Fractal Design R4 fan intake/exhaust configuration

[horsovski]

Hi guys,

I just got my Fractal Design R4(non-window) which comes with 2 stock FD fans. I have also purchased 2 additional same FD fans and I am now wondering what the best configuration might be.

First of all, my main purpose is to keep this quite as possible and also I will NOT be overclocking my computer and using only 1 GPU.

To keep it as quiet as possible, I would really like to keep the top panels closed so I was thinking of 2x front intake, 1x bottom intake and 1x rear exhaust. I know 2vs2 would be better but given what I said above, would it be ok for me to do it like this(3vs1) ? Or would it be better to use only 3 fans (1x front and 1x bottom intake, 1x rear exhaust)?

Thanks

 

[DSF]

If you're not overclocking and you only have one GPU you don't need the extra fans.

Especially since you want to keep the computer as quiet as possible I would try it with the 2 included fans first. I have the same case and it works just fine for me even with the fans on the lowest setting.

 

[Vectronic]

Probably only 3 fans, 2 front, 1 rear.

The bottom one seems to have no positive effect on my temperatures, it actually tends to make my HDDs and my Southbridge/chipset run hotter because it's fighting against my GPU fan, as well as the 2 front fans. End up with a swirling mess of air inside the case instead of a A to B air flow.

For a long time (well, couple months) I kept my top vents closed, but I opened the rear most one simply because at idle, there's a lot of positive pressure (2 front fans at 5 or 7v, rear exhaust is down to about 3.5v or 380RPM).

I have the windowed one, so no side vent, probably stick your 4th fan there running pretty low, possibly even as an exhaust rather than intake.

 

[horsovski]

So I should rather go 2vs1 than 3vs1 and forget about 4th fan? I kinda don't want to remove top or rear panels to keep it as quite as possible.

 

[Owls]

I configured my fans to have 1 bottom intake, 2 front intakes, and 1 rear exhaust. I left the top vents closed off and it provided much better cooling performance.

 

[DSF]

The best way to find out for sure is just to do some experimentation and see what works best for you.

In your scenario though, there's really no need for the extra fans unless you have unusually high ambient temperatures.

 

[BDawg]

I configured my fans to have 1 bottom intake, 2 front intakes, and 1 rear exhaust. I left the top vents closed off and it provided much better cooling performance.

I haven't measured mine (2 front intake, 1 back exhaust, 1 top exhaust slow), but having the top closed off doesn't make sense to me as being better.

 

[nervx]

theres a site that recently did tests with a case identical in cooling to the R4 and the overall best setup is four fans.
-two in front
-one rear
-one top back position

basically a smooth flowing wind tunnel with equal cfm going in and out. run the fans at 7v if you want to keep things quiet. if you stick with only two fans(one front and rear) then they recommend at least leaving the back top open.

 

[Owls]

I haven't measured mine (2 front intake, 1 back exhaust, 1 top exhaust slow), but having the top closed off doesn't make sense to me as being better.

With the top fan removed there was a 7c difference. With the top closed the difference was another 3c. I think it had more to do with providing clean and uninterrupted air flow.