Critique my fan setup? Fractal R4 with 2 intake, 2 exhaust

[tracerit]

I currently have an R4 with just 1 front intake, 1 rear exhaust (both stock Fractal R2 140mm fans). I'd like to get two more 140mm fans to help with cooling when I play Battlefield 4. With regular browsing i'll keep the R4 fan settings at 7V, then when gaming set them at 12V.

Since only three fans can be connected to the controller, I plan on getting another Fractal R2 140mm for the top rear exhaust. And then get a quiet 140mm (Noctua NF-A14 FLX) for the front intake connected using the 3pin with the 1050rpm connector.

My plan is to have a slight positive pressure when not gaming, and when i'm gaming it'll help exhaust favored pressure to pull out the hot air.

 

[pmv]

Afraid I don't know (am intending to get an R4 myself, but haven't got it yet).

But this might be of some interest

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/02/10/the-big-cooling-investigation/1

 

[denis280]

Get a good cooler for the cpu.and put one in the back to exit the heat.

 

[lehtv]

I own the R4 and I can tell you that in a typical single GPU setup, it doesn't require four fans to keep either the CPU or the GPU reasonably cool and quiet during 100% load gameplay.

My setup:
* i7-3770K @4.2GHz with a low speed fan on a Scythe Mugen 2 heatsink, it stays under 70°C in stress testing
* Sapphire 7950 Vapor-X overvolted (1.212V) and overclocked (1100MHz) using a custom lower speed fan profile, it never exceeds 75°C
* one rear fan and two front fans running at about 350-700 RPM depending on load (they are PWM fans)

I'd be interested in what your CPU & GPU setup is and whether they are overclocked.

The most straightforward way to upgrade your fan setup is to just add another 1000 RPM 140 mm fan. The integrated fan controller supports three fans. Then just leave them all at 7V and enjoy.

Opening up the rear top slot and installing a fan there would probably improve temperatures somewhat but usually there's no need. It would, however, have effect on noise levels; not only would another fan add to overall noise, but the open top would let out more noise. Keeping as many of the ModuVents as possible in place makes for a quiet setup.

 

[Deders]

How much space do you have on the front that isn't blocked by drive bays?

Personally I've got 3 intake fans, 2 on the front giving my CPU and GPU plenty of fresh filtered air, one on the side (again filtered) blowing cool air onto the gpu at half speed.

One out-take fan at the back drawing air out, overall I get positive preassure so very little dust gets in and neither my CPU or GPU go above 66c on air even when overvolted. Usually when gaming, the CPU is somewhere around 45c.

 

[tracerit]

i'm waiting for my video card to come in but once it does my specs will be:

i7-3770k (probably OC to at least 4ghz) with stock Hyper212 Evo
Sapphire 2GB R9 270 (non-X) Dual fan

I read the link in the second post and it showed some interesting results. I'd like to do a side fan but the noise (being so close to the GPU fan) and having to buy a filter makes it unlikely.

I think I'll try 2 140mm R2 front intake, 2 rear R2 exhaust (1 rear, 1 top back). The one that won't be connected to the fan controller will be one of the exhausts. That one will be connnected with the low speed cable.

I was thinking about waiting it out to see how a 2 fan setup would be but i ended up getting two R2 140mm fans just to get it out of the way. (didn't want the noctua, it looks bad haha).

oh and i have the top hd cage removed for better top front intake air flow. can the bottom hd cage be rotated also? looks like its held by screws on the bottom so i might try.

 

[hans030390]

Putting fans in the side or top made the computer noticeably louder, though the side fan did provided a reduction in temps.

I run 2 fans in front, one in bottom, and one in back. The back is the only exhaust. I get cool temps with this with very minimal noise.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

PMV's post of the Bit-Tech article confirms what I'd long assumed.

There is a point of diminishing returns for adding additional fans to the case. Of course, it depends on how the fans are deployed, but it looks as though the practical choice is somewhere around four or five.

On a (very) big case-mod and build that I made in 2007, I used some six fans. Seven -- to include the pusher fan on the CPU cooler. The placement of intakes is less crucial -- as someone noted, it's useful to have a pressurized case. The exhausts can be more critical depending on how they're deployed. For the exhaust fans, I had found ducting solutions that enhance cooling. Idea being to focus the each exhaust fan on pulling air through restricted openings around the warmest components.

Ultimately, you can only bring case and component temperatures closer to room temperature or ambient. Unless, of course, your project involves chilled water or phase-change.

 

[Charlie98]

Personally, I would just add another 140mm front fan and call it a day, leaving the other fan ports covered to achieve positive case pressure. I use the Fractal controller to control mine... I just set it at about 60% and roll with it and my OD'ed 2500K/212+ setup... and my hot 560ti.

My previous setup was a HAF922 (big open case) with the twin 200mm fans and 2x 120mm fans (2 in, 2 out, ) and had terrible temp problems. I switched to the far more closed Define Mini case... and get better thermal performance with less fans and FAR less noise. I think you will have good luck with your R4 case...

 

[Cerb]

After much parts swapping, my previous rig ended up in an old Evercase (late model w/ 120mm mounts). A C2D and GTX 460 (OCed a bit), pulling up to about 260W AC from the wall when gaming, was well-cooled by the PSU fan, the video card's fan (not a blower type), and a single Slipstream PWM, that rarely exceeded 500 RPM, and only got near 800 RPM under extended load.

A good case, and good cable management, can do wonders. You don't need gobs of fans, you just need to make sure the air coming in is going where it needs to, then going out, and then is able to disperse in the room, rather than get sucked right back in.

Another front fan of the same model that came with the case will be plenty, and you should never need to set them to 12V.

 

[MoInSTL]

can the bottom hd cage be rotated also? looks like its held by screws on the bottom so i might try.

Right, the bottom cage is held in by screws. It can only be removed. Unike the top cage which can be rotated 90*, the screw holes do not line up on the bottom. So it's either installed or not. I'm sure someone has modded that. But the stock config does not.

I have the stock fans in the front and one rear exhaust. I have the HR-02 Macho which also has a 140mm fan.

 

[MrSquished]

meh, i'm doing great temps wise with 2 fans intake in the front, the 1 main outtake in the rear and the fan on the heatsink pushing out. no need to use addtional fans to make more noise.

inside of case looks like this:

 

[BonzaiDuck]

meh, i'm doing great temps wise with 2 fans intake in the front, the 1 main outtake in the rear and the fan on the heatsink pushing out. no need to use addtional fans to make more noise.

inside of case looks like this:

What you have there is alright. I might deviate from the "principles" in the article that was linked. With a PSU in the bottom, I'd actually block off the fan vents at the top. I might even block off the left side-panel with two fans in front, but those fans have some obstruction. If I could put an intake on the bottom, I might do that.

This all assumes the fans are 140x25mm or bigger.

For the exhaust, I might do either or both of two things. [Again, some will howl at my retro choices.] I might put a beefier 120x38mm fan in the rear exhaust port. This fan would be rated between 0.4A and 0.9A -- controllable from the mobo so that you could create a "profile" to spin up the fan closer to its top-end above a CPU temperature over 50C. And the fan of choice would be quiet at lower rpms -- say between 1,000 and 2,000. The top-end would only exhibit turbulence white-noise -- and if I found a whine, I'd pull the label off the sucker and stick some Teflon gun grease in the bearing before reapplying the label.

Then, I'd get some plexi-glass and some glue, or some foam art-board and some glue -- to build a duct from the back side of the cpu cooler to the rear exhaust fan -- or even a duct that covered open parts of the sides, top and bottom. Finally, I MIGHT remove the 120x25mm CPU fan altogether. Alternatively, you could replace the latter with a beefier 120x38mm -- I've used the Delta Tri-Blade there. Of course, with a decent duct, you might be able to eliminate the exhaust fan entirely.

Experimentation would only prove your optimal setup. And I might think I know something, but these are just my opinions. I'd want to test them out myself with my next build -- having done all this . . . fiddling . . . before . . .

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Here:

http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Te.../dp/B00A460TK6

I started looking for something like this after my last post.

First -- I've had some experience with a Silverstone 120x25mm with "extra features" (dual-speed or cooling profile for one). That latter Silverstone would churn out 103 CFM at its top end. It also had a motor whine.

So question remains about the 140x38mm unit. you need less rpms to get the throughput, but I don't see the relevant specs on the Amazon post. Top-end is 2,000 rpm. There HAVE to be some similar options from San-Ace, Panaflo-NMB-MAT or Delta, but I haven't found them yet. . . .

. . . Now I have . . . . Just for starters, Sanyo-Denki:

http://db.sanyodenki.co.jp/product_db_e/coolingfan/dcfan/cooling_dcfan.html