to figure out the pins, cables, and connections.

 

-JD

 

Airflow is no issue, you literally have to try to do it wrong to mess it up  

[aisle9]

2 intakes in front, one exhaust in back. That's all you need for the setup you have.

[LogicalDrm]

Is there any real reason why you want to get all the fans? Case doesn't have window or anything like that so you are only looking at cooling things. I have no ideas if that GPU is hot one or not, which would dictate if you need more fans or not. 2 is plenty for start. I would advice that you build with those and see how temps are. You can always add/change fans later. Personally I've have 2-1 setups for past 4 years now. Previously 1x200mm in, 2x140mm out (negative setup) and now 2x140mm in, 1x140mm out (positive setup). No issues with temps at any point. Not even with this blower GPU (peaks at 81C at current fan curve).

 

If you go for all the fans. Mobo has 6 headers, of which 1 will be for CPU fan. Rest you can use however you like. I'm not familiar with Asus controlling methods, so I don't know if all headers have individual controls or if they are grouped (single controller chip for 2-3 headers). You can use both 3pin and PWM fans with all headers and select correct control style in BIOS. If you are using more fans than headers, splitters are the thing to get. You can power safely 3 fans from each header. If you would like to power more than 3, you need powered hub/splitter (uses external power cable). Note that splitter only has control over single fan and other(s) follow that fans curve/settings.

[JonDoh]

Thanks all for the replies. I won't get all the fans I was thinking of. But I guess it won't hurt to get an extra fan or two and play around with it.