BitFenix Phenom Mini-ITX, better fan setup?

[essential]

I'm finalizing a build, going with a BitFenix Phenom Mini-ITX, Asus z97i-plus and a i7-4790K.

I'm not sure how I want to do the fan setup in the case.

Option 1:
Corsair Hydro Series H105 or H100i intaking from the top with one 230mm intake from the front and one 120mm exhaust rear.

similar to this:

Option 2:
Corsair Hydro Series H80i intaking from the front (I think I can mount the radiator to the front of the case which has dual 120mm intakes) so I'd have a single 120mm intake pulling in (I believe the radiator will overlap the holes for a second 120mm front intake fan), then 120mm rear exhaust, and one or two 120mm exhausting top. I'm likely taking out the HD cage all together because I'm looking to run a single m.2 SSD, no other drives inside the machine itself.

Is one significantly better than the other? I never liked the idea of the Hydro fans pulling in air from anywhere but the front but it's common that they are pulling in air from the rear or top, I like my idea with option 2 but it just seems like option 1 will move much more air in general, but I know that doesn't matter unless there is a good flow.

Thanks.

 

[dougp]

Front airflow of the Phenom is REALLY restricted, so I do not recommend using that. You could mount the H80i on top as well. What kind of video card are you going to have?

 

[Kenmitch]

Option 3:
Corsiar H105 or H100i mounted on the top with both fans as exhaust. 1 rear fan as exhaust. Front 230mm as intake.

Your system will most likely run cooler overall doing it the above way. CPU temp difference will most likely be negligible.

The Corsair will be sucking cooler air while it's helping to vent heat.
The 230mm will be providing both the Corsair and the motherboard with cool air.
The rear exhaust will help pull cooler air across your motherboard and exhaust heat.

You might have to play around with the fan speeds of the Corsair and rear exhaust unless the 230mm has a high cfm rating. Some positive pressure helps keep the dust out.

 

[essential]

Front airflow of the Phenom is REALLY restricted, so I do not recommend using that. You could mount the H80i on top as well. What kind of video card are you going to have?

Integrated graphics, I don't really game at all except minor puzzle type games, and I don't overclock.

Thanks for the suggestion Ken, that makes sense.

 

[dougp]

Why such a large case then? Just curious, this is serious overkill in terms of size.

 

[Kenmitch]

Why such a large case then? Just curious, this is serious overkill in terms of size.

If you look at it that way his whole build is overkill

Needs change so maybe he wants to keep his options open. It's much easier to just drop in a gpu at a later date....Case permitting of course.

 

[essential]

Why such a large case then? Just curious, this is serious overkill in terms of size.

I wanted an mITX case with very good airflow and enough room for cable management and a Hydro cooler without everything needing to be jammed in. I really liked the internal layout of the Phenom. I agree it's a bit large for a mITX case, but you can't have everything. If you have another suggestion I'd be happy to listen.

If you look at it that way his whole build is overkill

Needs change so maybe he wants to keep his options open. It's much easier to just drop in a gpu at a later date....Case permitting of course.

I haven't build a computer since the early 2000's ... I'm still rocking a Athlon 64 ... I know people say it's better to build smaller computers every couple years, but I seem to build one every 10 years, so ... why not. It's overkill except I do use handbrake quite a bit ... so I don't mind popping for a great CPU. I considered getting a i5 NUC, but I was worried encoding would still take hours compared to a quad i7.

 

[dougp]

If I was doing your build, this is what I suggest. If you haven't settled on a power supply, look at one of the Silver Stone Strider's that you can buy the short modular cables, it helps quite a bit for these small cases. If I was doing something with your build, this is what I'd do:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119299
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119286
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811163208

 

[essential]

If I was doing your build, this is what I suggest. If you haven't settled on a power supply, look at one of the Silver Stone Strider's that you can buy the short modular cables, it helps quite a bit for these small cases. If I was doing something with your build, this is what I'd do:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119299
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119286
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811163208

Yes, I am going with a ST45SF-G at the moment, although the new SX600-G intrigues me but I can't find it for sale anywhere. If I go with the ST45SF-G I'll also buy the PP05-E Flex cables.

I'll take a look at the other cases. I do like the Elite 110.

Thanks.