Fractal XL2 Cooling

[slickshooter]

Hi guys, I am a lost puppy when it comes to cooling a new rig. I ordered a Fractal Design Refine XL 2 a few months ago and just placed an order for a Corsair H110 and Noctua NF A15 PWM all because they were all on sale.

I am not sure whether I will be getting Ivy Bridge or Haswell, so these are literally the only parts I have so far. The Fractal came with 3 140mm fans, one in the front, one on the bottom and one in the top rear exhaust.

Now, I know the H110 will include two fans for the radiator, I hear it is better to pull, but I am not sure about the quality of the fans. I want to build a really silent case and am worried about fan noise or rattling noise. I figured I would either use the Noctua fan for either a second fan for the front or as I've been reading, for a push pull configuration for the H110.

Anyways, beside the vomit I just spewed, this is the first true build I have ever done and I'm not sure if I am doing anything right. But in the most simplest terms I guess all I want is: inaudible fan noise, the ability to control the speeds on all fans, and perfect cooling optimization. I would adore any and all advice :awe: .

 

[dma0991]

Its better to push and the quality of the stock fan should be decent. I'm not sure if the Noctua NF-A15 would fit on the Corsair H110 as it isn't the standard square frame and the peculiar rubber pads protruding will make using it as a radiator fan unfeasible. Optimally the fans should be placed as intake and push the air through the radiator. Putting it in pull might make it easier to wipe off the dust.

I would recommend going with a conventional square frame fan(push or push+pull if it fits inside the case) and a manual fan speed controller(fans will not ramp up under load, quieter but must be done manually).

 

[slickshooter]

Its better to push and the quality of the stock fan should be decent. I'm not sure if the Noctua NF-A15 would fit on the Corsair H110 as it isn't the standard square frame and the peculiar rubber pads protruding will make using it as a radiator fan unfeasible. Optimally the fans should be placed as intake and push the air through the radiator. Putting it in pull might make it easier to wipe off the dust.

I would recommend going with a conventional square frame fan(push or push+pull if it fits inside the case) and a manual fan speed controller(fans will not ramp up under load, quieter but must be done manually).

Gotcha! That makes sense, I may as well use the Noctua as an extra front intake fan. I'm also afraid of dust buildup so I'm thinking of using pull for the radiator fans. I want to show the setup using a pic of my case's interior and the arrow icons, but how do I do that?

 

[dma0991]

I think its still better to have fans pushing air out through the radiator than it is to have it pulling outside air through the radiator, if you don't have a very hot GPU with aftermarket coolers. Dust buildup shouldn't be an issue if the case air is filtered by the front and bottom intakes.

To prevent fast dust buildup, all intakes must be filtered. Its just a prevention step as fine dust will eventually get through but it will reduce how frequent you will need to perform maintenance.