Bottom in-take instead of top exhaust; do or don't? FD Arc Midi R2

Freddy1765

Senior member
May 3, 2011
389
1
81
I've been using 3 Corsair AF-140s in my Arc Midi R2 for a while, all in the stock fan positions (front in-take, top/rear exhaust), but the front fan has always annoyed me a little. I'm not entirely sure if the fan has motor whirring, or if it's vibrating against the front panel of the case; could be a bit of both to be honest. In any case, I'd like to:

1) Replace the front in-take fan with something that doesn't cause the same problem (any suggestions on replacement would be appreciated).

2) Move the top exhaust to the bottom in-take slot, mainly to try the positive pressure thing, which of course isn't possible with current fan positions. I've heard about the honeycomb floor in the bottom of the case making the air whooshing through make whining noises; anyone with similar experiences?

I'll be plugging all fans into the built-in fan controller of the case!

My temps after a nice long session of BF4 are ~62-64 CPU and 57-60 GPU, in case that information is needed.
Thanks in advance for suggestions!
 

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
Your case leaks too much and the fans aren't high enough pressure to produce any meaningful "positive pressure".
Just use dust filters on intake fans and clean them periodically.

Use a dremel or jigsaw to cut out the honeycomb over the ports.
 
Last edited:

Freddy1765

Senior member
May 3, 2011
389
1
81
Thank you kindly. Do you have a suggestion on a 140mm non-pwm front in-take I can replace the AF-140 with? I dismounted the fan and realized it is indeed engine whirring that's annoying me. Clearly more of a problem on the front than the rear and top mounted ones. Noctua's seem the go-to fans, I've no problem investing in an NF-A14 ULN or FLX, provided it runs off of the fan controller @ 5v and doesn't make this noise.
 

Freddy1765

Senior member
May 3, 2011
389
1
81
Yes, when I'm not playing any games, the fans are running at 5v using the case's fan controller.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
Your case leaks too much and the fans aren't high enough pressure to produce any meaningful "positive pressure".

As long as intake airflow is greater than exhaust airflow, the case has positive pressure on average, but locally pressure can be negative as well. Depends on exactly how much the difference is between intake and exhaust airflow.
Use a dremel or jigsaw to cut out the honeycomb over the ports.

Kind of unnecessary, don't you think?

Yes, when I'm not playing any games, the fans are running at 5v using the case's fan controller.

With the stock fans, 5V actually leads to higher load noise levels with because it hurts cooling performance so much that the PWM controlled GPU and CPU fans will spin up more than they would on 7V. But perhaps your Corsair fans have a higher max RPM, making them move more air at 5V compared to stock

Are you sure the noise is not simply due to a faulty fan?
 
Last edited:

Freddy1765

Senior member
May 3, 2011
389
1
81
The fan appears intact, and it's not rattling or anything like that. It sounds exactly like I'd imagine engine whirring might sound, and the same noise seems to come from the other two Corsairs I've got installed.
The front fan probably bothers me a lot more since it's closer to where I sit.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
What motivated you to replace the original Fractal Design fans?
 

Freddy1765

Senior member
May 3, 2011
389
1
81
The stock Fractal fans bothered me more than these Corsairs. It was especially the top exhaust which vibrated like crazy when spinning. I hadn't bothered with replacing fans before then, so I was also a bit curious about differences between them.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
Interesting that it vibrated, I've never heard this complaint before. Didn't have that issue in my Define R4, although I never used one of the fans in horizontal orientation. Did you try running the stock fans in a configuration of two intakes in the front, one exhaust in the rear?

If that doesn't work out for you, I suppose you don't have much choice apart from buying those Noctua P14-FLX fans (I would say three are enough for any single GPU setup). They are guaranteed not to let you down in 6 years ;)
 

Freddy1765

Senior member
May 3, 2011
389
1
81
Cool, I'm really curious to experience Noctuas for myself since they're so popular. I'll start off with one A14 FLX to begin with, as well as a an F12-PWM for my heatsink (I heard only Noctuas lack that annoying PWM-clicking sound). Of course with the holidays they won't arrive for like a week.. :(